In an acclaimed novella by an Argentinean writer, a young Argentinean intellectual and his friend Roderer, committed to radically different philosophies, take separate paths into adulthood--one leading to the world, one leading to a private world of his own.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This brief, provocative first novel from Martinez, an Argentine who in 1982 won his country's National Short Story Award, tells of the disruption of a young boy's tidy world by a newcomer in town. The new arrival, Gustavo Roderer, is the same age as the unnamed narrator and challenges his comfortable position as the smartest pupil in class. Possessed of an otherworldy intelligence, Roderer quarrels with the very assumptions that the narrator has unthinkingly, and so handily, memorized and conquered. The story follows the narrator as he leaves his home village for college and, briefly, for war; the narrator's sister, who falls adoringly in love with the curious new boy; and Roderer himself, who stays holed up in his room, mysteriously compelled to rework the traditional systems of Western philosophy. The boys' relationship is subtly motivated by Roderer's need to glean any knowledge that the narrator-a walking guide to current trends in academe-carries with him, as well as by the narrator's panicked envy of Roderer's mind and his self-proclaimed mission. Most of the book's interest lies in the development-or deterioration-of Roderer; the narrator's voice, which seems sometimes selfishly recalcitrant, does little to generate interest in him.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In this debut novel, Martinez traces the parallel lives of two contemporary Argentines-a mathematical genius named Gustavo Roderer and the narrator. As the narrator enjoys the accolades of his scholarship and moves out into worldly endeavors, Roderer isolates himself in his mother's house and pursues his private philosophical inquiries. His obsession has a romantic appeal for the narrator's sister, Christina, who falls in love with him. Roderer, unaware of anything outside his own intellectual pursuits, including Christina's affections and his mother's concerns, becomes ill and dies from a rare disease that eats away at his internal organs. Although the story evolves adequately, the characters and the tragic theme of the genius as outsider are not developed enough to sustain interest. Not an essential purchase.
David A. Berona, Westbrook Coll. Lib., Portland, Me.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
David A. Berona, Westbrook Coll. Lib., Portland, Me.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A young man's search for unatainable knowledge.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Regarding Roderer (Hardcover)
Gustavo Roderer sacrifices all to enter a new realm where all current forms of logic and philosophy are null and void. An unseen force acts against his efforts to shed all of humankind's "learned" approach to solving the most basic of questions. Roderer forsakes a formal education and sheds family, friends and the girl who loves him to pursue a knowledge only God and the Devil share. As he gets closer to the truth, he becomes less able to articulate his thoughts to his closest and only friend. Consumed by disease, he discovers the answer. Martinez tells a wonderful story of two young men in Argentina--both geniuses. One pursues answers to questions unconcievable, while the other builds himself a normal life within the context of all human knowledge. They feed of each others pursuits, triumphs and failures. Roderer races as fast as he can to find the answers in what little time--he is sure--is left. His friend, the narrator, pulls himself away from his family, his small home town and Roderer over a long period of time. Neither can reach the end of their journey without the other. Martinez uses a brilliant mix of mathematics and philosophy to fuel the exchanges between the narrator and Roderer.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An overwhelming genius within 90 pages,
By "miltbrann" (Scandinavia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Regarding Roderer (Hardcover)
This intense novel is the history of the friendship between two gifted boys. One of them, the narrator, has always been the brightest in his class. He orients himself wide and takes knowledge from the world surrounding him. The other, Gustavo Roderer, is the new boy in class that fascinates and frightens with another type of intelligence: more extreme and sweeping, more introspective og mystical. Roderer balances on the hazy line between lunacy and wisdom. He seeks the root of the knowledge, moving in the icy landscapes of thoughts stilbb burning with fire. The narrator tries to incorporate more pragmatic sense into his new friend and the narrator's sister gives her love to Roderer, but he is already lost. It's true that you see the tragic end of the book almost from the start but it's not because of a fatalistic presence in the novel more because of the narrators reciting voice through it all that doesn't need to hide anything from the reader. It is a hard, sharp and precise vocabulary that reminded me more of contemporary electronic music that is clean and machinelike, observing cynically the processes that takes place before ones eyes. The book also draws comparisons to Mann's "Dr. Faustus" with its main protagonist beyond help from others, lost in the fervent search for something higher. ***(*) on the barometer
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impeccable,
By A Customer
This review is from: Regarding Roderer (Hardcover)
Charming and intelligent story. This kind of writing remembers me the precision of a Swiss clock, where the end tells 12 o'clock.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
