The Neruda Case: A Novel [Hardcover]

Roberto Ampuero (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 14, 2012

Published for the first time in English, an atmospheric, brilliant novel from an internationally bestselling literary luminary.

Roberto Ampuero’s novels starring the wonderfully roguish Cayetano Brulé are an international sensation. In The Neruda Case, readers are introduced to Cayetano as he takes on his first case as a private eye. Set against the fraught political world of pre-Pinochet Chile, Castro’s Cuba, and perilous behind-the-Wall East Berlin, this mystery spans countries, cultures, and political ideas, and features one of literature’s most beloved figures—Pablo Neruda.

Cayetano meets the poet at a party in Chile in the 1970s. The dying Neruda recruits Cayetano to help him solve the last great mystery of his life. As Cayetano fumbles around his first case, finding it hard to embrace the new inspector identity foisted upon him, he begins to learn more about Neruda’s hidden agenda. Neruda sends him on a whirlwind expedition around the world, ending back in Chile, where Pinochet’s coup plays out against the final revelations of their journey.

Evocative, romantic, and full of intrigue, Ampuero’s novel is both a glimpse into the life of Pablo Neruda as death approaches and a political thriller that unfolds during the fiercely convulsive end of an era.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; First Edition edition (June 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159448743X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594487439
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Roberto Ampuero’s The Neruda Case is a sweeping mystery set against the backdrop of the Chilean coup. This unforgettable book is brilliantly imagined, and features the poet Pablo Neruda in a remarkably intimate role. Roberto Ampuero’s writing is exhilarating; he is a delight to read.” -- Isabel Allende, author of Daughter of Fortune and The House of the Spirits

About the Author

Roberto Ampuero is an internationally bestselling, award-winning author. He has published twelve novels in Spanish, and his works have been translated around the world. The Neruda Case is his first novel published in English. Born in Chile, Ampuero is a professor of creative writing at the University of Iowa and currently serves as Chile’s ambassador to Mexico. He lives in Mexico City and Iowa City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; First Edition edition (June 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159448743X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594487439
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,415 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "If poetry transports us to the heavens, crime novels plunge us into life the way it really is." June 19, 2012

By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Cayetano Brule, an unemployed Cuban in Valparaiso, escapes the tedium of a cocktail party one evening by disappearing into the library while the party is being held. He hopes to avoid chatting, but when an intruder enters and comments on the indignities of old age in vivid terms, Cayetano wonders aloud if the man might be a writer. When Cayetano turns around, he finds himself staring at Pablo Neruda, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971, just two years before. Then Cayetano learns that Neruda has a mission for him, his first job as a private detective - to find a man Neruda has not seen for over thirty years, using skills he must learn through reading Simenon's Maigret novels and through on-the-job training.

Within the story of Cayetano's mission for Neruda, author Roberto Ampuero incorporates both the historical and contemporary history of Valparaiso and the political turmoil that roiled the country from the 1970s - 1990s. A ferocious earthquake in 1906 killed three thousand people and devastated the city, and in 1914 the Panama Canal opened and permanently ended Valparaiso's prosperity as a resupply stop for trips around Cape Horn. By 1971, President Salvador Allende, in the second year of his term, is the first Marxist ever to be elected president in open elections, and now, in 1973, Cayetano, his wife, and Neruda are ardent supporters, their politics representing an unusual point of view for most western readers.

As Cayetano tries to fulfill his task for Neruda, he travels throughout Mexico, Cuba, East Germany, and Bolivia, interviewing people from teachers to archivists. He is desperate to help Neruda, who is obviously dying of cancer. Dr.... Angel Bracamonte, the man he seeks, was a researcher on the medicinal properties of native plants, but ironically, Neruda does not want to find Bracamonte for his medical skills. He has more personal reasons. As Cayetano travels to find the some of Bracamonte's heirs, he is often in danger, frequently followed, arrested, jailed, and beaten. He sometimes resorts to tactics he has learned from Simenon's Maigret, but Cayetano's biggest skill is one he shares with Neruda himself - he is a Latin lover extraordinaire.

Stylistically, the novel is sometimes baroque, with details presented through long phrases, clauses and parallels presented as series. Complex sentences, florid with adjectives and infinite details, give a sense of specificity to places and characters. Often humorous and full of ironies, Ampuero's conversational style makes Cayetano a charming narrator, even though his womanizing can get tiresome, and Neruda's many affairs begin to pall. The mystery itself moves in a straight narrative, but at times the reader may wish that Cayetano's search had been compressed so that it does not feel "thready" and lacking in impact. Digressions on Bertoldt Brecht, and the visit to his grave in East Germany, are connected thematically, but they are not essential and feel unnecessary. As Cayetano's search winds down and the tensions in Valparaiso and Santiago reach the breaking point, the various aspects of the novel come together in revolution, the effects of which devastate Chile for almost two decades, only to be rejected ultimately in favor of democracy. The Marxist trichotomy - thesis, antithesis, and synthesis - plays itself out here, for now.... Read more ›

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Profound and poetic--a prize of a literary mystery August 24, 2012

By D. Crowell

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As someone who reads about 2-3 books a week, it is easy for me to become jaded by the books on the market right now. The hyped books rarely deliver, particularly in the literary category, yet The Neruda Case turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The subject matter, dealing with Chile, Cuba, East Berlin and Bolivia in the tumultuous seventies, was fascinating and the tidbits about Neruda (I admit I am a fan) delightful. What I liked best, was Ampuero's frequent ruminations as expressed through his very likeable, very intelligent and observant protagonist, Catelano Brule. Ampuero succeeds in bringing characters to life as well as the countries they visit. While many novels fail nowadays with their political high-handedness and political pressure tactics, Ampuero offers a balanced, more philosophical (although some may find it cynical) view of politics and history through Brule's POV. I found Brule endearing, and enjoyed his observations about life, food, wine, poetry, and revolutionaries, as much as I did the mystery he wove. At times, particularly in the use of dialogue, I felt the translation (or the writing) fell short, but the narrative translation was poetic and beautiful. I would recommend The Neruda Case to anyone interested in the effects of politics on individual life and liberty, poetry and its relationship to reality, and philosophical questions about life, meaning, reality, the role of disguise in life, and identity. This literary mystery was thought-provoking and a worthwhile read. I only wish more of Ampuero's work was translated! For those wanting a traditional page-turning, impossible to put down mystery, this book is not for you. Rather, it is a tale to be savored, much like Neruda's poetry.... Ampuero brought Chile alive for me and made me want to visit despite some of the tragic political events described. He is a sensual writer with a deep sensibility and connection to profound ideas. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars History writ large June 4, 2013

By Sumana

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is written with the background of factual history, includes a revealing portrait of Pablo Neruda and has the overlay of a detective story. This wonderfully written book kept me engaged to the end. The setting is Valparaiso during the term of Salvador Allende 1970-73. The protagonist, (a Cuban living in Chile) is hired by Neruda to investigate a personal matter, which takes him to Cuba, Eastern Germany, Bolivia and Santiago. It is written with depth and humor and is educational about the chaos that existed at this time. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the Neruda Case February 6, 2013

By Walter L. Fisher

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Neruda Case was a wonderful read. I had a sister in law who was recruited right out of high school by a communist front group in Oakland CA. at about the time of this story. The disappointment at the end was almost too much for me. All the evidence that
socialism could and would not work was overwhelming, and yet no one even saw it. Even with all this going against the book
the author still, using his interpretation of history, managed to spin a great tale out of it. I left it with the thought that I want more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great historical novel August 16, 2012

By Steve Stanley

Format:Hardcover

Disclosure: I received an uncorrected proof copy for free from the publishers for an unbiased review.

The Neruda Case has a few things going against it, for many english-speaking readers:

It's a translation from Spanish.

It is a prequel, written in 2008 after a series of five Cayetano Brulé mysteries (not translated into English, so we don't know the character):

(1993), ¿Quién mató a Cristián Kustermann?
(1994), Boleros en La Habana
(1996), El alemán de Atacama
(2004), Cita en el Azul Profundo (novela policial)
(2005), Halcones de la noche

It's a really ambitious book, attempting to

1. Provide a backstory for the detective Cayetano Brulé

2. Incorporate the life, loves and poetry of Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda

3. Re-examine leftist thought and culture of the 1970s

4. Portray the idealism and tragedy of the brief Allende reform government

5. Explore the broader history of all Latin America, from pre-Columbian times to the present

6. And, of course, tell a mystery story.

For me, the best parts of the book were its historical elements; this is a great historical novel, immersing the reader in a specific time and place.

I learned a lot reading this book. It broadened my perspective.

I also liked the rich sensory detail, the feel and sound and scent of the cities Cayetano visits in his international quest, the way coffee tastes different in different cultures.

Amazing.