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Canción
Canción | Eduardo Halfon
2 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
From internationally celebrated Eduardo Halfon comes a new installment in his hero’s nomadic odyssey as he searches for answers surrounding his grandfather’s abduction In Canción, Eduardo Halfon’s eponymous wanderer is invited to a Lebanese writers’ conference in Japan, where he reflects on his Jewish grandfather’s multifaceted identity. To understand more about the cold, fateful day in January 1967 when his grandfather was abducted by Guatemalan guerillas, Halfon searches his childhood memories. Soon, chance encounters around the world lead to more clues about his grandfather’s captors, including a butcher nicknamed “Canción” (or song). As a brutal and complex history emerges against the backdrop of the Guatemalan Civil War, Halfon finds echoes in the stories of a woman he meets in Japan whose grandfather survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Through exquisite prose and intricate storytelling, Halfon exposes the atrocities of war and the effect that silence and extreme violence have on family and identity.
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Pinta
Canción | Eduardo Halfon
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^^p145 granddaughter of Hiroshima bombing survivor describes pattern of grandfather‘s kimono seared to his skin

P134 the killer is killed: “I imagine Canción […] singing his killer a song that is both sad and sweet, about a Lebanese Jew who long ago gave a guerrilla fighter a couple of dazzling gold pens, one final song before the crack of one final bullet exploding in the dark tropical night.”

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Pinta
Canción | Eduardo Halfon
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P92 “Everybody knows that Guatemala is a surreal country.” Reading Turkish coffee grounds, playing badminton with a machete, Kaibiles (brutal Guatemalan special ops forces), grandfather‘s kidnapping. Imposter & identity (Jewish, Guatemalan, Syrian/Lebanese.) “I arrived in Tokyo disguised as an Arab.” Pretty title=name of brutal killer known for singsong voice. Descendants of catastrophe finding connection. Bit like Bolaño. Searching. Trans. 2022.