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19th out of 48 books
—
3 voters
El Entenado
“The evocative imagery and ideas revealed in The Witness are not easily forgotten.”—Washington Times
“Haunting and beautifully written.”—Independent on Sunday
In sixteenth-century Spain, a cabin boy sets sail on a ship bound for the New World. An inland expedition ends in disaster when the group is attacked by Indians.
The Witness explores the relationship between existence a
...morePaperback, 0 pages
Published
July 28th 2005
by Editorial Seix Barral
(first published 1983)
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I actually read this book in Spanish (El Entenado). It's the story of a young man in a Spanish expedition in the new world whose entire group is captured and eaten by cannibals in South America. He is kept by the cannibals as a witness and is treated reverently throughout his stay until they let him go. He is a witness to the tribe's periodic cannibilastic orgies, when most of the time they are a peaceful bunch. Saer's descriptions of the jungle and of the eating of human flesh are extremely rea...more
Jul 11, 2012
Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
neo-or-post-or-colonialist-studies
A really interesting tale of a European conqueror being captured by a cannibalistic tribe and living with them for 10 years. Half was written as almost an ethnography of the tribe and the other have a deeper and darker look at the protagonist's years with the tribe through his own philosophy and story of re-assimilation into "civilization." Beautifully written.
This is one of my favourite books. It allowed me to travel through time to the moment when America was discovered, so i could live for some years with the native, participate in their rituals and orgies, live in the jungle and feel the nature as never before. This is a must read.
The Witness is the story of a European boy who is abducted and lives with cannibals. Reading it can be pretty brutal at times, but also very meaningful as well. I thought at first that Saer was dehumanizing the cannibals, but he does a convincing job linking their condition to the human condition by the end. The Europeans hardly behave much better at any rate. The title “witness” is appropriate in more ways than one. Here is a man who is neither part of the cannibal society or the European one....more
Me dio la misma sensación que un cuento de Bradbury en el que van a un planeta que llueve todo el tiempo, pero no me acuerdo por qué. Ahora sólo recuerdo selva y canibalismo. Sí, estaba bueno.
The books intent is largely philosophical, with a gap-laden but enjoyable narrative. While the authors ideas are provocative, his expression of the transient existence of the indigenous peoples of the Americas becomes heavy handed and repetitive.
A chilling philosophical adventure. Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness, Billy Budd ... but told with an eerily spare style that only heightens the tension.
A brilliant little novel, thankfully reissued by Serpent's Tale (hopefully they will reissue The Event as well).
The plot revolves around a cabin boy who is captured and who spends the next ten years living with a tribe of man-eating Indians in South America in the 16th century, but this vague and admittedly shocking description gives only an approximation of what Saer is doing in this work. It is a fine psychological portrait of estrangement and a meditation on how reality can often feel the le...more
The plot revolves around a cabin boy who is captured and who spends the next ten years living with a tribe of man-eating Indians in South America in the 16th century, but this vague and admittedly shocking description gives only an approximation of what Saer is doing in this work. It is a fine psychological portrait of estrangement and a meditation on how reality can often feel the le...more
I enjoyed - but how did this get to be selected for the 1001 list? Good yes, but THAT good?
It was OK; not sure why the thing got so many rave reviews.
A fascinating, beautifully written story of one young man's formative experience as an unwilling guest of a foreign, unknowable indigenous tribe. Told from the perspective of an old man assimilating and reminiscing about his decade-long life in another world, the story intersperses remembered events with ruminations on the nature of memory and the fabric of experienced reality as well as the attempt to faithfully commemorate the worldview of the indigenous tribe.
Two notable quotes from this book (there are several):
"The memory of an event is not sufficient proof that it really happened."
and
"The unknown is an abstraction; the known, a desert; but what is half-known, half-seen, is the perfect breeding ground for desire and hallucination."
"The memory of an event is not sufficient proof that it really happened."
and
"The unknown is an abstraction; the known, a desert; but what is half-known, half-seen, is the perfect breeding ground for desire and hallucination."
Part Robinson Crusoe, Part anthropological study, this unique novel will haunt you for days to come. It's not everyday that you encounter a defense for cannibalism (it maintains stability).
La historia en sí bastante interesante, pero los lugares donde la narración se detenía y el protagonista filosofaba podían llegar a ser muy densos.
Feb 27, 2013
Suicidekitty
added it
Im sure its very deep and meaningful...I didnt get it. Cannibalism and orgy. And monologues on life the universe and everything.
Oct 02, 2010
Zoe Luhtala
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
absolutely
some of the most beautiful passages i've read in a long time.
Ojo - hay algunas escenas MUY adultas en este texto.
Impresionante, todo nuestro barro antes de que sea nuestro.
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Juan José Saer was one of the most important Argentine novelists of the last fifty years.
Born to Syrian immigrants in Serodino, a small town in the Santa Fe Province, he studied law and philosophy at the National University of the Littoral, where he taught History of Cinematography. Thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Paris in 1968. He had recently retired from his position as a lecturer at the U...more
More about Juan José Saer...
Born to Syrian immigrants in Serodino, a small town in the Santa Fe Province, he studied law and philosophy at the National University of the Littoral, where he taught History of Cinematography. Thanks to a scholarship, he moved to Paris in 1968. He had recently retired from his position as a lecturer at the U...more
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“El momento presente no tiene más fundamento que su parentesco con el pasado.”
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“Esos recuerdos no se presentan en forma de imágenes sino más bien como estremecimientos, como nudos sembrados en el cuerpo, como palpitaciones, como rumores inaudibles, como temblores”
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