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Massacre River
"Between Haiti and the Dominican Republic flows a river filled with ghosts," Edwige Danticat writes in her superb preface to Massacre River : "Over time the river has been the site of several massacres including the one which is the subject of this tour de force by René Philoctete." In 1937 the power-mad racist Generalissimo Trujillo ordered the slaughter of thousands and thousands of Haitians and, as Philoctete puts it, death set up shop everywhere. At the heart of Massacre River is the loving marriage of the Dominican Pedro and the Haitian Adele in a little town on the Dominican border. On his way to work, Pedro worries that a massacre is in the making; an olive-drab truck packed with armed soldiers rumbles by. And then the church bells begin to ring, and there is the relentless voice on the radio everywhere, urging the slaughter of all the Haitians. Operation Cabezas Haitianas (Haitian Heads) is underway, the soldiers shout, "Perejil! [Parsley!] Perish! Punish!" Haitians try to pronounce "perejil" correctly, but fail, and weep. The town is in an uproar, Adele is ordered to say "perejil" but stammers. And Pedro runs home and searches for his beloved wife, searches and searches " The characters of this book not only inspired the love and outrage of an extraordinary writer like Philoctete," writes Edwige Danticat, "but continue to challenge the meaning of community and humanity in all of us."
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 3, 2013
"What isn't possible when power turns stupid?"
We people from over here and over there—we are, in the end, the people of a single land.
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is shared by two countries, Haiti to the west and the much larger Dominican Republic to the east. The two nations are separated by a latitudinal border, part of which is formed by the Dajabon River, which is also known as Massacre River. Haiti is populated primarily by its African descendants, and it is the poorest country in the Caribbean and the Americas; the Dominican Republic contains a much richer mixture of people from Spain and other European countries, East and West Asia, and other Caribbean countries, including Haiti, and it has the second largest economy in the Caribbean.
Both countries have longstanding histories of colonization and subjugation by Western powers, violent civil wars, oppressive dictators, and bloody border battles. Because of the long porous border and the marked difference in the economies and standards of living of the two nations, Haitians have for years crossed over to the Dominican Republic to find work and better lives for themselves, and particularly in the border towns they often established friendship and not infrequently found love with their Dominican neighbors.
In 1930 the notorious dictator General Rafael Trujillo was "elected" president of the Dominican Republic, after a violent campaign in which many of his opponents were eliminated. Trujillo held great admiration for Adolf Hitler, particularly his views on racial purity, and later in that decade he declared the Dominican Republic was a country of white people, in stark contrast to its black neighbors to the west but also in opposition to his country's mixed race majority. The blancos de la tierra (whites of the land) were revered and rewarded, whereas darker skinned Dominicans were reviled and punished.
As part of this effort, Trujillo embarked on a campaign to rid the country of as many Haitians as possible, supposedly to prevent them from robbing their Dominican neighbors, but in actuality to achieve greater racial purity. He focused this effort on the border between the two nations, especially the region adjacent to Massacre River, and in a six day campaign of terror in October 1937 tens of thousands of Haitians were brutally murdered by soldiers in the Dominican Army. This act of genocide became known as the Parsley Massacre, as Dominican soldiers would show dark skinned residents of the border towns a sprig of parsley, and ask them to say the word for it in Spanish, perejil. The Creole speaking Haitians often could not pronounce the word properly, and those who failed to do so were beheaded with machetes on the spot, or taken to fields where they were executed by firing squads.
Massacre River is a novel about the Parsley Massacre, which is centered around a young couple who are deeply in love with each other, the Dominican Pedro Brito and his beautiful Haitian wife Adèle, who live close to the river. A premonition of the massacre comes in the form of an ominous large raptor, which swoops over and shadows the town and its residents. As the townspeople become aware of Trujillo's plans, Adèle becomes fearful for her own safety. Pedro attempts to comfort her and allieviate her concerns, and leaves her at home to go to work on the fateful day that soldiers enter the town. As word comes in on the radio of the massacre that is taking place, with the death toll in each town enthusiastically announced by broadcasters, Pedro rushes to get back home to find out what has happened to Adèle. When he returns he and other workers are met with a surreal and horrific scene, as the heads of the massacre's victims bounce around the bloodied town, giving voice to the day's events and demanding justice for the atrocities inflicted upon them by singing machetes swung by men loyal to Trujillo, "the Lord of demented death".
Massacre River is a superb story, which uses magical realism to both blunt the gruesome details and highlight the profound effects of the Parsley Massacre on Haitians and their Dominican neighbors. It is also a touching love story and, oddly enough, it contains an element of humor, which would seem to be inappropriate in the face of genocide but actually permits a view of the humanity of the Haitian and Dominican people and their respect and love for each other, which is unaffected by this tragedy. René Philoctète, the novel's author, was one of the most revered authors in Haiti, but to date this is the only novel of his that has been translated into English, and he is not well known outside of the Caribbean. I enjoyed this unique and entertaining novel, and I hope that more of his work will be translated into English in the near future.
We people from over here and over there—we are, in the end, the people of a single land.
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola is shared by two countries, Haiti to the west and the much larger Dominican Republic to the east. The two nations are separated by a latitudinal border, part of which is formed by the Dajabon River, which is also known as Massacre River. Haiti is populated primarily by its African descendants, and it is the poorest country in the Caribbean and the Americas; the Dominican Republic contains a much richer mixture of people from Spain and other European countries, East and West Asia, and other Caribbean countries, including Haiti, and it has the second largest economy in the Caribbean.
Both countries have longstanding histories of colonization and subjugation by Western powers, violent civil wars, oppressive dictators, and bloody border battles. Because of the long porous border and the marked difference in the economies and standards of living of the two nations, Haitians have for years crossed over to the Dominican Republic to find work and better lives for themselves, and particularly in the border towns they often established friendship and not infrequently found love with their Dominican neighbors.
In 1930 the notorious dictator General Rafael Trujillo was "elected" president of the Dominican Republic, after a violent campaign in which many of his opponents were eliminated. Trujillo held great admiration for Adolf Hitler, particularly his views on racial purity, and later in that decade he declared the Dominican Republic was a country of white people, in stark contrast to its black neighbors to the west but also in opposition to his country's mixed race majority. The blancos de la tierra (whites of the land) were revered and rewarded, whereas darker skinned Dominicans were reviled and punished.
As part of this effort, Trujillo embarked on a campaign to rid the country of as many Haitians as possible, supposedly to prevent them from robbing their Dominican neighbors, but in actuality to achieve greater racial purity. He focused this effort on the border between the two nations, especially the region adjacent to Massacre River, and in a six day campaign of terror in October 1937 tens of thousands of Haitians were brutally murdered by soldiers in the Dominican Army. This act of genocide became known as the Parsley Massacre, as Dominican soldiers would show dark skinned residents of the border towns a sprig of parsley, and ask them to say the word for it in Spanish, perejil. The Creole speaking Haitians often could not pronounce the word properly, and those who failed to do so were beheaded with machetes on the spot, or taken to fields where they were executed by firing squads.
Massacre River is a novel about the Parsley Massacre, which is centered around a young couple who are deeply in love with each other, the Dominican Pedro Brito and his beautiful Haitian wife Adèle, who live close to the river. A premonition of the massacre comes in the form of an ominous large raptor, which swoops over and shadows the town and its residents. As the townspeople become aware of Trujillo's plans, Adèle becomes fearful for her own safety. Pedro attempts to comfort her and allieviate her concerns, and leaves her at home to go to work on the fateful day that soldiers enter the town. As word comes in on the radio of the massacre that is taking place, with the death toll in each town enthusiastically announced by broadcasters, Pedro rushes to get back home to find out what has happened to Adèle. When he returns he and other workers are met with a surreal and horrific scene, as the heads of the massacre's victims bounce around the bloodied town, giving voice to the day's events and demanding justice for the atrocities inflicted upon them by singing machetes swung by men loyal to Trujillo, "the Lord of demented death".
Massacre River is a superb story, which uses magical realism to both blunt the gruesome details and highlight the profound effects of the Parsley Massacre on Haitians and their Dominican neighbors. It is also a touching love story and, oddly enough, it contains an element of humor, which would seem to be inappropriate in the face of genocide but actually permits a view of the humanity of the Haitian and Dominican people and their respect and love for each other, which is unaffected by this tragedy. René Philoctète, the novel's author, was one of the most revered authors in Haiti, but to date this is the only novel of his that has been translated into English, and he is not well known outside of the Caribbean. I enjoyed this unique and entertaining novel, and I hope that more of his work will be translated into English in the near future.
November 20, 2013
This is book is pure poetry, so revealing of the beauty and the suffering of Haitians, the stupidity of a dictatorship and the complicity of the Haitian politicians.
The love between a good-hearted Dominican and a beautiful Haitian girl, speaks of what the relationship between the to halves of the island should be. For all my Dominican brothers and sisters out there. READ. THIS. BOOK.
"... And why should we believe that rivers go home every evening to the milky way?
That spring peas are breast of girls who died young?
That if the moon doesn't scoot out of the way soon, it'll get colonized?
That every haitian has a drum in his belly?
Every puerto rican a fountain in his laughter?
Every cuban a sunbeam in throat? Every jamaican rum in his eyes?
Every dominican a heaven between his legs?
whoa chica loca, i am getting carried away..."
--RENE PHILOCTETE, one of Haiti's most beautiful sons.
The love between a good-hearted Dominican and a beautiful Haitian girl, speaks of what the relationship between the to halves of the island should be. For all my Dominican brothers and sisters out there. READ. THIS. BOOK.
"... And why should we believe that rivers go home every evening to the milky way?
That spring peas are breast of girls who died young?
That if the moon doesn't scoot out of the way soon, it'll get colonized?
That every haitian has a drum in his belly?
Every puerto rican a fountain in his laughter?
Every cuban a sunbeam in throat? Every jamaican rum in his eyes?
Every dominican a heaven between his legs?
whoa chica loca, i am getting carried away..."
--RENE PHILOCTETE, one of Haiti's most beautiful sons.
June 14, 2009
Poetic, feels a little lost in translation.
October 12, 2015
This is a very dense book. The author uses a complex narration technique that weaves in and out of first and third person with heavy doses of magical realism. A passionate love story is at the center of this tale which also features Trujillo's horrific Parsley Massacre as the book's backdrop. This is an intense read that I found hard follow at first, but once I got into the rhythm of the story, I got into it.
November 12, 2008
i wish i read haitian creole and a lil french...translations are not my favorite...if you liked 100 years of solitude's attitude of magic realism, this story will captivate you...The original title is, Le Peuple des Terres Melees...
July 16, 2023
wowowow, philoctète’s writing style is so interesting and made reading this so worthwhile. an amazing and personally heartbreaking read, as i thought of my family and what they must’ve endured.
9/10
9/10
December 11, 2013
Very moving account of the 1937 massacre. The main chatacters are Pedro Brito, a Dominican and Adele Benjamin, a Haitian. They symbolize the union of the Haitian and Dominican people. Meanwhile, Trujillo's motivation for the mssacre is explained through his obsession with the Citadelle. His inability to possess it causes him to create the blancos de la tierra myth and eventually order the massacre. I know that may seem strange, but it works in this book.
I've taught this book several times now in my contemporary Haitian literature class. It works with the migration, love/sexuality and conflict themes. Other themes explored in the book are madness and workers' rights.
Teaching again this semester along with The Farming of Bones and L'autre face de la mer. I hate that this actually ties in to current events.
I've taught this book several times now in my contemporary Haitian literature class. It works with the migration, love/sexuality and conflict themes. Other themes explored in the book are madness and workers' rights.
Teaching again this semester along with The Farming of Bones and L'autre face de la mer. I hate that this actually ties in to current events.
September 22, 2012
Enjoyable book about a difficult time period in Haiti and Dominican Republic's history - slaughter of Haitians along the border by DR army patrols. The writer is very descriptive and story takes on an almost whimsical air regarding death.
Part of Around The World In Fiction, writer is born and lived almost entire life in Haiti.
Part of Around The World In Fiction, writer is born and lived almost entire life in Haiti.
April 5, 2021
Los pueblos fronterizos son unos mundos particulares en los que las cosas suceden de forma distinta al resto del territorio: se hablan indiscriminadamente los dos idiomas, se intercambian las dos monedas, el contrabando es el principal comercio... No es de sorprender que algo tan oficial y burocrático como una masacre, allí tome tintes macabramente originales. Eso fue precisamente lo que ocurrió en la frontera entre República Dominicana y Haití durante 48 horas de octubre de 1937, cuando la guardia personal del demente dictador Trujillo le arrancó la cabeza a machetazos a entre 10 mil y 20 mil negros y negras haitianos que, por la forma en que pronunciaban la palabra perejil, evidenciaban que el creole y no el cristiano español era su lengua materna; que eran "invasores" haitianos obstaculizando la política de blanqueamiento forzado ordenado desde la capital. Cuando empecé la novela, esperé que todo fuera ficción, pero lo cierto es que todo ocurrió. La historia oficial lo escondió; la Liga de las Naciones, centrada en problemas más importantes (léase problemas blancos), como las ambiciones territoriales de Hitler, lo ignoró por completo; y a nadie en Hollywood se le ha ocurrido hacer una película como si hicieron con Rwanda o los Balcanes. Lo único que ha impedido que la "masacre del perejil" caiga en el olvido, es la tradición oral y la literatura. Dentro de esta última, probablemente nadie lo ha hecho de forma tan magistral como René Philoctete en este libro, fiel representante del "espiralismo", por lo que quien se acerque a esta novela no encontrara una especie de crónica de la tragedia sino una historia que, mezclando lo real con lo onírico, la prosa con la poesía y las voces intercaladas de sus personajes, reflexiona sobre lo que pasa por la mente de quienes saben lo que está pasando e intentan huir de ello.
***
Cuando pienso en literatura, Haití no es el primer país que se viene a mi mente. Haití es imaginario de independencia, de revolución de los esclavizados, de creole, de pobreza, de vudú y de terribles y exóticos gobernantes. Pero no de literatura. Y debería. Ahora, conociendo la obra de Philoctete, lo sé. Porque él no sólo es un magnífico poeta, novelista, dramaturgo y periodista (uno que ha evitado que se olviden muchos de los hechos más dramáticos de la historia antillana) sino además un pionero literario, uno de los fundadores del "espiralismo", movimiento literario en el que se mezclan los estilos (novela, poesía, teatro, etc.), los tiempos (pasado, presente, futuro), las voces (realismo, onirismo, primera y tercera persona) y los personajes. Es, en ese sentido, un escritor que reta al lector, uno que cree que la mente de las personas no funciona bajo la lógica del inicio, nudo y desenlace sino que es una amalgama de pensamientos paralelos (y hasta contradictorios) que se entremezclan y superponen.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Todo buen lector - bibliófilo espera en secreto la llegada de ese libro totalmente original que amplíe sus paradigmas, algo totalmente distinto a lo que ha leído antes. No ocurre tan seguido. Pero a mí me acaba de pasar.
***
Cuando pienso en literatura, Haití no es el primer país que se viene a mi mente. Haití es imaginario de independencia, de revolución de los esclavizados, de creole, de pobreza, de vudú y de terribles y exóticos gobernantes. Pero no de literatura. Y debería. Ahora, conociendo la obra de Philoctete, lo sé. Porque él no sólo es un magnífico poeta, novelista, dramaturgo y periodista (uno que ha evitado que se olviden muchos de los hechos más dramáticos de la historia antillana) sino además un pionero literario, uno de los fundadores del "espiralismo", movimiento literario en el que se mezclan los estilos (novela, poesía, teatro, etc.), los tiempos (pasado, presente, futuro), las voces (realismo, onirismo, primera y tercera persona) y los personajes. Es, en ese sentido, un escritor que reta al lector, uno que cree que la mente de las personas no funciona bajo la lógica del inicio, nudo y desenlace sino que es una amalgama de pensamientos paralelos (y hasta contradictorios) que se entremezclan y superponen.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Todo buen lector - bibliófilo espera en secreto la llegada de ese libro totalmente original que amplíe sus paradigmas, algo totalmente distinto a lo que ha leído antes. No ocurre tan seguido. Pero a mí me acaba de pasar.
October 31, 2025
Wow! A wonderful, devastating book. The heart of the book is a border people love story amidst the 1937 Parsley Massacre inflicted by Dominicans on Haitians and some Dominicans on the basis of a shibboleth. But the tone is bombastic, steeped in what Carpentier called Haiti's traditional love of "lo real maravilloso," with wind that is a radio, a bus with feelings and lots of dialogue, and the keen-eared use of disjointed narrative, rhythmic sentence fragments, and quick perspective shifts I've come to see are key elements of the post-war aesthetic of Spiralism in Haiti (Frankétienne, Philoctète, Fignolé, etc). Of the lovebirds I found Adele the more gripping character. Pedro felt a bit flat. But other than that, as well as some Spanish errors, Philoctète's exploration of the Dominican psyche is trenchant and clearly well-researched, striking a subtle balance between facticity (including mention of Trujillo's Haitian grandmother, his use of skin-lightening products, his obsession and desire to possess Henri Christophe's Sans Souci citadel) and fable (Trujillo is depicted two ways: in scenes growing up and coming to power; and in the present day of 1937, where he seems to be a giant, evil bird in the sky). The copy I have also has an intro by Lyonel Trouillot and footnotes that I think either the translator or Edwidge Danticat added, which I'll get to in short order. But if you're Haitian or Dominican, or have a decent grasp of the basics of the island's history, most of this will land. I really enjoyed this book and can see myself re-reading it again soon. It's short but there are some dense, poetic moments that went over my head.
Read
August 25, 2020Reading this felt like reading a surrealist piece of art. I found myself constantly questioning what was “real” and where the plot was leading me, while at the same time learning a LOT. The story told is haunting and poignant and gruesome and true — and told with stunning detail. I wish I could’ve read this with a group or professor guiding me because I feel like a lot of it went over my head, to no fault other than my own inabilities. Not assigning it a star rating for that reason, as I feel it wouldn’t be fair since I can’t properly judge the book itself since I most likely missed things.
September 12, 2022
compleja narración sobre la masacre fronteriza de Trujillo y con una historia de amor de fondo. Usa la tercera y la primera persona alternativamente, muchos puntos de visto, incluso de objetos inanimados, de leyendas y de lugares. Se mueve por los espacios temporales de forma aparentemente confusa pero...lo hace todo con una prosa poética envidiable, con un realismo mágico solo de esa isla y un uso del lenguaje exquisito.
Lectura exigente, nada recomendada para lectores casuales o de libros sencillos.
Lectura exigente, nada recomendada para lectores casuales o de libros sencillos.
December 10, 2018
A pesar de haberle dado solo dos estrellas porque a ratos me aburría, es el libro con la forma de escribir más original de los que he leído. Historia, lenguas y poesía gore.
August 5, 2019
Among the many reasons I enjoy reading literature is that through fiction and prose I am able to enter times and places that I would not otherwise be able to explore. Sometimes those times and places which offer others' experiences are horrific and literature presents an incredulous narrative about the capacity for human brutality. This novel has managed to offer a literary narrative of a historical brutal event: in 1937, the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic was the site of the "Parsley Massacre"--a name that embodies the arbitrary nature of prejudice and divisiveness that still resulted in concrete consequences.
This historical event developed after years of tension, fear, and aggression between the two countries--a relationship that was passed down by these countries' former colonizers. The massacre stemmed from the racist perceptions against Hatians perpetuated by the Dominican Republic's dictator Trujillo. The means for differentiating between Hatian and Dominican, between those who were foreign and those who belonged, those who shall die and those who shall live, was parsley. Trujillo instructed Dominican solders to carry a bunch of parsley with them and show it to anyone they encountered and require them to name the herb. The Spanish word for parsley is perejil and can be difficult for non-native Spanish speakers to pronounce. Thus, means for implementing Trujillo's policy of ethnocide was linguistic, though irrational, inconsistent, and arbitrary. The assumption here is that the line between Hatian and Dominican is so clearly determined (and that it should be) and that Hatians can never become Dominican and their language skills determine their fate. Of course, such means for identification is arbitrary, inconsistent, and irrational--though one wonders what rationality is used to carry out such an act. Many Hatians had learned the language effectively and thereby become Dominican, according to this means of evaluation. And of course, linguistic consistency among Dominican Spanish speakers is also a tenuous understanding of language and identity.
The greatest effect literature can have on understanding an event like this is the portrayal of the effects of such an event on the individual or individuals. Pedro (Dominican) and his wife Adele (Hatian) live at the border on the Dominican side, and when the massacre begins, Pedro worries about keeping his wife safe. Of course, numbers (thousands) cannot convey the worry, anxiety, and fear each individual feels, which is what makes this novel so powerful. It conveys the impact of the potential for being targetted as outsider for extermination, even as once attempts to go about one's daily responsibilities. Adele attempts to, as much as possible, still pursue her regular daily routine and activities...perhaps out of need, but also apparently in an attempt to deny the power that prejudice and hatred can have on one's existence.
Philoctète seems to be an influential writer in Hatian literature, and his work combining the wonders of nature yet at the same time the cruelty of human misunderstanding and hatred. I hope that more will read this novel and learn about the massacre, the consequences of misunderstanding, and the experience of the individual when conflict is based on an attempt to remove the other as an individual--a human being who experiences fear and with loved ones who fear for her safety as well.
This historical event developed after years of tension, fear, and aggression between the two countries--a relationship that was passed down by these countries' former colonizers. The massacre stemmed from the racist perceptions against Hatians perpetuated by the Dominican Republic's dictator Trujillo. The means for differentiating between Hatian and Dominican, between those who were foreign and those who belonged, those who shall die and those who shall live, was parsley. Trujillo instructed Dominican solders to carry a bunch of parsley with them and show it to anyone they encountered and require them to name the herb. The Spanish word for parsley is perejil and can be difficult for non-native Spanish speakers to pronounce. Thus, means for implementing Trujillo's policy of ethnocide was linguistic, though irrational, inconsistent, and arbitrary. The assumption here is that the line between Hatian and Dominican is so clearly determined (and that it should be) and that Hatians can never become Dominican and their language skills determine their fate. Of course, such means for identification is arbitrary, inconsistent, and irrational--though one wonders what rationality is used to carry out such an act. Many Hatians had learned the language effectively and thereby become Dominican, according to this means of evaluation. And of course, linguistic consistency among Dominican Spanish speakers is also a tenuous understanding of language and identity.
The greatest effect literature can have on understanding an event like this is the portrayal of the effects of such an event on the individual or individuals. Pedro (Dominican) and his wife Adele (Hatian) live at the border on the Dominican side, and when the massacre begins, Pedro worries about keeping his wife safe. Of course, numbers (thousands) cannot convey the worry, anxiety, and fear each individual feels, which is what makes this novel so powerful. It conveys the impact of the potential for being targetted as outsider for extermination, even as once attempts to go about one's daily responsibilities. Adele attempts to, as much as possible, still pursue her regular daily routine and activities...perhaps out of need, but also apparently in an attempt to deny the power that prejudice and hatred can have on one's existence.
Philoctète seems to be an influential writer in Hatian literature, and his work combining the wonders of nature yet at the same time the cruelty of human misunderstanding and hatred. I hope that more will read this novel and learn about the massacre, the consequences of misunderstanding, and the experience of the individual when conflict is based on an attempt to remove the other as an individual--a human being who experiences fear and with loved ones who fear for her safety as well.
March 10, 2022
De El Corte, el programa de limpieza étnica ordenada por el dictador Rafael Trujillo en 1937 para eliminar a los haitianos que vivían en el lado dominicano del Río Masacre, se habla muy poco en la historia de los genocidios. Las autoridades militares y civiles dominicanas ordenaron la mutilación y decapitación de más de 20 mil haitianos, desde bebés a ancianos. Massacre River es la historia de esta tragedia.
Elías Piña es uno de tantos pueblitos que hay a lo largo del río Masacre, la frontera natural entre Haití y República Dominicana, donde generaciones de haitianos y dominicanos han convivido y se han mezclado durante siglos, por ejemplo dos de los personajes: Adèle, haitiana, y Pedro Brito, dominicano, que se enamoran, se casan e intentan crear una familia. Cuando el terror llega a Elías Piña, Pedro Brito intenta salvar a Adèle del filo de los machetes. Ese esfuerzo que forma el tema de este libro es descorazonador y fluye a lo largo del río Masacre.
Pero este libro no es una tragedia de amor, ni una crónica de un holocausto, ni siquiera un thriller histórico. Es un poema de un baile macabro y surrealista a ritmo de merengue con los vívidos colores del Caribe. Es una historia extraordinariamente rica en símbolos y en imágenes, muy cargada de emociones. No cuenta la tragedia que ocurrió en Elías Piña en 1937, pero sí nos pone directamente en el alma de esas personas. Este es un libro tan potente, tan fuerte, que pone a su autor ahí arriba con los más grandes.
Elías Piña es uno de tantos pueblitos que hay a lo largo del río Masacre, la frontera natural entre Haití y República Dominicana, donde generaciones de haitianos y dominicanos han convivido y se han mezclado durante siglos, por ejemplo dos de los personajes: Adèle, haitiana, y Pedro Brito, dominicano, que se enamoran, se casan e intentan crear una familia. Cuando el terror llega a Elías Piña, Pedro Brito intenta salvar a Adèle del filo de los machetes. Ese esfuerzo que forma el tema de este libro es descorazonador y fluye a lo largo del río Masacre.
Pero este libro no es una tragedia de amor, ni una crónica de un holocausto, ni siquiera un thriller histórico. Es un poema de un baile macabro y surrealista a ritmo de merengue con los vívidos colores del Caribe. Es una historia extraordinariamente rica en símbolos y en imágenes, muy cargada de emociones. No cuenta la tragedia que ocurrió en Elías Piña en 1937, pero sí nos pone directamente en el alma de esas personas. Este es un libro tan potente, tan fuerte, que pone a su autor ahí arriba con los más grandes.
December 21, 2022
Novela espiralista sobre la masacre de 1937 en la frontera domínico-haitiana. De una prosa poética con pasajes muy bien logrados.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews