Describe About Books Sobre héroes y tumbas

Title	:	Sobre héroes y tumbas
Author	:	Ernesto Sabato
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 547 pages
Published	:	October 28th 1999 by Sudamericana (first published 1961)
Categories	:	Fiction. Cultural. Latin American. Classics

Sobre héroes y tumbas Paperback | Pages: 547 pages

Narrative Concering Books Sobre héroes y tumbas

"I can feel the passage of time, as thought it were coursing through my veins, along with my blood" It's not often I turn to google maps whilst reading a book. In the case of Ernesto Sabato's 1961 novel I found it helpful but not essential. The first third of the novel there didn't seem to be a moment without the mention of a specific area within the city, add to that an abundance of street names, landmarks and buildings, which initially bothered me. Because the city in question and the setting for Sabato's unsettling masterpiece is Buenos Aires, a place (apart from being in Argentina) I knew absolutely nothing about. It wasn't my intention to turn the city inside out, upside down and learn every street corner off by heart, but just to get a rough idea of the city's layout (especially the area around the port). On finishing 'On Heroes and Tombs' one of the most important things to mention is just how dark it was, and not just it's chilling tone. It felt the whole city sat under a blanket of perpetual black skies, two of the three main characters suffered with great inner turmoil and suicidal madness, most of the novel takes place in the late evenings or the dead of night, there are dark rooms, hallways, and tunnels existing in an almost Kafkaesque like subterranean world, and to top it all off the Blind are obsessed over. There is doomed love, a crazed family, terrorism, political unrest and eventually murder. If Sabato's seminal short novel 'El Túnel' (1948) owed a debt to French existentialists, this mighty beast feels more like a love letter to Buenos Aires . But a letter covered in tears, sickness and blood. Even poor old Jorge Luis Borges gets a cameo appearance, wondering down the street on a stick. The novel predominantly follows two narratives and various sub-plots, the opening starts with young star-crossed lovers Martín and Alejandra Vidal Olmos, who meet by chance near a monument. Martín is just an ordinary man trying to find his way in the city, he loves her more than she loves him, but Alejandra does have some serious issues, she is, to put it bluntly, insane. She takes him to the house of her family one night, where things turn eerie and creepy for the reader, building a slow sense of dread. There is a crazy uncle who plays a musical instrument, and an elderly woman who has been living upstairs for decades without ever leaving the room, with only a mummified head for company. Once Martín gets over the shock he doesn't really care, just wanting to be with her. Martín is as sincere as he is bewildered in his amorous aspirations towards Alejandra, he seems a heartbroken sweetheart. Whereas she is needy, demanding and cruel towards him. On seeing her with another man he wants to know who 'Fernando' is (believing it's her lover, when he is actually her father). The moment he mentions this name the relationship is heading in the direction of emotional disaster and psychological carnage, thus leading to an act of madness. All this is the past, looked back on by Martín and Bruno (Bruno being a writer who knew Alejandra's family, and had feelings for her mother. The narrative then switches to Alejandra's father, Fernando Vidal, a quite morbid man, who has a ludicrous and damn right terrifying obsession with the Blind (as a youngster he poked the eyes out of a sparrow and watched as it flew around the room in great pain and fear), he believes Blind people are part of some sort of secret sect, he watches them, follows them, and is the creator of the bizarre 'Report on the Blind'. Fueled by paranoia and intrigue he ends up in an old apartment building after seeing two individuals leave (thinking they are part of the sect). He enters... The next 30-40 pages were filled with what can only be described as an hallucinogenic, claustrophobic, nerve shredding, heart-stopping fear. It felt like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock under psychosis and Dante's Inferno, Sabato used such wild and inventive imagery I just couldn't believe my eyes, and simply couldn't put the book down!. In fact for long spells I couldn't put it down. Around this point (about half-way through) it was THAT GOOD!. Everything I have mentioned above only happens on the surface, the novel goes deeper than that, making it exceptional to read. It could be seen simply as a chilling love story, or tale of madness. But more than anything it's just as much a philosophical wonder on history. The novel expands on landowning baronies and industrial development, civil war, and social and economical problems. There are moments included that many non-Argentinians may fail to fully understand. I don't want to give the impression that 'On Heroes and Tombs' is a tedious allegorical book on Argentinian history. Other sub-plots do exist, but they are only important if you choose them to be, they can stay in the background if one pleases. There is a certain type of fictional narrative whereby the writer endeavors to free himself of an obsession that is not clear, even to himself. This appears to be the only sort Sabato could write. The novel was like entering a dark labyrinth of insanity, going on a guided tour, before being thrown back into our world. A stunningly powerful and haunting piece of work.

Identify Books As Sobre héroes y tumbas

Original Title:	Sobre héroes y tumbas
ISBN:	9500716054 (ISBN13: 9789500716055)
Edition Language:	Spanish
Characters:	Martín Castillo, Alejandra Vidal Olmos, Fernando Vidal Olmos, Bruno, Pancho, tío Bebe, Humberto J. D'Arcángelo, Buchich, Chichín
Setting:	Buenos Aires,1951(Argentina) Buenos Aires,1953(Argentina)

Rating About Books Sobre héroes y tumbas

Ratings: 4.28 From 8298 Users | 361 Reviews

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It totally blew me away! One of the finest gems of Latin American literature that should not be missed. An incredible dense and complex masterpiece, it dives without fear into dark and unexplored crevices of the human mind and soul with unbelievable style and intensity. Hats off to Ernesto Sabato!

An Argentine story in the labyrinthine tradition of the authors countryman, Borges. Sabato is one more of an entire boatload of Latin American authors who fled their countries for exile in Europe or the US during periods of military dictatorship. When he returned to Argentina (he died at 100 in 2011) Sabato burned all his work except for three novels, saying that he did not want to be remembered for mediocre work. The last descendants of an old oligarchical family of Buenos Aires reside in a

I fell in love with the female character of this book. She's the type of girl who would keep you close, but far enough to maintain your constant interest. Sabato's psychological descriptions of the characters are excellent, as usual.

It took me a long time to read this because I kept going back to re-read passages and episodes, and to do sketches of the characters faces as a visual support. Sometimes I just indulged in going back to a particularly intense moment, in a book that is packed with them, and immerse myself into the awe of its horror, pathos or literary beauty. This book was a hell of a ride, a remarkable journey down into the depths of human despair, a portrait of formidable weakness and formidable strength. But

Book that explores existentialism. I love the book but I hate it. I love the characters but at the same time I hate them.Best book I have read, it lead me to read the previous book: El tunel, and now I am going to read the lat part; even though the books tell different stories they are connected.

I am a Jorge Luis Borges fan for a quit long time, but this is one of the best Latin America fiction ever. Ernesto Sabato is a great writer and needless to say it is a fine read and page turner book. I was wondering why I did not read it before....give a try and you won't regret it.

A must read if you like existentialism, but this book is different than the most traditional works by traditional authors on the subject. It's a novel, with a loose structure. Full of deep reflections about life, religion, and the nature of the human condition. Sabato delivers all his philosophy mixed with some of his dark obsessions, like blindness and darkness in general. The chapter titled "Report on the blind" it's unique. The irrationality on the rationality depicted by the main character,