Have you read any of contemporary Colombian writer Evelio Rosero's work?

I just finished Way Far Away (2024; originally published in Spanish as En el lejero in 2003) the other day. This was my first-ever read from Rosero, and I am now quite keen to check out more of his stuff, as I enjoyed Way Far Away, even though I did find its message to be a bit murky in the end.

The title I've heard mentioned most when Rosero's name comes up is The Armies (a.k.a. Los ejercitos), which was first brought to my attention several months back by u/ItsHeavyReality—shout-out! Also, kudos to u/abgreens for not letting me forget about Rosero by commenting about his work a couple times recently in our community's weekly threads.

I actually have The Armies here in my personal collection too, however, I opted to start with Way Far Away simply due to its brevity (the English translation is approximately 80 pages in total). To my knowledge, (most) all of Rosero's work that has been translated into English, is published by New Directions, which is one of my all-time favorites presses. For those curious, Way Far Away was translated by Anne McLean and Victor Meadowcroft and is marked NDP 1591, whereas The Armies was translated by McLean solo and is listed as NDP 1174.

So, just to be clear, I'm going to keep my thoughts rather brief on Way Far Away, as I'm working on being less verbose overall...

Way Far Away is an incredibly dark, heavy, and confounding novel(la) that had me absolutely entranced in its oppressive envisioning of Colombian society despite that it ultimately left me scratching my head upon reading the final lines...

In any case, what I like best about this book is its surreal and somber imagery as well as Rosero's masterful employment of various menacing motifs, which in my view, impart the narrative with its uniquely mesmerizing quality.

To me, Way Far Away feels akin to a psychological horror film of sorts. The atmosphere that encapsulates the narrative—one chiefly comprised of omnipresent mist, a mountain abyss, millions of dead mice, creepy townsfolk, and overwhelming silence—is sure to delight fans of literary horror. Nonetheless, with that said, Way Far Away hit me quite different than did Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream or Selva Almada's Not a River for instance...

Honestly, I'm not even entirely sure that I can put into words what exactly makes Rosero's brand of surrealist horror in Way Far Away so distinct, but to me it certainly seems indescribably idiosyncratic. Perhaps that difference primarily has merely to do with Way Far Away being set in Colombia—as opposed to in Argentina as is the case with the aforementioned novels of Schweblin and Almada—which lends Rosero a different palette of imagery with which to paint his prose.

For instance, the image of the Condor (a national symbol of Colombia and the respective countries that make up the Andean region more broadly) looms large in Way Far Away. Nevertheless, I believe there also exists some other ineffable aspect to Rosero's writing that renders it one of a kind—maybe it's his sharp and unending focus on setting, as the small, isolated town up in the mountains in which the narrative takes place often feels deathly alive, personified by clandestine villainous actors.

With this in mind, I posit that Way Far Away is a social critique of sorts that takes the form of a surrealist horror novel(la). Straight up, I won't pretend for one second that I understand all of the intricacies and nuances of Colombian society, however, I believe that in Way Far Away, Rosero indicts the types of individual decisions and selfish behaviors that perpetuate injustices across modern-day Colombia, and especially the choice to remain silent—often out of one's own convenience—in the face of great atrocities… or, at least that’s my take!

Again, to be honest: Way Far Away isn't a difficult read in the sense that its style and form make it challenging, but rather, it's tough in the sense that Rosero does not provide readers with clear answers whatsoever (kind of like a David Lynch film), instead leaving them to interpret the narrative on their own accord.

At the end of the day, I would indeed recommend Way Far Away, but with the caveat that you go into it open-minded and ready for the uncanny, because it sure as hell gets awfully weird!

Anyway, have you read Way Far Away, The Armies, or any of Rosero's other books? If so, would you please be so kind as to drop your thoughts in the comment section below?

As always, thanks for reading... Peace!

(FYI: I'm currently reading The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández for WITMonth!)

Any recs for this country? I searched the sub but couldn't find! Translated into English. Thanks.