Javier Mallarino is a political cartoonist, He looks back on his life and how he became so respected. How his wife helped him. The cost he paid to maintain his position. A young woman forces him to look back on an incident he never discussed and reflect on where he is as well as what does he want for the future. ( )

Es el caricaturista político más influyente del país, “un hombre capaz de causar la revocación de una ley, trastornar el fallo de un magistrado, tumbar a un alcalde o amenazar gravemente la estabilidad de un ministerio, y eso con las únicas armas del papel y la tinta china”. Los políticos le temen y el gobierno le hace homenajes. A sus sesenta y cinco años, después de cuatro décadas de brillante carrera, puede decir que tiene el país a sus pies. Pero todo eso cambiará cuando reciba la visita inesperada de una mujer. Tras remontarse con ella al recuerdo de una noche ya remota, Mallarino se verá obligado a revaluar toda su vida, a poner en entredicho su posición en este mundo. En Las reputaciones, Juan Gabriel Vásquez vuelve sobre sus más intensas obsesiones: el peso del pasado, los fallos de la memoria, la manera en que se cruzan nuestras vidas con el mundo político. Pero es también una novela sobre la importancia que tiene la opinión en nuestras sociedades. En el exigente género de la novela corta, que tantas obras maestras ha dado en la tradición latinoamericana, Vásquez nos regala su obra más íntima: una intensa reflexión sobre la debilidad de los juicios públicos y privados, sobre los encuentros irreversibles que alteran para siempre lo que creemos definitivo de nosotros.

“The memory has a marvellous capacity to remember the forgotten, its existence and its stalking, and thus allow us to stay alert when we don’t want to forget and forget when we choose to.”

Javier Mallarino is a political cartoonist, revered and respected by the public of Colombia, and feared by the ones who bow down to corruption. His influence is immense, his art is a weapon against all that is rotten. Now, the time has come to be honoured as he deserves. But all is not well. One of his daughter’s friends from childhood comes to visit him. Her presence brings back memories that are too painful to be remembered. But Samanta WANTS to remember. She deserves to know whether she had fallen victim of a horrific act and Javier realises that sometimes, a comic strip in a newspaper may have dubious repercussions.

Juan Gabriel Vasquez masterfully depicts the feverish desire and demand for justice, the nectar of acceptance by the public and the inevitable ‘’god’’ status within the community of a land where balance is sensitive and condemnation is so difficult and yet, so easy. The writer lets us into Javier’s mind and there we witness all his doubts, his fears and his satisfaction of helping an innocent soul find peace.

But is there peace? And where do the limits of criticising end? What happens when threats and fear enter your peaceful home because you are doing the work that the authorities are unable or unwilling to perform?

A magnificent novel by one of the most important writers of our times.

‘’It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/ ( )

Smoothly, fluidly written. Exquisitely modulated humour and emotion. The kind of Good Writing that is seductive and soothing. The kind of writing that might lead one to think, "This is so profound". But it's basically rehashing some trite bourgeois concepts of art and politics, the personal vs political, without looking deeper at how memories and truth are collectively understood by the people, and how it is manipulated by the media. Will have to write a review of this, so I hope to flesh out some of these thoughts further.

(Review is available here.) ( )

This is an incredibly intriguing short book.

Political cartoonist Javier Mallarino is at the zenith of his career in Bogata, Columbia. He has endured 40 years of political death threats, given up his dream of becoming a serious artist, and lost his wife and daughter who have fled from the man he has become.
But now he is being feted and even featured on a new postage stamp.

After the ceremony, a woman comes up to him. Was she molested in Mallarino's house 30 years ago when she was a child? Mallarino thought so, and with a political cartoon brought down the accused man, who committed suicide soon afterwards.

But what happened that night? What are the responsibilities of power? How true are memories? After all, as the White Queen said to Alice “It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards”. ( )