This was the last book of the "1% Well Read Challenge" and I pretty much only picked it because they had it at the library. I am not sure that this is a book that I would have picked up for myself to read, and I guess that is the beauty of these challenges - they get us reading things we normally wouldn't. The book is about Evita Peron - basically about the legend that surrounds her to this day. Most of the book takes place after she died and revolves around what happened to her body and to the people who were supposed to protect it. This book is strange - I had a hard time deciding if it was fiction or sort of nonfiction. Some of it is written in first person by the author, telling how he learned the story from other individuals close to Evita (or her dead body). There is supposedly a curse surrounding Evita and some horror befalls on most of those people involved with her. That is interesting - the obsession that people who loved her had with her; but also the obsession that people who hated her had with her.
The other reviews I read of this book said that this novel was taught in many Latin American literature courses and is tailored to a certain type of reader. The narrative is not easy to follow and if you are looking for an easy straight forward read, this is probably not the best book for you. It made me interested in Evita and I looked her up to see if any of the things that Eloy Martinez wrote were true. I never saw the film "Evita" so I really didn't know much about her life or her death.
I don't know if I recommend it but I don't know if I wouldn't. If I was an Argentinian I would probably be really interested in this book because it involves the history of my country, even if it wasn't the literature I was used to reading. Maybe I need a bit more time for the book to settle in mind. One thing is for sure - there are certain parts of this novel that I will never forget!
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