Lima, 1970: A tremendous earthquake has just struck the
Peruvian capital, and mayhem reigns throughout the city. Tensions are high,
with a population both reeling from the disaster and mesmerized by the results
of World Cup matches being broadcast from Mexico. Enter Detective Simon Weiss,
tasked with solving two shocking and apparently unrelated murders: the
crucifying and beheading of a Japanese man in a pool hall and an apparent
murder-by-hanging of an elderly Jewish man. Joined by Lieutenant Kato
Kanashiro, whose deep ties to Japanese-Peruvian culture inform the case in
surprisingly personal ways, Weiss traces the histories of two very different
criminals and their crimes. Weiss and Kanashiro's banter is hilariously
recorded with Goldemberg’s deadpan police procedural narration.
While painting a vivid snapshot of Latin American life in the 1970s, Remember the Scorpion tracks the wreckage of the Second World War—fought in the far-flung theaters of Europe and the Pacific—and reconstructs it in the conflicted psyche of a South American detective. Confronted with a pair of crimes that have their source in the horrors of World War II, Weiss must uncover the surprising relation between the perpetrators and their crimes, while searching deep within himself to conquer his own demons.
Best known for his incisive depictions of Jewish-Peruvian life, Isaac Goldemberg is one of Peru’s most celebrated writers. His 1976 novel The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner was described by the New York Times Book Review as "a moving exploration of the human condition” and named by a panel of international scholars as one of the 100 greatest Jewish books of the last 150 years. Remember the Scorpion is his first foray in the hard-boiled genre.
While painting a vivid snapshot of Latin American life in the 1970s, Remember the Scorpion tracks the wreckage of the Second World War—fought in the far-flung theaters of Europe and the Pacific—and reconstructs it in the conflicted psyche of a South American detective. Confronted with a pair of crimes that have their source in the horrors of World War II, Weiss must uncover the surprising relation between the perpetrators and their crimes, while searching deep within himself to conquer his own demons.
Best known for his incisive depictions of Jewish-Peruvian life, Isaac Goldemberg is one of Peru’s most celebrated writers. His 1976 novel The Fragmented Life of Don Jacobo Lerner was described by the New York Times Book Review as "a moving exploration of the human condition” and named by a panel of international scholars as one of the 100 greatest Jewish books of the last 150 years. Remember the Scorpion is his first foray in the hard-boiled genre.
1 comment:
Gracias, Lydia. I had not heard of this author. Looking forward to reading him. As you say he is:
"[B]est known for his incisive depictions of Jewish-Peruvian life, Isaac Goldemberg is one of Peru’s most celebrated writers."
Post a Comment