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El Secreto De Sus Ojos (2005)

by Eduardo Sacheri(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

6071105900 (ISBN13: 9786071105905)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Alfaguara

review 1: I appreciated the subtle art of this tale of compromised justice and unfulfilled love in the context of life under the brutal regime in Argentina in the 60’s and 70’s. Benjamín Chaparro is an administrative clerk who helps coordinate judicial oversight of criminal cases in Buenos Aires. In his retirement he takes up the task of making a novel about an old case that changed his life and moved him to action beyond just a cog in a machine. In the process we get a wonderful example of acting on basic human empathy can lead one to sacrifices that can put integrity as a chapter into one’s personal story.The case involves a rape and murder of the wife of bank clerk, Morales. His total devotion to his wife and irreconcilable grief undermines Chaparro’s usual d... moreistance from his cases. As a man whose love relationships are marked by failure, he can’t help envying Morales, even in his loss, for his ability to love so deeply. The inability of the system Chaparro serves to find justice for Morales eats at him so much that years later he pursues a private investigation. His own infatuation with a married judge and experience with reading her eyes allows him to identify a suspect based on a photo capturing such a look given to the murdered woman (hence the title).Chaparro’s obsession with this case leads him to team up with an honest cop and to effectively tap the skills at deception of a colorful alcoholic colleague, Sandoval. His friendship and work with these characters is wonderfully drawn. I don’t want to spoil the story, so I will merely say that the successes in solving the crime are undermined by the repressive regime they are working under and Chaparro pays a big price for his efforts. The resolution decades later takes a surprising twist. Inquiring minds will want to know if Chaparro finds love and fulfillment as a human being. Readers considering reading this novel will be challenged by the structure of a narrator interrupting the tale over his process and reflections on his own motivations in carrying out the writing. I personally found this meta aspect a barrier to immersion in the story. Also, with our direct access to the feelings of the narrator, I found it implausible that life under the regime was not infused more pervasively with numbing terror. I am led to take the story as a bit of a parable along the lines of Coetzee’s novel “Waiting for the Barbarians.”
review 2: This was an odd read for me, because I utterly adore the film, and aside from the basic cast and plot, the two are very different in terms of what they chose to emphasize. Like the secrets or questions behind the eyes of various characters, the book chooses to take a step back from many of the events and characters. I think, perhaps, that the book is exploring the question of how much one person can really know or empathize with another, while the film is looking more at the ways that people impact each other...? I'd probably recommend the film over the book, but perhaps I'll change my mind after I read it in Spanish. less

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