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willkay's review against another edition
5.0
The Dancer Upstairs by Nicholas Shakespeare
What happens when you read a book, love a book, think it is wonderful but have real difficulty recommending it? Well, you have probably just read The Dancer Upstairs.
The author has taken a true story about Abimael Guzmán (and for those of you who have never heard about Guzmán [that would include me 24 hours ago] you really should read about him) and turned it into a work of fiction - all the names have been changed to protect the innocent guilty.
It is about one man's search for the leader of a revolution, a revolution to overthrow the Peruvian government. It is also a love story (although it is unrequited love) and a story about politics. And that makes it sound fairly boring but it isn't.
I enjoyed the book because I am, at the moment, trying to get a mind-set on the way Mexicans think. This book is actually set in Perú which is, of course, South America rather than being North American. However many of the stories told about Peruvian costumes help to understand some of the stories Maria has told me about Ancient Mexico. She has told me of two tribes who would fight every year with the express purpose of taking 100 prisoners from each tribe. These prisoners would then be sacrificed to Mother Nature so that the rains would come. When she told me this I stored the idea in the back of my mind thinking - ah, ancient times. In The Dancer Upstairs the police officer recounts the time as a child (so mid 1900s) when two villages would go to up the mountains and have a snowball fight until one child fell down a precipice and died. This would happen every year and no-one talked about it.
From a personal point of view I would give this book 5 stars, I found the book exceptionally well written, well paced and totally involving. However I would probably not recommend it to anyone unless they have an unlimited budget and endless time to read books. If you have it on your shelf, pick it up now and read it. If you come across it at a car-boot sale, pick it up and put it on your shelf for a rainy day.
tien's review against another edition
4.0
A riveting story told by Colonel Augustin Rejas to a foreign correspondent, John Dyer, of his investigation and capture of a Peruvian guerrilla leader.
Dyer was pursuing a different man for an interview when by chance, he met Colonel Rejas. Just like Dyer, I was completely sucked in by the story Rejas was relating. It's not just about the criminal actions of both the government and the guerrilas, the violence committed against the people, but also about the people themselves; about culture, humanity, and love.
Fascinating story, I'd like to see if the movie is just as good...
Dyer was pursuing a different man for an interview when by chance, he met Colonel Rejas. Just like Dyer, I was completely sucked in by the story Rejas was relating. It's not just about the criminal actions of both the government and the guerrilas, the violence committed against the people, but also about the people themselves; about culture, humanity, and love.
Fascinating story, I'd like to see if the movie is just as good...
laurad_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Such an incredible read! Long time since I have read a book that have left me feeling like that.
gum1311by's review against another edition
3.0
I originally became interested in reading this book after seeing the international film by the same title. John Malkovich reportedly was very vested in the project and wanted to bring this story to film and I wanted to understand why. The story is slow at times and often difficult to follow but it is based upon real events in South America so I stayed with it to the end. Parts of the tale are disturbing with the violence portrayed, and probably more so because, again, it is based upon real events.
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