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A review by ridgewaygirl
Like This Afternoon Forever by Jaime Manrique
3.0
This novel tells the story of Lucas, whose mother left his violent father and managed to make a life for the two of them, and of Ignacio, son of indigenous subsistence farmers, both of whom showed an aptitude for learning which led to them being given the opportunity to go to a Catholic boarding school with the promise of being able to attend university and become priests. When they meet, they quickly become close friends, and then discover a love that would keep them together for the rest of their lives.
Colombia during the nineties and early 2000s was a violent place with many rural areas under the control of guerrilla groups and the military matching them in ruthlessness and corruption. As Lucas and Ignacio grow up in Catholic boarding schools and then go to university, Lucas grows stronger in his faith and Ignacio's fierce intelligence has him exploring the history of liberation theology. After they are ordained, they are sent into different neighborhoods in Bogota. Ignacio is sent to the most crime-ridden and poor parish, where he works hard to improve the lives of his parishioners and where he learns about the "false positives," and tries to get that story out into the world. Both his activism and his homosexuality put Ignacio into great danger.
This is a novel with a lot going on, so much so that it sometimes feels like a summary. The passages where Manrique slows down and describes the setting or the relationship between the men, the writing is beautiful and the story a lovely, if melancholic one.
Colombia during the nineties and early 2000s was a violent place with many rural areas under the control of guerrilla groups and the military matching them in ruthlessness and corruption. As Lucas and Ignacio grow up in Catholic boarding schools and then go to university, Lucas grows stronger in his faith and Ignacio's fierce intelligence has him exploring the history of liberation theology. After they are ordained, they are sent into different neighborhoods in Bogota. Ignacio is sent to the most crime-ridden and poor parish, where he works hard to improve the lives of his parishioners and where he learns about the "false positives," and tries to get that story out into the world. Both his activism and his homosexuality put Ignacio into great danger.
This is a novel with a lot going on, so much so that it sometimes feels like a summary. The passages where Manrique slows down and describes the setting or the relationship between the men, the writing is beautiful and the story a lovely, if melancholic one.