Set in the fictional African island country Henrique, a former Portugese colony (west of Angola), the narrator confesses his life memoir: raised in an orphange (where he is already filled with jealousy for the more talented, handsome and more charismatic boys), getting a journalist for the state newspaper, interrogator (after denouncing his first love), torturer and killer under the Marxist regime in the late 70ties and 80ties, later fleeing to Brazil and re-creating a new personal identity.

A very intesive and powerful story, because it is told from his point of view and written in a realistic and direct way full of evil, envy, excuses and self-pity within just a 150 pages. That makes it a masterpiece to put the whole range of story in so few pages and saying so much. Besides that it is not possible to put the book aside, once having started, it is very gripping. But mostly it is disturbing, as it is defintely a true life story that has been lived many times.



Dieses Buch ist Bestandteil meiner Lesechallenge 2006: 5 Bücher aus 5 Ländern der 5 Kontinente.