The Chase
by Alejo Carpentier
Publication of this well-wrought translation of El acoso , a 1956 work
by Cuba's outstanding 20th-century writer, marks the first time that
this novel has appeared in English as a separate volume. The time frame
of the plot, which consists primarily of the events surrounding a ticket
seller and a fugitive's seeking refuge in a concert hall, runs
contemporaneously with a performance of the Eroica Symphony. Although
generally recognized as one of Carpentier's masterpieces, this novella
is probably one of his most inaccessible, in part because of the
multiple, disjointed narrations and the polyphonic structure. One hopes
that it will be appreciated by more than its guaranteed audience of
literature students for whom the original Spanish version is too
abstruse.- Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
by Cuba's outstanding 20th-century writer, marks the first time that
this novel has appeared in English as a separate volume. The time frame
of the plot, which consists primarily of the events surrounding a ticket
seller and a fugitive's seeking refuge in a concert hall, runs
contemporaneously with a performance of the Eroica Symphony. Although
generally recognized as one of Carpentier's masterpieces, this novella
is probably one of his most inaccessible, in part because of the
multiple, disjointed narrations and the polyphonic structure. One hopes
that it will be appreciated by more than its guaranteed audience of
literature students for whom the original Spanish version is too
abstruse.- Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio