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Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been hailed not only as one of South America’s greatest literary stars, but also as one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation. In this gorgeously wrought, award-winning novel, Vásquez confronts the history of his home country, Colombia.
In the city of Bogotá, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict z...more
In the city of Bogotá, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict z...more
Published August 1st 2013 by Riverhead Books (first published May 2011)
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Popular Answered Questions
Caroline LoveI don't think the book implies the Peace corps helped, rather that individuals who had been Peace Corps volunteers were involved, and this would be…moreI don't think the book implies the Peace corps helped, rather that individuals who had been Peace Corps volunteers were involved, and this would be very difficult to disprove. One has to remember that mainly rubbish criminals get caught and there are a lot of highly skilled criminals that never get a criminal record. I'm sure the great majority of Peace Corps volunteers did good things, but there are always some who go into 'good' roles for bad reasons (for example paedophiles who volunteer to work with kids) or get lured into bad behaviour because of the temptations they are faced with.(less)
KevinIt's not explicitly explained why he was killed, I'd think the reason why is pretty much open to the readers interpretation.
I came to the conclusion…moreIt's not explicitly explained why he was killed, I'd think the reason why is pretty much open to the readers interpretation.
I came to the conclusion that the assasination of Laverde show's the drug barons mercinessless and power that remains even after the height of drug-trafficking during the the times of Pablo Escobar. As written in the book, Ricardo Laverde had a notable faculty when it came to memorising things such as maps. Maybe he knew things that could've gotten the wrong people into trouble, even though a long time had passed.
It also reinforces the drama of the novel. Laverde got out of prison, willing to make up for the mistakes of his past by contributing to society, trying to be there for his family etc. but 'fate' get's in the way.
Really just my short interpretation without thinking about it too much. There surely are different and more elaborate interpretations for this out there, the important thing though is that you haven't missed anything, you might just have to come up with a reason for youself. As it say's in the book: 'algo habrá hecho'.(less)
New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2013 (fiction and nonfiction)I came to the conclusion…moreIt's not explicitly explained why he was killed, I'd think the reason why is pretty much open to the readers interpretation.
I came to the conclusion that the assasination of Laverde show's the drug barons mercinessless and power that remains even after the height of drug-trafficking during the the times of Pablo Escobar. As written in the book, Ricardo Laverde had a notable faculty when it came to memorising things such as maps. Maybe he knew things that could've gotten the wrong people into trouble, even though a long time had passed.
It also reinforces the drama of the novel. Laverde got out of prison, willing to make up for the mistakes of his past by contributing to society, trying to be there for his family etc. but 'fate' get's in the way.
Really just my short interpretation without thinking about it too much. There surely are different and more elaborate interpretations for this out there, the important thing though is that you haven't missed anything, you might just have to come up with a reason for youself. As it say's in the book: 'algo habrá hecho'.(less)
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Rating details
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Nov 12, 2013Richard Derus rated it really liked it
THIS BOOK HAS TOO IMPORTANT A MESSAGE NOT TO POST IT IN FULL HERE.
Rating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: In the city of Bogotá, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict zoo once owned by legendary Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The article transports Antonio back to when the war between Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above.
Back then, Antonio witnessed a friend’s murder, an e...more
Feb 14, 2017Alienor ✘ French Frowner ✘ rated it it was amazingRating: 4* of five
The Publisher Says: In the city of Bogotá, Antonio Yammara reads an article about a hippo that had escaped from a derelict zoo once owned by legendary Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. The article transports Antonio back to when the war between Escobar’s Medellín cartel and government forces played out violently in Colombia’s streets and in the skies above.
Back then, Antonio witnessed a friend’s murder, an e...more
Shelves: translated-books-project, colombia, 2017-reads, adult-fiction
4.5 stars. Ha, damn.Who knew it'd take such a quiet and introspective novel to break my heart.
I'm sorry because my fangirling probably won't help, but I found Juan Gabriel Vásquez's storytelling just wonderful. As often when I fall in love with a book - especially when none of my friends have read it, I've been feeling a little self-conscious and read a few reviews with low ratings. I... don't advise doing that, lol. In the end, I'm not able to acknowledge the flaws pointed there - too much te...more
Nov 30, 2017Lori rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
This is such profoundly sad book. A life stymied and stunted during the height of the drug wars in Bogotá. I will think about it for a long time to come.
I'm pretty sure the title of this novel 'The Sound of Things Falling,' refers to the sound of the book falling on the floor every time you doze off while reading it. The protagonist, Antonio, was neither likable, nor lovable, nor interesting in any way, and the same goes for Maya Fritts and her parents Elena and Laverde who were all flat characters. I looked forward to reading this book after putting my name on a long waiting list at the public library for it, as I love several Latin American au...more
Apr 18, 2013Mike rated it really liked it · review of another edition
The ambience of this melancholy novel often appeared in my dreams at night while I was reading this book. I am not sure how long-lasting the effect will be, but it has put me into a funk. This is a quiet novel depicting the solitary interior life of a ruined generation. There are frequent pleasures; I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Laverde family, urban life up in the mountains in Bogotá contrasted with the rural tropical areas, the beautiful geography of Colombia and inferring some of t...more
Aug 14, 2013switterbug (Betsey) rated it it was amazing
'There is a sound that I cannot or have never been able to identify: a sound that's not human or is more than human, the sound of lives being extinguished...the sound of things falling from on high...that is forever suspended in my memory, hanging in it like a towel on a hook.'
In 1995, when Bogotonian Antonio Yammara was 26 and a few years out of law school, he met two significant people who would transform him, and in some ways, one would destroy him. A few years later, he met someone else that...more
In 1995, when Bogotonian Antonio Yammara was 26 and a few years out of law school, he met two significant people who would transform him, and in some ways, one would destroy him. A few years later, he met someone else that...more
Apr 11, 2019·Karen· added it · review of another edition
A history of Colombia in plane crashes
Please don't try to nail me down on this one, because I read it in a complete fug, brought on by a combination of over-indulgence and lack of sleep (the changeover to Summer Time). But as a book to read under such circumstances, it was perfect. Fast-paced, intriguing, frequent changes of scene to prevent boredom, but not so many as to cause confusion, and all combined with a feeling that you were actually learning something, something really quite worthwhile...more
Please don't try to nail me down on this one, because I read it in a complete fug, brought on by a combination of over-indulgence and lack of sleep (the changeover to Summer Time). But as a book to read under such circumstances, it was perfect. Fast-paced, intriguing, frequent changes of scene to prevent boredom, but not so many as to cause confusion, and all combined with a feeling that you were actually learning something, something really quite worthwhile...more
My, oh my – what an incredible novel. This is the kind of novel that made me brush everything aside and read voraciously, devouring every single word and dreading arriving at the end. Yes, it’s that good!
Set in Bogota, Colombia, our narrator, Antonio, becomes twinned to an enigmatic and shadowy ex-pilot named Ricardo Laverde, whom he meets in a Bogota billiard hall. Ricardo has been imprisoned for many years for unknown reasons. (The refrain is: “He must have done something.”) Antonio is with Ri...more
Set in Bogota, Colombia, our narrator, Antonio, becomes twinned to an enigmatic and shadowy ex-pilot named Ricardo Laverde, whom he meets in a Bogota billiard hall. Ricardo has been imprisoned for many years for unknown reasons. (The refrain is: “He must have done something.”) Antonio is with Ri...more
Against the backdrop of an explosive and defining period in history -- Pablo Escobar and the powerful Columbian drug cartels, the declaration of the War on Drugs, the growing cocaine epidemic following the Viet Nam war -- Vasquez has set an amazing story that is immediately gripping. With only his words, Vasquez is a sculptor, a painter, a master story teller; talking to our senses, filling our heads with journals and scrapbooks, maps taped to newspaper articles, the recollections of smugglers f...more
Aug 13, 2013Chrissie rated it liked it · review of another edition
Interesting and engaging. Here the theme is the violence and fear that permeated all Colombian life in the 80s and 90s when the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar held sway. Who wasn't affected? How did this play out in the lives of Colombians, children and adults?
Fear. This is a book about fear. It is about secrets. What is it like to discover your father is not who you thought he was? It is about how all families were caught up in the violence of those times. Arguments between husband and wife...more
May 25, 2017K. rated it really liked it · review of another editionFear. This is a book about fear. It is about secrets. What is it like to discover your father is not who you thought he was? It is about how all families were caught up in the violence of those times. Arguments between husband and wife...more
Shelves: audience-adult, difficult-topics, library, diverse-author, literature, 2017, setting-south-america, translated, own-voices, poc-narrator
Trigger warnings: Drive-by shootings, drug trafficking, death of a parent, plane crash, animal cruelty.
I picked this one up at work while stocktaking and was like 'Uh, based on the blurb, this does not sound like something a high school library should have??' Colour me surprised to find that it's on the year 12 literature syllabus. It's not one that we teach, but we have a copy nonetheless.
So I read it. And I pretty much loved it. And I'm not entirely sure I can explain why. The writing is bea...more
I picked this one up at work while stocktaking and was like 'Uh, based on the blurb, this does not sound like something a high school library should have??' Colour me surprised to find that it's on the year 12 literature syllabus. It's not one that we teach, but we have a copy nonetheless.
So I read it. And I pretty much loved it. And I'm not entirely sure I can explain why. The writing is bea...more
There was just something about this book that was stylistically perfect. One of the most well constructed books I have ever read. The title is also perfect because things in this novel fall, airplanes fall, drug empires fall, an old zoo and estate that once belonged to Escobar falls into disrepair, a country falls victim to drugs and terror and lastly bodies that are shot fall soundlessly.
The prose is smooth, the setting and the realism that was Bogata in the 1970's. The history of a country de...more
Dec 07, 2013Annalisa rated it really liked itThe prose is smooth, the setting and the realism that was Bogata in the 1970's. The history of a country de...more
Shelves: contemporary, literary, prose
If this book were written by anyone but a Colombian, I would have begrudged the overused association of Colombia and drug trafficking, but because it was written by someone who lived there through those unstable years, he gets it right. It's not about the drug lords or the money or the corruption. It's about the people stuck in the middle, the vast majority of people who don't have anything to do with the war on drugs but find themselves as its unexpected consequence.
I can't say how well Vasque...more
Oct 10, 2018Viv JM rated it it was amazing · review of another editionI can't say how well Vasque...more
Shelves: thriller, z2018-author-male, read-in-2018, z2018-atw-winter-olympics-challenge, author-male, in-translation, mystery
I'm not sure I've ever read a thriller as poignant and melancholy as this. I thought it was beautifully written/translated and found it very moving. It wasn't a conventionally fast-paced page turner of a thriller but still pulled the reader in. The portrayal of a country and a city haunted by its past will stay with me, I think. Highly recommended, and I will definitely be seeking out more work by this author.
The early chapters include a rather chilling drive-by, the discovery of a black-box recording at a dead man's apartment, and the fate of a drug dealer's escaped pet hippo, and all of this is decent enough. Second half of the book includes a flashback of an airshow crash that strikes me as gratuitous semi-magic realism, and is followed by a piecing-together of the past by the main character and a mystery-man's beekeeper daughter, and is extremely weak. It reminded me, god help me, of the kids in...more
Feb 01, 2019Collin rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Antonio Yammara teaches law and spends his spare time playing billiards. It is at the club where he plays that he first meets Ricardo Laverde. After inviting Laverde to a game the two become, not friends, more billiard associates, and they start playing together regularly. One day Laverde asks Yammara if he knows of anywhere that he can listen to a cassette tape that he has on him. Yammara knows of a place and takes him there. He waits while Laverde listens to the tape. and is surprised when Lav...more
Jul 12, 2014Bionic Jean marked it as abandoned · review of another edition Shelves: read-authors-u-z, mystery-crime, kindle
The Sound of Things Falling is the third novel by Juan Gabriel Vásquez. Mario Vargas Llosa has called the author, 'one of the most original new voices of Latin American literature.' Vásquez's work is a reaction to magical realism, in particular that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He says,
'I want to forget this absurd rhetoric of Latin America as a magical or marvellous continent. In my novel there is a disproportionate reality, but that which is disproportionate in it is the violence and cruelty of...more
'I want to forget this absurd rhetoric of Latin America as a magical or marvellous continent. In my novel there is a disproportionate reality, but that which is disproportionate in it is the violence and cruelty of...more
The Sound of Things Falling has a little bit of everything. A little modern history here, a little romance there etc, without getting too deep into anything. A good story well told but I couldn't help feeling there was something missing, a fact underlined by the size of the book. Such subjects need space to grow and mature and with roughly 300 pages, it's understood that the author didn't mean for it to become a legend, but a decent novel that's light and easy to read without being cheap. Despit...more
Aug 14, 2013Quothe rated it it was ok
This is a horrendously overrated book. The narrator is extremely unlikable and uninteresting. The author unsuccessfully tried to cram three narratives into one. This resulted in the story being all over the place and having pacing issues. It isn't even well written: Vasquez needs to learn that good authors should show and not tell. This novel involved large amounts of blunt 'telling.' Good writing isn't even being sacrificed for deep content; there isn't much depth behind what Vasquez is trying...more
Jun 26, 2012David rated it really liked it · review of another edition Shelves: latin-american-lit, colombiano, premio-alfaguara, español
I first heard a radio interview with Vasquez on CBC Writers and Company last month and was intrigued by his life and his literary interests. He was born in Columbia but educated in London and lived in Paris following after Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes (three writers that I admire). He has spent the last decade living in Barcelona. I was recently there and tracked down his most recent book 'The Noise of Things Falling'). This was a challenge as this is the first novel I read en...more
Jan 11, 2019Barbara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition Shelves: latin-america, 2019-reads, on-my-shelves, e-book, translated-fiction
There is a kind of Latin American fiction that I seek out. They are stories that often have an atmosphere of melancholy, silences, and sometimes menace. The narrator, Antonio Yamarra, tells the story of meeting a man named Ricardo Laverde in a pool hall. He becomes curious about this man, who is obviously penniless, but regularly shows up to play. They develop a nodding friendship, which results in pulling Yamarra into Laverde's life. The story takes place in Bogota, Colombia in 1996, which is d...more
Aug 23, 2018Zizeloni rated it really liked it · review of another edition
A book based in Colombia, narrated by a young professor that tries to learn more about the life of a mysterious friend. In the meantime his life also moves on and the two life stories share similarities. It takes place in Colombia and I enjoyed so much reading about this country.
Very good translation (in Greek), with many side notes. Very well written book, I liked the atmosphere of Latin America. I will definitely read more books from Vasquez and from Latin and Central America.
Very good translation (in Greek), with many side notes. Very well written book, I liked the atmosphere of Latin America. I will definitely read more books from Vasquez and from Latin and Central America.
Jun 03, 2016Roger Brunyate rated it it was amazing
Taking Flight
Let me introduce a marvelous Colombian novel that sucked me in and made me give up everything else to finish it. It has something of the structure of Gatsby, or perhaps the Ancient Mariner: a younger narrator, and an older man whose story he tells. Whose story he finds out, actually, piecing it together as we hear about it. The older man, Ricardo Laverde, is no millionaire, but a solitary individual worn down by life, whom the narrator met in a billiard club in Bogotá, and got to kn...more
Let me introduce a marvelous Colombian novel that sucked me in and made me give up everything else to finish it. It has something of the structure of Gatsby, or perhaps the Ancient Mariner: a younger narrator, and an older man whose story he tells. Whose story he finds out, actually, piecing it together as we hear about it. The older man, Ricardo Laverde, is no millionaire, but a solitary individual worn down by life, whom the narrator met in a billiard club in Bogotá, and got to kn...more
The Sound of Things Falling was heading for a two-star disappointment until the last handful of pages. But the recovery was incomplete. The story meandered, the prose was modest and the characters failed to develop attributes to make the reader either root for or despise them. Lots of loss, lots of life-questions, an above-average infestation of selfish and self-serving wandering through life. How much empathy can you have for someone who wants more and obtains it through drug-running? How much...more
Jan 02, 2016Stacia rated it really liked it · review of another edition Shelves: 2016-baw-bingo, latin-america, 2016, cartel-related
A brilliant & bittersweet story showing the impact of the rise of the Colombian drug cartels on an entire generation of people growing up during the violent & uncertain times of the drug wars. I loved it.
Aug 02, 2013El Avestruz Liado rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
I was already writing a review in spanish for this book when I realized that it has just been released translated to english so I'd rather do a review suitable to this new audience, even if the resulting review will quite likely end up being rather short (or at least shorter than what I expected the original review to be). This is a very interesting narrative of a very turbulent time in the story of Colombia. While, at least to me it seems this book was at least partly inspired by (view spoiler)...more
Nov 01, 2013Paul Fulcher rated it liked it
Beautifully written and a revealing window into Colombia's recent history.
So why only three stars? Well the author has chosen to use a rather clumsy framing device for the novel in an attempt to appear more literary.
So for example the crucial back-story that occupies 100 pages in the middle of the book is preceded by a beautifully written description of how the narrator comes to discover the tale that follows:
'There, resting beneath the hammock like a pet, was the wicker box: there on the paper...more
So why only three stars? Well the author has chosen to use a rather clumsy framing device for the novel in an attempt to appear more literary.
So for example the crucial back-story that occupies 100 pages in the middle of the book is preceded by a beautifully written description of how the narrator comes to discover the tale that follows:
'There, resting beneath the hammock like a pet, was the wicker box: there on the paper...more
I don't believe I've ever read a more interesting book.
A university professor meets a man in a billiards parlor and they become acquaintances. Not friends, exactly, since they never share their lives or this histories, but acquaintances who can share a couple of rounds of billiards and a bit of rum. Things happen.
I won't tell you what happens because each thing that happens is, in its own way, inexplicable, and you simply want to know why...and then something else happens that might be connected...more
A university professor meets a man in a billiards parlor and they become acquaintances. Not friends, exactly, since they never share their lives or this histories, but acquaintances who can share a couple of rounds of billiards and a bit of rum. Things happen.
I won't tell you what happens because each thing that happens is, in its own way, inexplicable, and you simply want to know why...and then something else happens that might be connected...more
Antonio Yamarra is a professor of law in Bogota, Colombia. He loosens up after work by playing billiards. In the billiard parlor he meets Ricardo Laverde, a man who has been in jail for nineteen years. He is a mystery to Antonio and to others. What he was in jail for is unknown but the phrase echoes throughout the book, 'He must have done something.' Antonio tries to get to know Ricardo better and hangs around with him. This ends in a tragedy when two men on a motorcycle gun Ricardo down and kil...more
I'd rate this 3.5 stars.
Antonio Yammara was a young law professor in Colombia during the violent days in which Pablo Escobar ruled and frightened his country. He enjoys speaking about the law to his students, even in such a lawless country, and is enjoying a romantic relationship with one of them.
One day he has a chance encounter with Ricardo Laverde, a mysterious ex-convict, at a billiards club. The two begin to form a casual friendship, although Antonio has more questions about Laverde than h...more
Antonio Yammara was a young law professor in Colombia during the violent days in which Pablo Escobar ruled and frightened his country. He enjoys speaking about the law to his students, even in such a lawless country, and is enjoying a romantic relationship with one of them.
One day he has a chance encounter with Ricardo Laverde, a mysterious ex-convict, at a billiards club. The two begin to form a casual friendship, although Antonio has more questions about Laverde than h...more
topics | posts | views | last activity |
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21st Century Lite...:Sound of Things Falling --Parts I -III (Spoilers Allowed) (Dec 2018) | 18 | 35 | Feb 26, 2019 11:17AM |
21st Century Lite...:Sound of Things Falling --Parts IV -VI, Whole Book (Spoilers Allowed) (Dec 2018) | 22 | 34 | Dec 31, 2018 01:59PM |
21st Century Lite...:Sound of Things Falling - Background and General (No Spoilers) (Dec 2018) | 14 | 30 | Dec 09, 2018 09:50AM |
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Estudió Derecho en su ciudad natal, en la Universidad del Rosario, y después de graduarse, partió a Francia, donde se instaló en París (1996-99). Allí, en La Sorbona se doctoró en Literatura Latinoamericana. Luego se mudó a un pequeño pueblo de la región de Ardenas, en Bélgica. Después de un año de vivir allí, Vásquez se instaló en Barcelona. Actualmente vive cerca a su ciudad natal en Colombia.
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“Adulthood brings with it the pernicious illusion of control, and perhaps even depends on it. I mean that mirage of dominion over our own life that allows us to feel like adults, for we associate maturity with autonomy, the sovereign right to determine what is going to happen to us next. Disillusion comes sooner or later, but it always comes, it doesn’t miss an appointment, it never has.” — 50 likes
“There is no more disastrous mania, no more dangerous whim, than the speculation over roads not taken.” — 44 likes
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