I have chosen to revisit a number of my favorite books from the years of shadowing, and here we go back to 2011 and Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras. I picked this book because it is a book whose young character I connected with as I was a similar age to him. Also, it was a book I fondly remember being sent by the translator Frank Wynne, one of my favorite translators. If you can find this book, it is worth reading.

Right, the book is set in the 1970s in Latin America, just after a coup and the period in Argentina that is called the Dirty War. The book is narrated by a ten-year-old boy. Most of the book he’s called Harry, a name chosen by the young boy, as his hero is the legendary escape artist Harry Houdini. His parents are left-wingers, forced to flee their home in Buenos Aires to head to a safe house in the back and beyond of Argentine.

The book is divided into parts, each relating to a school day. This book is from Harry’s point of view, and a bit like Wil Wheaton says in Stand by Me: The Days When You’re the Age Before You Discover Girls are the Best, and this is Harry, yes there is danger. Still, Harry is more interested in TV and drinking Nesquik. He talks about the Midget. It took me a couple mentions to realize this was his younger brother, a close relationship beautifully portrayed. Harry compares people he meets to the characters he sees on TV, mainly from his favorite show, Invaders, which I vaguely remember seeing as a Kid. Also, The Saint, a TV show which I loved myself as a kid.

Childhood is a large chunk of this book; I would imagine a lot of the likes and worries of Harry are from Marcelo’s own childhood although he is a few years older than Harry at the time the book is set. Marcelo is also an extraordinary visual writer, bringing the places the family visits along the way to life so much. This is a refreshing change to other Latin American books based around coups, which on the whole, have been dark and more political. We get a reflection on how these events affect a family; we‘ve all heard about people going on the run, and now here is a book that shows it through a child’s eyes.

The book has been made into a successful film in Argentina which was Argentina’s choice for the foreign Oscar in 2002. The book was translated by Frank @terribleman Wynne with natural lightness. The story flows, and sometimes you forget this wasn’t written in English. This is on this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize longlist, and hopefully shortlist. So, what did his father’s last words mean? Well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!

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