The storyline centers on the many issues facing countries in the region at the turn of the 20th century - struggles of integrity, obligation and iniquity.Ĭore to the vivid story is a rich diversity of characters that comprise multiple ancestries natives and expatriates intermingle, sharing values and influences all within Sulaco. The layered narrative takes place in the fictitious Latin American country of Costaguana, more specifically in its western province of Sulaco, providing an allegory to the succession of political regimes in Greater Colombia, and the subsequent independence movement of Panama. Scott Fitzgerald heaped on the acclaim, adding: “I’d rather have written Conrad’s Nostromo than any other novel.” The Art of Distortion alerted me to it, calling the book the best work on Latin America’s socio-political state of affairs written by a non-native. Nostromo, written by the British-Polish writer Joseph Conrad, is an obscure novel published 62 years before Garcia Marquez’s masterpiece. My 2020 contribution flows from the same tradition, reflecting on the realities of Latin America’s struggle to shake off colonial exploitation. Perhaps the most prominent title in this genre is Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, the novel I read and discussed for Global Atlanta’s annual book review in 2019. Amid the various excerpts published in the anthology, a unifying concept that captured my interest was “magical realism”, a technique in which the author maintains a historically sound narrative while infusing elements of fantasy.

I previously came across a very engaging book on the enjoyment of fiction writing titled The Art of Distortion. The Rover is the last complete novel written by Joseph Conrad, and was published in 1923 shortly before his death.Review by: Jorge Fernandez, consultant, Pendleton Group, and former vice president of global commerce at the Metro Atlanta Chamber Jorge Fernandez As he attempts to settle into a peaceful existence, Peyrol struggles to redefine himself and returns to the sea for one final voyage. As the Revolution rages in France, a seafarer named Peyrol, a master-gunner in the French republican navy, pirate, and for nearly 50 years, rover of the outer seas, comes to the end of a lifetime lived on the seas and seeks refuge in a remote farmhouse on the French Riviera.

The Rover by Joseph Conrad