In my ever-constant desire to devour the world, I’ve decided to commit myself to reading a work from every country. I anticipate the journey to take several years as I intend to only read a couple from the list (which I’m slowly curating!) each month. I’m starting with the As.
Country: Angola
Title: The Book of Chameleons
Author: José Eduardo Agualusa
Language: Portuguese
Translator: Daniel Han
Publisher: Arcadia Books (2006)
The Book of Chameleons is narrated by a gecko who lives in a house belonging to Félix Ventura, a bookish albino who creates new identities for people. A man who allows others to blend in with their surroundings. (Geckos are the only lizards with a voice, and our narrator is a tiger gecko known for its laugh. And he laughs. A lot.) Félix names his lizard roommate Eulalio, and, at the end, Félix has taken over Eulalio’s story.
The novel is set after the Angolan Civil War, but it’s that history that brings many to Félix’s door seeking a new identity. Félix doesn’t take their stories – he just provides them with new ones. Through the gecko, we get to see an interplay of truth and fiction and how memory can be manipulated.
Things take a turn toward the interesting when a tall man with an accent the gecko can’t quite place shows up seeking a new identity. He completely consumes this new identity, but the past won’t allow him to forget who he was, what was taken from him, and who took it. Toss in a beautiful woman who chases rainbows, and Félix’s and the gecko’s lives will never be the same.
This one was a lot of fun. Read this book.
A Girl Named Tommi 