Puedes leer también esta reseña en español en mi blog. I had discovered Ernesto Sabato in my school years, but I can say that my true experience with his work began last year. Like many people from my generation I had read the well-known The Tunnel in highschool; it happened to be a relatively short reading which wasn't as memorable for me as I would have wanted. I inoccently thought Sabato and I would never cross paths again, until his name appeared in one of my classes, between comments about his scientific past, his essays and his so-called "trilogy", and a long-lived existentialist aura (you see, the man lived for nearly a century). So this kind of...sabatian club of disperse members I thought I had uncovered turned me into an enthusiast as well, when we found out that The Tunnel's "sequel", On Heroes and Tombs, had been chosen for one of our classes. We were told that we would move immediately to the third book, Abaddon El Exterminador (or Angel of Darkness, as it was translated).They were right, people.Despite this review (my first one ever, by the way) will be only about Abaddon El Exterminador, there are two warnings I must give you. First, Ernesto Sabato is a genius. Trust me in this one. Even though his novels may not seem so accessible at first sight, they are worth it. And I mean it not just objectively, but also emotionally. Second, it is necessary to have read previously The Tunnel and On Heroes and Tombs in order to understand this book. Such a bummer, I know, but even the book itself mentions it in the first chapter. However, you can still read the two first novels separately, but I highly recommend to read The Tunnel anyway. It really enhances your experience with Sabato, and you'll be even more surprised.From the intriguing first paragraph we realize that this novel is a dialogue between Sabato and his fictions, and it's read as a journey full of nostalgia. That's right: when reading Sabato I experiment that poignant feeling in the atmosphere of his books. Could it be because they are narrated as some kind of reminiscences? Abaddon El Exterminador is written in the shape of passages and scenes that don't always follow a chronological order. It could easily be the most experimental of his novels, playing around with characters and their points of view...and that's ok. It's ok - and I celebrate it - because in this book Sabato shows us the most accurate representation of his inner world, with light and demons included. And his intrincate narrative constructions aren't dull or dry; on the contrary, there's a great emotional charge (in my opinion) due to the personal connection to the author.This book could be summarized by an image of Ernesto Sabato, after the publication of On Heroes and Tombs and the hype surrounding him (and the incomprehension that comes with it), struggling to write a book that fights to exit the depths of his soul. From this point everything comes together: past and present, fictional and real characters, Sabato-the character with Sabato-in-reality. Now I understand my sabatian friends. One of the recurrent subjects is the purpose of art, which the novel attempts to explain. In a world of revolutions and deaths in Vietnam, is the novelist's task the one of a hero or a coward? The character of Bruno, with the most relatable doubts and fears, is the personification of this question. In Abaddon El Exterminador art is interpreted as a search for the absolute (for which the best representation according to Sabato is a novel), or as an attempt to communicate with others. In its best parts, this novel isn't read as a bunch of philosophical quotes, but as a letter from the writer to the reader, or from the writer to himself.The last pages from this book are pure genius; they encapsulate the emotional climax and leave you with this poignant, nostalgic mood. Sabato achieves to represent wonderfully that feeling of looking back to the past and realize that everything starts to make sense, even when it's already late. If you write or love literature or any type of art I'd definitely recommend this one for you. It's not an easy read and it might not leave all of the storylines neatly closed, but if you want to go beyond The Tunnel, then this book and On Heroes and Tombs are definitely worth the effort.
Este libro sufrió de muchos cambios, los vivió conmigo, le tocó aguantarme en una etapa de cambios; no solo de trabajo, de casa, de ciudad y hasta de humores. Será que por eso me ha costado tanto, porque el pobre va cargando todas mis preocupaciones y ocupaciones... y no sé si debido a eso, va a ir a mi anaquel imaginario de “libros que leí y que debo volver a leer cuando tenga más calma y la cabeza este centrada”.Me cuesta trabajo reseñar este libro, la pregunta básica sería “¿de qué trata?” y mi respuesta inmediata sería “de todo... y de nada”, es más, ni siquiera entiendo el porqué del título. Nótese mi nivel de confusión, si doy lástima... 800 páginas, meses de lectura (con baja velocidad pero lectura al fin) y sigo sin poder definir la trama de este libro..... inclusive la reseña de la contraportada me resultó confusa, pensé en apoyarme en las reseñas de goodreads pero para mi desgracia solo encontré dos y uno de ellos no terminó de leerlo.Requisito importantísimo, antes de leer este libro debes leer antes las otras dos novelas del autor (EL túnel y Sobre Héroes y Tumbas) y de ser posible, releerlas... Esta novela es una inmersión a la mente de Sabato, la historia va y viene entre diversos argumentos, involucrando a personajes de sus otras historias, a nuevos, y existen capítulos en los que incluso él mismo es personaje; lamentablemente considero que eso fue una mala decisión; me deja la impresión de egocentrismo al retratarse de esa forma en su obra.Mis partes favoritas eran las conversaciones entre Nacho y Carlucho... ese vínculo entre un niño y un vendedor de cigarros.*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~This book experienced many changes, he lived with me, he had to endure in a period of changes, not only of work, home, city and even moods. Perhaps that's why I had so much trouble reading it, because the poor book get loaded with all my concerns and occupations... do not know if because of that, it’s going to my imaginary bookshelf "books that I read and reread when I feel more calm and the head is centered".It is giving me a hard time to review this book, the fundamental question is "what is it about?" And my immediate response is "it's about everything ... and nothing", I don’t even understand why he chose that title. Keep in mind my level of confusion, I'm pathetic ... 800 pages, months of reading (at a slow speed, but still reading) and I am unable to define the plot of this book ..... even the review of the back cover is confusing, I thought that if I read the other reviews from goodreads, this would help me, but for my misfortune there are only two and one of them did not even finish reading the novel.Very important prerequisite before reading this book, you should read first the other two novels by the author (The tunnel and On Heroes and Tombs) and if possible, re-read them... this novel is an immersion into Sabato´s mind, the story goes back and forth between different themes, involving characters from his other stories, new, and there are chapters that even himself is a character, unfortunately I think that was a bad decision, I get the impression of self-centeredness to portray himself it that way in his work. My favorite parts were the conversations between Nacho and Carlucho ... that bond between a child and cigarette seller.
What do You think about Abaddón El Exterminador (1995)?
Parts of this book are really good, but it felt kind of unfinished like it had yet to get to the editing phase which would have done it some good. I'm sure it would have made more sense if I had read his other books first (I didn't realize this when I started the book--it was the only Sabato book available at the library). That said, there were some really good parts and some really interesting ideas, but it just didn't fully come together. It definitely interested me enough to read his other books, though.
—Gabriel Patterson-king
Además de escritor, Sábato pintaba cuadros. Abbadón el exterminador es otro intento para dibujar el mundo y su profundidad en tamaño natural. Lo hace, por supuesto, a la medida del único mundo que puede conocer un ser humano: el propio.Hay gente que escribe estados en facebook, compone canciones, derrama en arte su cotidaneidad y las porquerías que le atormentan el cerebro. Ernesto diría que también el espíritu, especialmente durante el sueño, cuando entramos al otro mundo que contemplamos en pesadillas). Para mí, Sábato estaba desesperado por conseguir esto.La quinta estrella, sin embargo, no se la gana. Si bien queda claro desde el título que "Abbadón el exterminador" es una obra repleta de pesimismo apocalíptico (no se ve acá la esperanza que Sábato tiene en otros libros), detesto cuando las últimas páginas de un libro me hacen bufar esperando que se termine.Sábato es uno de mis escritores favoritos. De mis principales influencias. Pero se olvida -al menos acá- de que el universo es mucho más que una agonía lenta. Que esa muerte tiene su opuesto. Sin embargo, aquella desolación que está presente en todo el libro es la que hace posible que "Abbadón el exterminador" exista.Me gustaría darle unas palmadas en el hombro, frotarle la espalda y decirle "bueno, bueno... tranquilo..." Lo hago, de hecho, sobre el lomo de sus libros.
—Ellioth Mess
Luego de más de un año intentando terminarlo, lo hice.Con una mezcla de personajes y acontecimientos de otras novelas, el relato (la serie de relatos, mejor dicho), es un tanto siniestro, pesimista y obviamente existencial; tiene muchos recovecos en los que te desvías (o quizás yo intenté darle significado a cosas por las que no tenia que preocuparme). Me confundí muchas veces en lo ficticio y lo real. Además, no se sabe hacia donde va hasta la antepenúltima página, pero tiene un final con un mensaje especial que equilibra las otras 400 páginas.Bueno, es complicado pero me gustó. Aunque prefiero Héroes y Tumbas.
—Adelaida
