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Affections
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
14 posts | 5 read | 1 reading | 5 to read
A haunting novel about an unusual family’s breakdown—set in South America during the time of Che Guevara and based on the life of Third Reich cinematographer Hans Ertl—from the literary star Jonathan Safran Foer calls, “a great writer.” Inspired by real events, Affections is the story of the eccentric, fascinating Ertl clan, headed by the egocentric and extraordinary Hans, once the cameraman for the Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl. Shortly after the end of World War II, Hans and his family flee to Bolivia to start over. There, the ever-restless Hans decides to embark on an expedition in search of the fabled lost Inca city of Paitití, enlisting two of his daughters to join him on his outlandish quest into the depths of the Amazon, with disastrous consequences. Set against the backdrop of the both optimistic and violent 1950s and 1960s, Affections traces the Ertls’s slow and inevitable breakdown through the various erratic trajectories of each family member: Hans’s undertakings of colossal, foolhardy projects and his subsequent spectacular failures; his daughter Monika, heir to his adventurous spirit, who joins the Bolivian Marxist guerrillas and becomes known as “Che Guevara’s avenger”; and his wife and two younger sisters left to pick up the pieces in their wake. In this short but powerful work, Hasbún weaves a masterfully layered tale of how a family’s voyage of discovery ends up eroding the affections that once held it together.
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Hooked_on_books
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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Pickpick

An interesting novella about the slow fracturing of a family after flight from Germany to Bolivia (dad was a third reich cameraman). The story repeatedly shifts perspectives and the author does a great job of having a different style/tone for each speaker. Very quick read.

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madamereadsalot1
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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1. Fiction
2. Recently read and loved it, so it's all I can think of.
3. Maths
4. Post-cold war era, Regency period
5. @Kayla.Adriena

#frideas @SailorMoon

SailorMoon Thanks for playing!!! 💕🤟ðŸ»ðŸŒ™ 5y
Kayla.Adriena Eww maths 5y
20 likes2 comments
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madamereadsalot1
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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hermyknee I‘m going to try to get to the post office today! 5y
madamereadsalot1 @hermyknee take your time! Hope you're well. 😊 5y
16 likes2 comments
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madamereadsalot1
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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review
ElectricKatyLand
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
Pickpick

German-Bolivian family caught up in revolutionary Bolivian politics and complicated interpersonal dynamics. Short but powerful novel told from multiple perspectives.

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Leftcoastzen
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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#mountaintbrreadathon The Ertl family leaves Germany for Bolivia and a new start. Told from different points of view of the characters, it is a stunning look at how personal choices and political turmoil bring us together or push us apart.I was mesmerized.Concise and focused, so much intensity in 132 pages.

Reviewsbylola Gorgeous picture. 😠6y
Leftcoastzen @Reviewsbylola Thanks! Unseasonably warm here in AZ. Bougainvillea loves it. Me , not so much. 6y
33 likes2 comments
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Leftcoastzen
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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Stunning,I think. #mountaintbrreadathon

Suet624 Gorgeous. I agree with you. 6y
27 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Leftcoastzen
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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#fridayreads #mounttbrreadathon Happy Friday! I am helping out with some pet sitting this weekend, my charge doesn‘t like to be alone. Hope to finish the Pratchett, Tallent, and Hasbun this weekend. Trying to #readwide Affections author is from Bolivia.

batsy Nice! Would love to know what you think about Affections (an odd sentence, in itself 😆) 6y
Reviewsbylola Looks like you‘re prepared for your weekend! 🙌🻠6y
Leftcoastzen @batsy 🤣 6y
Leftcoastzen @Reviewsbylola Yep!Looking forward to it.Finishing some things and starting new ones from the mountain of books on my TBR. 6y
BibliophileMomma Happy your joining in the fun! 6y
32 likes5 comments
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Arbol
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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Bc I cannot resist @Powells when they have a sitewide 30% off sale. 📚

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jveezer
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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White colonial imperialism. When will it ever end?

Leftcoastzen Sigh😢 6y
3 likes1 comment
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jveezer
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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Bolivia: âœ”ï¸ #ReadWide #ReadAllLanguages

review
jveezer
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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Pickpick

Affections was my first book by a Bolivian author. It was interesting seeing the events and people through the lenses of personality and memory of the four narrators, three of them the sisters of the subject family and one narrator an outsider looking in. We see the family that was ostracized and forced to emigrate from Germany once again facing the same fate as they get swept up in the revolutionary currents of Bolivia and South America.

4 likes1 stack add
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jveezer
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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First Bolivian writer I have read. Surprisingly, thanks to my library. Usually, I have to buy books as I read further and further away from the Western White Male canon...

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SubwayBookReview
Affections | Rodrigo Hasbún
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"Wanderlust is a portrait of a simple act that can become very personal. Walking can be a pilgrimage or a political act – it's very creative. My characters are always in motion. They are trying to escape and find themselves." - RodrigoHasbún / Full story on Instagram

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