[The Depopulation] is now part of the historical record of that which is gone, and another reminder of the important role that fiction can play in portraying cultures that have been lost to aggressions of the past.
The Depopulation
“Of all the happy, hermitic lands, the Guayrá was the jewel.”
So begins this polyphonic wonder of a novel set in a 17th-century Jesuit mission founded within the wild South American subtropics by the mystical and intense Father Ruiz and his assistant Father Maceta. As the priests seek to convert the indigenous Guaraní and unravel the many religious mysteries that surround them, the harmony of their community is abruptly upended by the arrival of Overá, who announces himself as the Son of God and younger brother of Jesus. But an even larger threat presents itself when word arrives that European marauders and slave hunters will soon descend upon the peaceful mission, compelling Overá and the priests to launch a mass exodus into the heart of the jungle.
Full of humor, passion, and terror, The Depopulation brilliantly evokes the moment when modernity’s spark set fire to a still-magic world.
The Depopulation is translated from the Spanish by Thomas Bunstead.
Blackwell’s “Best Paperback Translated Fiction” selection
Ebook
- ISBN
- 9781954276611
Paperback
- ISBN
- 9781954276604
Read an excerpt from The Depopulation at Literary Hub.
Marina Closs grew up in a small town in the Misiones province of Argentina, an area steeped in the history that informs The Depopulation, her first novel to be published in English. She is the recipient of Argentina’s Fondo Nacional de las Artes Prize and Angélica Gorodischer Prize, and has also been shortlisted for Spain’s Finestres Prize and Ribera del Duero Prize. She lives in Santiago, Chile.
visit author page »Praise for The Depopulation
The narrative voice reverberates with the resonance of parable and is peppered with Guaraní songs and verses. . . . A beautiful, absurd, and fascinating exploration of the tragic fallout from a fierce cultural clash.
— Booklist
Threaded by beautifully imaginative prose and a cast of endearing characters, The Depopulation is a poetic journey into the depths of nature, affection, and religious experience. Marina Closs strikes me as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary Latin American literature.
— Simón López Trujillo, author of Pedro the Vast
Marina Closs’s writing trembles, sweats, explodes; she is, as of now, one of my favorite writers.
— Mónica Ojeda, author of Jawbone and Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun
Exceptionally imaginative!
— Linda Bond, Auntie’s Bookstore (Spokane, WA)