The Armies

WINNER OF THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE 2009

In a small town in the mountains of Colombia, Ismael, a retired teacher, spends his mornings gathering oranges in the sunshine and spying on his neighbour as she sunbathes naked in her garden.

Returning from a walk one morning he discovers that his wife has disappeared. Then more people go missing, and not-so-distant gunfire signals the approach of war. Most of the villagers make their escape, but Ismael cannot leave without his Otilia. He becomes an unwilling witness to the senseless civil war that sweeps through his country with a tragic inevitability.

In The Armies Rosero has created a hallucinatory, relentless, captivating narrative often as violent as the events it describes, told by an old man battered by a reality he no longer recognizes.

Winner of Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2009
Winner of Premio Tusquets Editores de Novela 2006

“'... this quietly devastating novel speaks gently but strikes deep ... perfectly pitched and paced, Anne McLean's English version does it due honour... if our age of cyclical terror and counter-terror needs its own answer to All Quiet On The Western Front, here it is' Independent.”

'A timeless epic which bears witness to the madness of a country adrift in the crossfire' Edgardo Dobry, El Pais. El Pais
'This finely wrought but softly-spoken novel of love, war and grief not only laments a people's tragedy but celebrates the fragile virtues of everyday life at the end of its tether' Boyd Tonkin, Independent. Independent
'An important and powerful book' Janine di Giovanni, The Times. The Times
Independent
'Author Evelio Rosero crafts his tale simply but with devastating effect; his clipped prose conveys a sense of utter terror and grief. Winner of the 2009 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, The Armies is a stunning work.' Sunday Business Post. Sunday Business Post
'A timeless epic which bears witness to the madness of a country adrift in the crossfire' Edgardo Dobry, El Pais. El Pais
'This finely wrought but softly-spoken novel of love, war and grief not only laments a people's tragedy but celebrates the fragile virtues of everyday life at the end of its tether' Boyd Tonkin, Independent. Independent
'An important and powerful book' Janine di Giovanni, The Times. The Times
Independent
'Author Evelio Rosero crafts his tale simply but with devastating effect; his clipped prose conveys a sense of utter terror and grief. Winner of the 2009 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, The Armies is a stunning work.' Sunday Business Post. Sunday Business Post

Evelio Rosero studied Social Communication in the Externado University of Colombia. In 2006 he was awarded the Tusquets National Prize for Literature in Colombia for his novel The Armies, which was also the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

In a small town in the mountains of Colombia, Ismael, a retired teacher, spends his mornings gathering oranges in the sunshine and spying on his neighbour as she sunbathes naked in her garden. Returning from a walk one morning he discovers that his wife has disappeared. Then more people go missing, and not-so-distant gunfire signals the approach of war. Most of the villagers make their escape, but Ismael cannot leave without his Otilia. He becomes an unwilling witness to the senseless civil war that sweeps through his country with a tragic inevitability. In The Armies Rosero has created a hallucinatory, relentless, captivating narrative often as violent as the events it describes, told by an old man battered by a reality he no longer recognizes. Evelio Rosero, himself a Colombian, is now recognized as one of the outstanding writers both of Latin America and among authors writing in Spanish.

In a small town in the mountains of Colombia, Ismael, a retired teacher, spends his mornings gathering oranges in the sunshine and spying on his neighbour as she sunbathes naked in her garden. Returning from a walk one morning he discovers that his wife has disappeared. Then more people go missing, and not-so-distant gunfire signals the approach of war. Most of the villagers make their escape, but Ismael cannot leave without his Otilia. He becomes an unwilling witness to the senseless civil war that sweeps through his country with a tragic inevitability. In The Armies Rosero has created a hallucinatory, relentless, captivating narrative often as violent as the events it describes, told by an old man battered by a reality he no longer recognizes.

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