Schavelzon Graham Agencia literaria Barcelona

Twice in June

NOVEL. DE BOLSILLO, 2002. 192 PAGES.

This novel finds just the right voice and voices - including murmurs, reverberations and echoes - to conjure a specific period without self-pity, equivocation or compassion. This is no small task; the period in question is the final years of the military dictatorship in Argentina and is usually addressed in a tone of (entirely justified) lament and recrimination that has, perhaps through overuse, unfortunately become inoffensive and conventional. Martin Kohan breaks free of these restrictions to tell the story he wants to tell. A doctor, a conscript, and a misspelt notebook: weaving his own particular spell, the author gathers new evidence of the horror and distributes or conceals it beneath a multi-layered plot that acts as both a dramatic alibi and a subtle warning system. He thus manages to portray the true nightmare of the times. In June '78, whilst the euphoria of the football world cup would seem to present a picture of camaraderie and joy, deceit, defection and euphemism are crucial instruments for the survival of oppressors and oppressed alike, and Twice in June provides a perfect environment for them. In this extraordinary book, Martin Kohan explores a clandestine version of events that are best - and perhaps can only be - told in the language of fiction.