Coquitlam Public Library

Plan de evasión, Adolfo Bioy Casares

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fiction

Plan de evasión

Adolfo Bioy Casares

Henri Nevers is a Frenchman sent by his father to a post at a penal colony in French Guiana. Arriving at Cayenne, the seat of government, Nevers learns that the governor, Castel, has deserted Cayerme to "be alone with the prisoners" on the islands. When Nevers ferries to the islands, Castel meets him with delight as "an educated collaborator." Nevers intuits that "Castel's interest in social and prison matters is strictly sadistic," and he tries to remain uninvolved. Confronted by inmates' allusive remarks and his own observations, however, he is compelled to follow the clues that lead him to unearth the horrible results of Castel's reign. Despite the novel's horrors, its tone is eerily distanced by its point of view: The tale is narrated by Nevers' uncle who has pieced it together from his nephew's letters. This perspective allows for holes in the story which readers who demand closure may not want to accept