The Words that Remain by Stênio Gardel

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023--San Antonio

The Words that Remain by Stenio Gardel has been short-listed for the National Book Award within the category of Translated Novels.  It has a unique format.  And it does an admiral job of trying to address the problem of people not being able to comprehend and empathize with persons who are different from themselves.  In this case, it is with matters of sexuality.  The story is built around the life of Raimundo, an illiterate Brazilian peasant.  As a young man, he has come to realize he is different--that he has no sexual interest in females.  He and his best friend have fallen in love, but they know to be cautious.  When their relationship is discovered by Raimundo's father, there is no tolerance for it.  He is forbidden to see his friend again and is severely beaten on the back nightly with a belt for 16 days because the father says "the only right thing" for a man is to marry a woman and have children which will eventually lead for grandchildren; it is the responsibility of a man to do this rather than to bring shame on himself and his family.  But he learns that he is not the first in his family.  His father had a brother who was gay and the grandfather indirectly killed him by forcing him, as a non-swimmer, to swim into the middle of the river where he drowned.  Raimundo's mother is no help.  Only a sister who does not know the whole story shows concern for what is happening.  When his friend misses an appointment for a secret meeting together at the river where Raimundo has planed to propose running away, Raimundo feels betrayed by the love of his life.  His sister brings a letter home from school that the friend has given her to relay to Raimundo even though Raimundo cannot read.  Instead of allowing his sister to read it to him, he leaves home taking the unread letter with him wondering for years what it has said.  Eventually, when he is in his 50s, he starts going to adult classes to learn to read and write so he can eventually read the letter.  During that time, however, he has tried to hide his sexual orientation from everyone and has mostly worked as a laborer for trucker drivers traveling routes around the country.  But a transsexual prostitute he has encountered outside an adult pornographic cinema won't let him hide.  She publicly calls him out among his friends after, he, too, has shown intolerance and inability to understand why she is the way she is.  It takes decades for him to accept himself without shame.  He eventually leaves the trucking business because the heavy lifting has caused health problems, and he even befriends and becomes the roommate of the transsexual prostitute.  Eventually, he makes the trip back home to find that his parents are deceased and that his sister still cares for him and is glad to see him.  It is revealed at that time point that his young lover has married and had children and grandchildren, but just as Raimundo has never forgotten him nor quit yearning to be with him, the lover also has never forgotten Raimundo or quit yearning for him.  Both have lived lives that were not satisfying because of intolerance, shame, and miscommunication.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.