On Earth As It Is Beneath

Picked this up from the International Booker Prize shortlist knowing nothing: no excerpt, no synopsis. First book by a Brazilian author. Went in blind.

Finished it in one weekend. Most characters stay deliberately opaque, which is fine, though the one who matters most does not. Melquíades, the prison warden, is obnoxious and detestable in equal measure, and entirely too skilled at being both. This is essentially Prison Break, with Bellick recast as the protagonist of his own deranged story. Isolation and unchecked power as the conditions; Melquíades as what they produce. The Colony's monotony does the rest: no amenities, no recreation, nothing resembling a life. No backstory required when the environment does all the work.

Good on Pablo for engineering his escape during the Full Moon hunt. Swapping attire with Melquíades was the smart play; Melquíades hitting a rock mid-chase and passing out was a convenient bonus.

The real peak is Valdenio: walking out of the compound with his ankle tag still on, bracing for an explosion that never comes. The entryway reads "Discipline shall set us free", and he stood outside it muttering something like "we will be free because we will all be dead." And then he died. That, truly, was CINEMA. Brief research confirmed: this maps squarely onto Auschwitz and "Arbeit macht Frei". The resonance is not accidental.

Bronco Gil is the MVP, the dependable hunter who never loses his head. Even with Melquíades holding the high ground, he put an arrow clean through his throat. With a bow. That's anime-level writing. He walks out of the compound, lands a job offer, and carries on with his life (one eye short, all dignity intact).

Short book. I want more of it.