Safe Return Doubtful

translated from the Spanish (Mexico) by Julia Sanches and Heather Cleary

An unnamed narrator at an unnamed university becomes increasingly obsessed with man named Gordon, who may be his tutor, as we are led to believe initially, though could be his colleague. Their relationship unfolds as the novel proceeds, with reference to books Gordon has borrowed from the library, that the narrator then borrows, paying particular attention to the annotations and highlights Gordon has made in them. These become increasingly bizarre and lead to the narrator wondering if Gordon is attempting to unravel some sort of mystery. Many of these books are studies of waste and disorder, with Allen often providing footnotes; for example Valerie Allen’s On Farting (2009) or Dominique Laporte’s History of Shit (1978).

Meanwhile, a mysterious illness breaks out, a sort of catalepsy that affects only academics. Scholars are found semi-concious at their desks, and soon, other universities also experience it. That only academics fall ill, and are slow to recover challenges the hierarchy of intellectualism; a reference to the debilitating long term effects of a pandemic perhaps, or even that the solution may be a return to illiteracy. Either way, this second strand of the novel is for me, the more compelling one, and yet gets less time spent on it.

With its theme of peril, or threat, this is certainly a fascinating short novel, though I personally prefer my Ansgar Allen darker. As inventive and compelling as it is, it didn’t go to the places I hoped it would.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5