Louis de Bernieres - Senor Vivo and the Coca Lor

One of Louis de Bernieres's earlier works, before Captain Corelli's Mandolin catapulted him into instant notoriety - and the indignity of a subpar movie to boot - this novel reflects the writing characteristic of his salad days, where he was happier exploring the intricacies of relationships via a less conventional, more disjointed light.

A very porous narrative follows. The tale tracks an anti-coca warlord through a litany of dangerously tiring trials - from simple threats to the final disastrous deaths of his loved ones. All the way, the narrative eye flits from group to group, highlighting the diversity of issues afflicting those forced to live under the penumbra of the raging coca trade of Colombia.

The prose wittily skewers the multifarous problems of combating the coca trade - as the narrative develops, the continuity concurrently degenerates, skilfully exposing the extent of government corruption in the unravelling of any concerted effort to weed the coca lords out. The narrative style itself is an apt allegory of the futility of said efforts; the longer the government tries, the bolder the coca lords.

Throughout the book, the emphasis is not so much on plot as on character; it is almost as if the tale of the coca trade is best played out through the vignettes of each individual. Each character in the novel reflects a disparate group in Colombia, be it the petty government official frustrated because his hands are tied, the average citizen whose sole role throughout is to provide a social commentary, or the coca lords themselves, who hungrily play the system for what it is worth.

In typical de Bernieres fashion, especially in his earlier works, the humour is understated yet playful; each character is subject to a series of idiosyncracies that expose their fallacies in a slapstick fashion. You will enjoy this read, but let me warn you, if you are the Korean drama type, cherishing solid storyline over artistic license, you will be sorely let down.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10.