The Anthill A Novel – Audiobook Online

The Anthill – A Novel, Audiobook Online By: Julianne Pachico

“Pachico’s The Anthill is amazing.” (Kelly Link)

An incredibly unique blend of social horror and sharp satire, The Anthill is a stinging exploration of privilege, racism, and redemption in the Instagram age.

In the end, it’s much easier not to look at what it feels like to scream. To not test it. It’s better to just keep rushing in….

Lina has returned to the homeland of her childhood. Sent from Colombia to England after her mother’s death 20 years ago, she is looking for someone who can tell her about their shared past. She never forgets Matty – her childhood friend and protector, who now runs Anthill, a daycare for street kids in Medellín. Lina starts volunteering there, but her reunion with Matty isn’t what she expected. She no longer recognizes Medellin, now renamed a tourist destination, any more than the person Matty has become: a protected man uninterested in reliving the past she was. I think both are appreciated.

As Lina begins to confront her memories and the country’s traumatic history, strange things begin to happen in Anthill: Something is scratching violently inside the closet door. The children were drawing disturbing pictures, and there were mysterious scenes of a small, dirty boy with pointed teeth. Is this a picture of the boy Lina once knew or something more sinister? Did she bring these disturbances with her? And how will her quest for redemption cost Matty?

A psychedelic, visceral trip by an author called “[B]quietly, fresh, and emotionless” (The New York Times Book Review) and “[R]emarkably creatively” (The Atlantic) ), The Anthill is a ghost story like no other, a meditation on healing – for both a person and a country – after terror.

Strange book but worth reading. It doesn’t always make sense, and since the author doesn’t use quotes, you won’t know which character is saying what. Not exactly magical realism but with a supernatural element. I’m having a little trouble with the change of Lina, Maria, Caroline, Carolina and Mary (same person, you can understand the meaning of many names) from being “new volunteer” to human hers at the end of the book. All that said, it’s an interesting story that has a lot to say.

I need to put this review into context, I live in Colombia and am a regular observer of what’s going on, politics, conflict, society, travel, etc. and I came to Anthill with high expectations. Not only does Pachico deliver, she gives us one of the most in-depth perspectives on the protagonist’s quest for identity and the city of Medellin itself. There may be parts that are too heavy on the contemporary Colombian aspect, but if you have any basic knowledge of the country, you should be fine. I’m still thinking about how the main character Carolina got such a bad stomachache when a group of tourists to the city said they were going to “the Escobar amusement park”, so much so that she threw up. road.

 

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