Los Hechos Casuales / Casual Events

Sebasti嫕 Sarmiento es un empresario exitoso y adinerado, cuya vida ha estado determinada por una serie de hechos causales y en apariencia intrascendentes que han desencadenado la muerte de sus seres m嫳 queridos, entre ellos su padre, su mejor amigo y su esposa. Dichas tragedias hacen que Sebasti嫕 cargue con un sentimiento de culpa que se acrecienta cuando es secuestrado sitamente.

En Los hechos casuales, la historia de Sebasti嫕 es narrada por 幨 mismo y por un compa鎑ro suyo de la infancia llamado Roberto Mendoza, quien va reconstruyendo el pasado de su amigo a trav廥 de recuerdos y testimonios fragmentados. Al comienzo Sebasti嫕 aparece como una figura enigm嫢ica, pero a medida que avanza la novela se van develando poco a poco los misterios que lo rodean. As? ante nuestros ojos va surgiendo un hombre discreto, altruista y amante de la buena literatura, en cuya historia irrumpe de manera contundente la violencia que marc?la realidad colombiana desde los a隳s ochenta hasta la primera d嶰ada de los 2000.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

Roberto Mendoza is a writer who reconstructs the life of an old schoolmate named Sebasti嫕 Sarmiento, a rich, widowed businessman from Bogot? Throughout the novel, Roberto composes the story of Sebasti嫕 Sarmiento, who at first appears to be an enigmatic character. We learn that his father was assassinated when Sebasti嫕 was a child, that he had to leave the country, that he later returned and became a communications magnate, that he was kidnapped, and that he was finally forced to flee Colombia for good.

Roberto's narration is complemented by letters in which Sebasti嫕 speaks in the first person. In these missives, Sebasti嫕 brings out the feelings of guilt that he carries for the death of his father, his wife, and his friend Rafael, all of whom died due to casual events he instigated himself. This sense of guilt will never abandon Sebasti嫕, and it will transform into the collective guilt that all Colombians carry because of our convulsive and violent past.