Colombia
167
Montaña Ibáñez, Francisco
No comas renacuajos (Don’t eat tadpoles)
Bogotá: Babel, 2008. – 107 p.
ISBN 978-958-8445-02-1
Poverty – Hunger – Violence – Suicide
This story unfolds on two time lines and describes a childhood utterly
destroyed by poverty and violence. David (called »the immortal one«), who
lives in an or-phanage and all but mutely shares a friendship with the
narrator of the story Nina, seems disturbed. He is the key to the second
time line narrated retrospectively. Their mother dead, their father vanished
– it is within this scenario that a group of five siblings must fight for
bare survival in dismal housing. Lacking hope for any amelio-ration of their
situation, the oldest brother kills his siblings and finally himself. Only
David survives. The book paints a ruthless picture of a bitter reality. The
titular tadpoles are a symbol for profound poverty and abasement, as well as
for life and survival. (12+)