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Strange Tunnels Disappearing centres on events dotted throughout the 1980s in Peru, covering a period in which the guerrilla tactics of the Maoist group Sendero Luminoso dominated the country. The novel’s action is played out against this violent backdrop and is alternately narrated by the two principal characters, José Perez – a politics lecturer on the theoretical wing of Sendero Luminoso – and Hugo Young – no, not the Guardian columnist, but an aerospace salesman born in Swansea.
José has been advised by his colleagues to escape from mainland Peru to the remote island of Taquile because, they tell him, of the inflammatory social effect a controversial lecture of his has had. His past is notable for his involvement in the implementation of Sendero Luminoso’s ideas in the impoverished rural and urban districts of Peru. However, José’s aversion to violence means that he grows more and more uncomfortable with the way Sendero’s approach is dehumanising its advocates, especially his younger sister Julia. The book therefore represents a sort of warning against the dangers of applying a political philosophy to real life; as one of Sendero’s leaders tells José: 'You can’t go quiet in this game.'
Hugo, the arrogant and individualistic businessman, has also escaped to Taquile after a run-in with a corrupt diplomat in Chincheros. He is in South America to finalise a deal in Brazil but has travelled to Peru in order to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Henry Meiggs, who built railways there in the nineteenth century. Indeed, Meiggs forms an important part of Hugo’s psyche; Hugo holds imaginary conversations with him throughout, is driven by his motto 'Fight. Pay. Charm', and bizarrely nicknames him Popeye after Gene Hackman’s character in The French Connection.
Meiggs’s influence on the book also points us towards the 'strange tunnels' of its title, which works on several levels. We have references to railway tunnels, for example, and also to hidden tunnels built by Sendero Luminoso’s members. As the novel progresses, the phrase 'strange tunnels disappearing' takes on a deeper symbolism as José’s aspirations start to fall apart.
Despite the interesting subject matter of Strange Tunnels Disappearing, the author’s desire for his characters to explain and dissect their every move – an extremely laborious and wearisome exercise – ultimately leads to indifference on the reader’s part towards the action. We’re over half way through the book, for example, before José and Hugo even talk to one another. Their conversations are engaging though unexceptional (José pits his radical views against Hugo’s conservative stance), but the novel continues to be dominated by long soliloquies by the two main characters. What little action there is in the book is constantly held back by such passages.
Admittedly, the plot does begin to pick up when we realise that Julia – who has also had to flee Peru – is not as marginal as we (and José) first think. Hugo is the unfortunate discoverer of this fact in what is probably the only exciting part of the book. By this time the average reader will probably have lost interest.
Owain Wilkins
It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.
Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.
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