The Harp and the Shadow.

San Francisco, CA Mercury House, 1992. Paperback. First Edition Thus [1992], so stated; First Printing indicated by a complete numerical sequence. First Edition Thus [1992], so stated; First Printing indicated by a complete numerical sequence. Very Near Fine in Wraps: shows only the most minute indications of use: just a hint of rubbing to the wrapper covers; else flawless; the binding remains square and perfectly secure; the text is clean. Free of creases to the panels. Free of creases to the backstrip. Free of any creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of any underlining, hi-lighting or marginalia or marks in the text. Free of any ownership names, dates, addresses, notations, inscriptions, stamps, plates, or labels. A handsome very nearly-new copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing only a single minor and unobtrusive imperfection. Bright and clean. Corners sharp. Very close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. (8.25 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches). xiv, 159 pages. Translated by Thomas & Carol Christensen. First appeared in Spanish in 1979. Trade Paperback. Written towards the end of Alejo Carpentier's life, The Harp and the Shadow is both a historical analysis of the Conquest and a personal reflection on fame. Carpentier -the inventor of magical realism - reinterprets Columbus's voyages as driven by greed, not honor. In the second section of book, we visit Columbus on his death bed. As Columbus awaits his confessor, he revisits his first voyages to the Americas, lamenting the fact that, in one section of his diary, he mentions "GOLD" more than two hundred times, while he mentions the Lord God only fourteen times. At the end of the novel, the ghost of Columbus visits his canonization hearing, at which members of the clergy argue for and against the sainthood of Christopher Columbus. As history tells us, the campaign to canonize Columbus failed, largely because he was responsible for initiating the slave trade from the Americas to Europe. Fittingly, the ghost of Columbus is condemned to wander the earth and contemplate his infamy for eternity. His name often circulated as a possible recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Most likely, he never won because of his strong support for the Cuban Revolution.