Le dedico mi silencio / I Give You My Silence (Spanish Edition)

Toño Azpilcueta, experto en música criolla, descubre a un guitarrista virtuoso, Lalo Molfino, cuyo talento parece confirmar todas sus intuiciones: el amor profundo que siente por los valses, marineras, polkas y huaynos peruanos tiene una justificación social. Tal vez lo que ocurra es que la música criolla sea, en realidad, no sólo una seña de identidad de todo un país y expresión de esa actitud tan peruana de la huachafería («la mayor contribución de Perú a la cultural universal», según Toño Azpilcueta), sino algo mucho más importante: un elemento capaz de provocar una revolución social, de derribar prejuicios y barreras raciales para unir al país entero en un abrazo fraterno y mestizo. En un país fracturado y asolado por la violencia de Sendero Luminoso (la novela transcurre a principios de la década de los noventa, en plena ofensiva terrorista), la música podría ser aquello que recuerde a todos los que conforman la sociedad que, por encima de cualquier otra cosa, son hermanos y compatriotas. Y en esto, es posible que el virtuosismo de Lalo Molfino tenga mucho que ver.

Toño Azpilcueta decide investigar más sobre este guitarrista, viajar a su lugar de origen, conocer a este personaje esquivo, saber de su historia, de su familia y amores, de cómo llegó a convertirse en un músico tan excelso. Y se propone también escribir un libro donde contar la historia de la música criolla y desarrollar esa idea que ha inoculado en su mente el descubrimiento de este músico extraordinario.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The most prestigious author in Spanish literature today returns with a novel set in his native Peru. I Give You My Silence is the story of a man who dreamed of a country united by music and went mad trying to write the perfect book to tell it.

"The waltz, born in the alleyways of Lima, integrated Peru. Here I tell this story, and with it I thank a secret love that has been with me my entire life: the love I feel for Creole music, specially, for my country's waltz." --Mario Vargas Llosa

Toño Azpilcueta, Creole music expert, discovers a guitar virtuoso, Lalo Molfino, whose talent seems to confirm every instinct: his profound love for Peruvian waltzes, marineras, polkas, and huaynos has social grounds. Maybe what happens is that Creole music is in fact not just a symbol of an entire country's identity and the expression of a very Peruvian attitude, huachaferia ("Peru's greatest contribution to universal culture," according to Toño Azpilcueta), but something of far greater importance, an element capable of igniting a social revolution, of tearing down prejudices and social barriers to unite a country in one brotherly, mixed-race hug. In a country fractured and devastated by Sendero Luminoso's violence (the novel is set at the beginning of the nineteen-nineties, at the height of the terrorist campaign, ) music could remind society at large that they are brothers and sisters, and fellow countryfolk. And it is possible that Lalo Molfino's virtuosity has much to do with this.

Toño Azpilcueta is set to investigate more about this guitar player, go to his birthplace, get to know this elusive character, learn his personal history, his family history, and his love stories, how he became such a magnificent musician. And he is also determined to write a book about Creole music and develop the idea inoculated in his mind after finding this extraordinary musician.