Impossible Balance - Argentina 🇦🇷

An engineer had a wild idea: bring hippos from Africa to solve problems of ecological imbalance in the Argentine Chaco region. The book Impossible Balance takes us from the turmoil provoked by the idea to the extreme measures taken by those who were against the project.

In a style that is half action and half cult movies, Mempo Giradinelli takes us through the Chaco region while Pura, Victorio, and Frank are scaping after sabotaging the project and kidnapping the animals.

Now, hippos in South America? I could only remember the case of Pablo Escobar's Hippos. To this day, they are still a problem for the Colombian government as an invasive species. Would it have any relation with this book? If it does, it is not clear in the text. Neither are the ecological issues, which would be the main theme of this novel but they remain a superficial issue in the text.

Also, I expected that he would address the overvaluation of solutions coming from abroad, as he emphasizes it in some parts. But I have only seen hints of this argument.

As we slowly progress through the book, we identify that the main theme is hopelessness. Believing in utopia, like a young man, but having the heavy certainty that he will be frustrated by reality. This can be seen from the desolate landscape of small country towns to the bland and hypocritical conversations at the bar. Including the melancholy dialogues of the group, made up of ex-guerrillas and a former combatant, who know that what they are doing will be a "futile effort."

(...) you have to be a lonely fifty-year-old man full of fear because of everything he drank and smoked to understand this feeling. Fears prevent you from making decisions, and indecisions are fear factories.

It could have been much better. It seems that the narrative aims big but gets stuck in the swamp. The text has very boring and drawn-out moments, especially Rafa's monologues. The ending was frustrating. A disappointing exile in magical realism that did not match the book.

Unfortunately, it wasn't this time, Mr. Giardinelli.

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About the Writer

Mempo Giardinelli (1947) is an Argentine writer known for his numerous books and his political activism. His books are full of suspense and detective stories and they are known for a very vigorous writing pace. He lived in exile in Mexico during the dictatorship in Argentina.

Other Books: Luna Caliente (1984), Qué solos se quedan los muertos (1985), Santo oficio de la memoria (1991), El décimo infierno (1999), Final de novela en Patagonia (2001)