The Lost City Radio - Essay Example

The Lost Radio: A Book Review War has brought about various devastating effects to the region where it occurs. Despite of its negative consequences, people still engage in war since the ancient times. Various reasons have been seen as the cause of war. One thing is for sure, conflict settlement through war kills many people, destroys livelihood, devastates environment, wastes money and time, and showcases the human greed. The negativities cannot be thrown away by the goals of those who engage in wars. The fact cannot be denied even though people may try to become deaf about the results of the war. Some may even argue that stopping the war is nonsense because it will always come out based upon the patterns seen in history. Despite the efforts of so-called heroes throughout history, war still happens. People may go to war because of politics. Many issues surround the political arena of nations that may include parties, laws, crimes and criminals, projects, budgets and many more. Other reason for waging a war may also be social wherein the norms undergo challenges and trials from people questioning their validity. Minorities may ask how those norms play in the society and how inequalities come out from them as those people are the ones affected by such standards in the society. One particular book that tackles war although the setting may be after the actual war is the novel entitled The Lost Radio written by Daniel Alarcon. Alarcon has works published in various print media companies like Virginia Quarterly Review and the New Yorker. He became known as a non-fiction writer in Peru and serves as an editor for a local magazine there. He also did some other works and writings in Peru for other magazines and was considered as a literary scholar (Hamilton and Jones 5). Although his race is Peruvian, he was into American culture since he lived in US since he was three years old. He grew up in Alabama and studied in the Indian Springs School. His college degree in anthropology had somehow influenced his writings and later on he took master’s degree in writing. Afterwards, he became a professor in New York (Hamilton and Jones 5). Before he was able to write the novel The Lost City Radio, he published his first work entitled War by Candlelight which became one of the top works in 2006 PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award, a prestigious recognition in the field of literature. Other than that, he also earned other recognitions like Lannan Fellowship and nominee for the 21 Young American Novelists (awards for novel writers under 35 years old) sponsored by Granta magazine, a quarterly publishing company in United Kingdom that promotes the urgency of the story in the literary works (Hamilton and Jones 5). His breakthrough project was the novel entitled Lost City Radio which was translated into Spanish, Italian and French. The novel was all about the remains of war which may also have deeper meanings other than the obvious ones like pain and death as effects of war. As mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, war does not entail any great benefits to mankind without sacrificing safety and life. Sacrifices will always be made when war is used to settle things. Rebellions, vendettas, crimes, greed for power, and protect the rights of the small people are just some of the prevalent reasons for having war. They are used to justify how war can solve problems (Alarcon). Going on with the story, the novel opens with the South American nation ten years post-war. The war broke out and the government had taken control over the rebels. The efforts of the ruling body even went beyond limits when it eradicated the traditional languages. The only means of communication without problems is through radio. The story focuses on the experience of the central character named Norma who had lost her husband during the war. Her husband went to a jungle but was not able to be found (Alarcon). Norma works as a radio announcer so she keeps on talking over for the show to reconnect people with their loved ones who are victims of war. One time a boy approached Norma and gave her a long list of missing people to be announced over the radio. The scenario had made Norma to reminisce her past with her husband (Alarcon). Despite of that, she still continues her work over the radio especially its popularity is on-the-go. She cannot stop because people rely on her radio show to find their missing family members that resulted from the war. In the process, Norma also lost because of the war. She cannot find her husband (Alarcon). As she does the work, the refugees in the affected areas listened to her announcement over the radio. Her show supposedly helps the refugees and victims of the war but the show is a false public service program. When she finds out that the person in the list cannot be found anywhere, her show hires actors to replace the real ones and provides scripted reunions. Despite of her show being a false one, Norma has decided to look for her husband again when she saw the boy carrying the list of missing persons (Alarcon). As the story progresses, the female protagonist remembers her past life with her husband. The story also revolves around Victor, the young boy and his teacher named Manau. The four characters (Rey, Norma, Victor and Manau) are the central characters in the story (Alarcon). The novel has shown how Rey and Norma have known each other for the first time. They had met in a dance party which is described by the author in detail using the sounds of the music. The plot also showcases the repetitive detachment of the characters to isolate the scenes and experiences just like the case of Rey being tortured after he was arrested. He was buried for a week without having the chance to bend his feet (Alarcon). The so-called detachment is really presented well when the author tries not to connect he narrator and the story. He actually scattered the impact of the war theme in the book by allowing the characters to face their own memories and challenges instead of facing one another. Work Cited Alarcon, Daniel. The Lost City Radio. USA: Harper Collins, 2007. Print. Hamilton, Geoff and Brian Jones. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Writers and Their Work. USA: Facts on File, 2010. Print. Read More