At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay

This is a review of the paperback edition. This work covers 3 trips to Paraguay by the author: 1982 (pgs. 3-28), 1996 (pgs. 28-36), and 2000 (pgs. 36 & on). He is born in 1963.I started reading this on a Saturday evening and just finished it on a holiday Monday afternoon. I could NOT put it down.--------------Be warned: This work focuses on the fantastic, grotesque, oddest, and saddest parts of Paraguay. It is mainly about foreigners and foreign influence on Paraguay. So while it is about Paraguay, it is NOT about average Paraguayans. Who feel distant at best in the work. Pushed into the background by people from Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Russia, Scotland, and the Ukraine, amongst others he meets or discusses in history. As opposed to say cannibalistic indigenous natives and WW II Nazis & S. American dictators trying to hide out or lie low. And, of course, Eliza Lynch, Marshal Lopez's mistress/wife and mother of his children.The work is more a history tied directly to his travel than a travel work dabbling in history. So be prepared to meet the many fascinating and sickening men who led Paraguay or controlled her various institutions and operations. But do NOT expect to meet them in any chronological order. We learn about them as he goes about the city and country.The title is from p. 36: After the author starts seeing everywhere an inflatable "bubble-gum-pink rubber body squeak: the inflatable pig" and noting that "He'd come from overseas and the citizens had received him, joylessly and yet, it seemed with fervour.", he comments: "I felt the weariness of incomprehension. A land obsessed with its own demise. A Napoleonic paradise in the age of alcopops. The tomb of the inflatable pig."----------------The great:Gimlette travels extensively all over Paraguay except for the north of the Chaco (thus no Fuerte Olimpo or Puerto Bahia Negra). So you get a flavor and a feel for nearly the entire country. This brings out the differences between Asuncion (pgs. 3-128), Eastern Paraguay (pgs. 131-296), and the Chaco (pgs. 299-341), which is how he has laid out the 3 sections of the work.He has a wicked sense of humor. And quite the vocabulary. So you may want a college-level dictionary handy.An insightful Epilogue that gets at the mystery of this magnificent land both to its own people and to visitors.The good:The photographs! If only there were more.Some very good reading recommendations, by historical and other breakdown, though I wish it were more extensive.The bad:Many factual errors! Some examples: President (General) Estigarribia does NOT die in 1939, but in 1940 (p. 152). Dr. Francia did NOT die on or around Christmas of 1840, but September 20, 1840 (p. 163). Brazil had 8 casemated/central battery ironclad, that did NOT have turrets (p. 178). Segundo is the son of the assassinated former president of Uruguay, Venacio Flores, not of Brazil (p. 197). Lopez's army moved east, not west, of Asuncion; to go west would be the Chaco (p. 204). The Brazilian ironclad Rio de Janeiro sank after striking 2 mines ("torpedoes") and she lost 53 dead, not the entire crew of about 148 (p. 209). The Jesuit Astronomer Suarez at San Cosme made major discoveries about Jupiter, not Saturn (p. 286). The last bi-plane dogfights were in the Spanish Civil War, not the Chaco War (p. 337). The Italian-built gunboat Humaita was commissioned in 1931 and turned into a museum ship in 1992 so she could not have been decommission in 2000 and she did not see 75 years of service (p. 347). Edward Lucas White's work, El Supremo: A Romance of the Great Dictator of Paraguay, was first published in 1916, not 1934, and it is a novel, fiction, so it should have been listed under "English Literature" not "Dr. Francia" (p. 359).There is NO Index.There is no any chart showing the dates & days where he was at various places. The author sometimes tells you how long he stayed in an area before moving on.Wish there were a few more maps!NOTE: I'm planning an extensive 2022 tour of many of the same areas and found this work quite valuable!

I found this book very entertaining and enjoyable to read, but the writing style and the editing are a little unconventional, to say the least. The author jumps around a lot and the only thing that might give a clue as to the order of the jumbled historical information presented, is the sequence of the author's travels throughout the country. I say "might" because this is implied, rather than stated anywhere.That said, the author gets across his point that Paraguay is a fascinating country, with lots of colorful and unconventional figures in its past. I learned a lot about the history of the nation, what it might be like to live there and some of the interesting things it contains. I was also entertained by many the interesting anecdotes, both historical and biographical. What more could you want from a travel book?

Paraguay prides itself on being a country of "lace and legend". Strange, bizarre things occur almost daily and things that are readily accepted by the Paraguayans cause most Americans and Europeans to scratch their heads in amazement. I continue to contend that this is mostly because modern day Paraguay's culture and people and politics are based on the influence of the Guarani language that most people, even immigrants, speak. Most of us observe the Paraguayan's activities and events from a Euro-centric point of view that limits our understanding of the Paraguayan mind set and acceptance of things that causes our brains to short circuit sometimes. Those of you married into a Paraguayan family will lovingly appreciate the classification. The rest will just have to imagine the pleasure, shock and joy one experiences in the Paraguayan culture. This book is a good introduction for you.The author does a great job summarizing Paraguay's history and politics from "El Supremo" through relatively recent times. If you only want to read one book on Paraguay's history, then this is the one for you as it contains a summary of the Triple Alliance War (Paraguay versus Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay) as the author visited many of the main battle sites and the Chaco War fought against Bolivia. Plus it touches on the revolution, Stroessner, Rodriguez and many of the other main political persons from recent times. You could use this book as your main information source for a college paper, or even a Master's Thesis.The author's observations will offend every one and no one as they are mostly spot-on and have little to no political-correctness restrictions. This book will cause laughter, amazement, anger, disgust, consternation, dumfoundedness and spark a general desire to visit Paraguay again, and again. The other reviews here do a good job of discussing the book's contents so I won't repeat it.If you want a good read with a little of everything included (murder, crime, romance, sex, business, trade, culture, etc.) then this should be the book for you.

What a strange and enjoyable book.This book is really difficult to classify: part travelogue, part history text and part amused observations the text wanders around just like Gimlette did. The history of Paraguay really needed to be included as the author did or else the nonsense of Paraguay would'nt make sense (kind of like this sentence). By reading the historical context of the country I was better able to start to understand what is more like a blank spot on the map for most North Americans. I really enjoyed the book and wish I could think up some pretext for visiting Paraguay other than the fact it seems to be one of the weirder places on earth.I've never read a book quite like this one....

The writer cleverly structures the book between past and present, serious and funny, detailed and general. You cannot but admire his writing skills, let alone the incredible facts he points out in a country which doesn't attract much international attention. Its still important to point out, little or nothing is said about Paraguayans and their opinions locally. He emphasizes on European migrants and their ancestors more than actual Paraguayans. He writes chapters, pages about British and German immigrants to Paraguay, rather than Paraguayans themselves.

Have enjoyed this book immensely, wish I could score it 10 out of 5 - was hoping it wouldn't end!I know Paraguay a bit, travelled mainly in the Chaco last December. So I saw many of the weird and wonderful, surreal, things described herein; but Gimlette always has a fascinating new perspective. Indeed he has an exceptional gift – reminiscent of the best of Bill Bryson - for making travel writing both amusing and instructive.As one of the reviews on the book says, “Gimlette has read his history”; he certainly has, and the way he presents his impressive digest of that, intercalated with the account of his own travels, is most successful. The reader also benefits hugely from his priceless network of friends and acquaintances in Asunción.I travelled with the Bradt guidebook (2018). The experience would certainly have been enhanced had I also read this book first; but you don't need to visit the country at all to enjoy this rollicking tour de force!

This is one of the most extraordinary, funny, illuminating and bizarre reads I've ever experienced. It inspired me to delve deeper and deeper still into the paradox of Paraguay and the history of the Rio de la Plata region. Since the arrival of the Conquistadors this remote and remarkable part of Latin America has justifiably captivated all, this book by Gimlette give fantastic insight and a taste of what it's all about, fantasy, ruin, death, joy, peace. Buy it, read it, visit !!

This is a fantastic and very interesting read about Paraguay. Hard to put down. Highly recommend this book. The author has done a great job of picking such a pandoras box as Paraguay where tales of hidden nazis, military regimes etc all make for a fantastic read. Also if you find this book interesting then you must watch Alan Whickers 1970s programme he did on Paraguay, think its available on dvd

Wonderful book. Full of surprisesLesson from history- if you are a landlocked country surrounded on all sides, DON’T declare war on all your neighbors at the same time! Couldn’t make it up