Caterva tells of seven erudite, homeless, and semi-incompetent radicals attempting to foment a revolution: conspiring with striking workers, setting off bombs, evading the local authorities, and dabbling in espionage. But like his literary “descendant” Julio Cortázar, Juan Filloy is more concerned with his characters’ tragicomical, occasionally transcendent inner lives than with their radical machinations. With its encyclopedic scope and satirical look at solidarity and nonconformity, Caterva is among Filloy’s greatest achievements.
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Caterva tells of seven erudite, homeless, and semi-incompetent radicals attempting to foment a revolution: conspiring with striking workers, setting off bombs, evading the local authorities, and dabbling in espionage. But like his literary “descendant” Julio Cortázar, Juan Filloy is more concerned with his characters’ tragicomical, occasionally transcendent inner lives than with their radical machinations. With its encyclopedic scope and satirical look at solidarity and nonconformity, Caterva is among Filloy’s greatest achievements.