The Amazon links in this article are affiliated: by using them, you allow us to receive a commission, without increasing the price for you. This helps support our work, thank you!
Unfortunately, some works are not always faithfully translated. So, if you’re fluent in Spanish, we can only recommend that you buy the original version to fully appreciate the author’s work.
Presentation of the work
Original title (ES): El olvido que seremos
Oblivion: A Memoir, by Héctor Abad Faciolince, published in 2006, is a deeply moving story combining autobiography and collective memory. The author recounts the life of his father, Héctor Abad Gómez, a doctor and human rights activist in Colombia, assassinated in 1987 for his commitments. Through memories of his childhood and adolescence, Abad Faciolince paints a portrait of a fair, generous and deeply human man, while depicting a Colombia marked by political and social violence. The novel tackles universal themes such as family love, memory, loss and justice, while retaining a simple, touching narrative force. The author’s clear, poetic style allows the reader to fully feel the intensity of the emotions and the gravity of the situation, while offering a reflection on the importance of remembering the lives and values of lost loved ones.
Welcoming the press and public
On its release, Oblivion: A Memoir was very well received by literary critics and readers alike. Critics have praised the story’s emotional power, its accessible yet elegant writing, and its ability to evoke Colombia in the 1980s through the prism of an intimate family experience. The book was seen as a poignant tribute to a committed man and a tragic era, while tackling universal themes such as love, loss and memory. As far as the public is concerned, the novel quickly reached a wide readership, both in Colombia and internationally, and has become an essential work of contemporary Latin American literature. Its film adaptation in 2020 also raised its profile, enabling new generations to discover this moving story.
The author
Héctor Abad Faciolince, born in 1958 in Medellín, is a Colombian writer renowned for his stories combining autobiography, fiction and social reflection. Trained as a doctor, he turned to writing at an early age, exploring in his works such themes as memory, injustice and political violence in Colombia. Oblivion: A Memoir is undoubtedly his most famous work, but he has also written novels and essays such as Angosta and El olvido que seremos, all marked by great sensitivity and a critical view of Colombian society. Abad Faciolince is appreciated for his clear style, his discreet humor and his ability to tell deeply human stories that are as moving as they are thought-provoking. Today, he is considered one of the major voices of contemporary literature in Colombia and the Spanish-speaking world.
