Reading: Marcelo Figueras, Kamchatka, pp. 3-73, Ch. 1-24

Marcelo Figueras, Kamchatka (2003/2010)

I First Period: Biology, pp. 13-29 (from the back of the book)

1. Kamchatka is about a family that goes into hiding when a military coup overthrows the government of Argentina. Do you think this is a political book?
2. The novel is narrated from the point of view of ‘Harry,’ the oldest son of the ‘Vicentes.’ What sort of a narrator is Harry? Is he reliable? How does his point of view shift throughout the novel?
3. Discuss the way that Kamchatka is organized—not just by chapters, but by sections. What do the section titles refer to? What are the lessons Harry thinks you can learn about life from biology, geography, language, astronomy, and history?
4. Early in the book, Harry says, “In the end, we always are what we once were” (p. 5). What does Kamchatka say about the possibilities for change in human lives, or in life in general? What does Harry think changes, and what stays the same?
5. Harry repeatedly mentions his theories of time (“Time is weird,” he says often.) In his first school, in Buenos Aires, Harry is taught that time and history are linear” before our virgin eyes unfolded the history of humankind, the history of which, for better of worse, we were at that time the culmination” (p. 12). What does Harry think about how time works? What in his life would make him come up with these theories of time?
6. “My obsession with justice infuriated her,” says Harry, about his mother (p. 17). What is a child’s sense of justice? Why was Harry’s mother infuriated? Do we get a sense of Harry’s parents’ ideas of justice?
7. On page 39, Harry describes how the experiences of childhood form our politics. Do you agree with him? Can you remember instances from your childhood that you feel formed your sense of politics?
8. Comment on the epigraph from Melville.