Pedro the vast by Simón López Trujillo

Robin Myers’ translation of Chilean writer Trujillo’s disturbing novel now brings his highly original and lyrical work to English readers. It interweaves separate narrative strands: the story of Pedro the strangely afflicted eucalyptus farm worker; the struggles of his children Patricio and Catalina; and the work of Giovanna the mycologist and researcher; along with italicised commentary and various footnotes. However the strands are all linked together, just like the secret mycelial threads of the underground fungus which is about to cast its spores and take over the world.

There are themes of environmental devastation, corporate exploitation of workers, religious fanaticism, and the power of nature to return and overtake. When Pedro is the only one of a group of forest workers to survive a mysterious coughing illness, awaking from a coma to spout strange sayings, his words are taken to be the divine speech of a prophet of the second coming. Religious fervour is contrasted with the callous disconnect of the forestry risk management office eager to negate any accountability. Giovanna’s meticulous data suggesting the possibility of fungal control over humans is a hypothesis only given consideration in the isolated world of scientific research. But none of this will make a difference in the end, for in the natural world humans are expendable, and the fungus will conquer all.

It’s a dark tale with a catastrophic ending, but the reading is a pleasure. Conventional narrative voices frequently evolve into a stream of conscious flow that is beautifully poetic. It must be a challenge for a translator to convey the richness of the original, but Myers’ translation reads so well, she must surely revel in her achievement.

Themes: Science fiction, Fungi, Environment, Religion, End of the world.

Helen Eddy