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Ernesto Sabato: Abaddón, el exterminador (The Angel of Darkness)

Following on from El túnel (The Outsider; The Tunnel) and Sobre heroes y tumbas (On Heroes and Tombs), this novel continues along the same lines, as Sabato invokes Abbadon, the angel of destruction. There is no plot to this novel, just chaos, as Sabato brings characters from his previous novels, himself and a variety of real and fictitious characters into a metaphysical romp through Argentinian and Latin American history, science, religion, philosophy as well as, of course, the blind and the meaning of life. It isn’t easy and it is not clear where he is going but it is great fun just holding on to the roller coaster right to the end which is, of course, the death of Sabato himself. Some books you do not read for coherence and clarity and explanations. You just go along for the ride. This is one of those books.

Publishing history

First published in Spanish by Editorial Sudamericana 1974
First published in English by Ballantine 1991
Translated by Andrew Hurley