It is always a good time to learn something idiomatic curiosity such as «Mengele Zoo», a phrase made in Brazilian Portuguese that points to the chaos of anything, with the sinister connotation of the insane doctor who ended his days retired precisely in Brazil. Between black humor and crude assumption of chaos as something dangerous and dark.
The point is that set phrases are always well brought with their complementary baggage of popular imagination, idiosyncrasy, wisdom, irony or symbolism, whatever it takes. On this occasion, having made the title phrase of the book, we soon guessed the particular affectation of that chaos determined to take everything ahead, driven by interests and ambitions capable of everything.
The novel introduces us to Mino, a young man born in the South American rainforest, who makes a living searching for rare butterflies together with his father. But his small community is being seriously disrupted by oil companies that want to exploit the jungle.
One day, returning from his daily hunt, Mino finds his family and friends massacred by the military, who had been bought by the oil companies, and he flees alone to remote parts of the jungle. Isidore, a traveling magician who crosses his path, adopts him and instructs him to become a young magician.
Together they create an impressive show with which they tour for years through small towns. Some time later, Mino began his studies at the university, where he created, along with other like-minded students, the dangerous Grupo Mariposa, whose objective is to direct the world's attention towards the destruction of nature caused by international companies.
This novel masterfully combines an exuberant and imaginative narrative with intense drama, and thus became a true publishing phenomenon in Norway.
You can now buy the novel "Mengele Zoo", by Gert Nygardshaug, here: