In the Beginning was the Sea by Tomás González

In the Beginning was the Sea

Tomás González

A sense of inertia and apathy permeates the story of a lost brother, based on real events. Though we know from the first that there will be a death, the story unfolds against the stunning background of a Caribbean jungle estate and this is what remains in the mind - moody weather adding to the foreboding. Dreams and hopes fade, a relationship disintegrates, plans are destroyed, trees are cut down. A real paradise lost.

Extract
In the late afternoons, usually alone, J. would visit the fields to watch them grow, to see the palm saplings unfurling their fans and the lush green wreathing the branches of the orange trees. With winter now scarcely a month away, their survival seemed assured. And indeed it was; later when they had been transplanted - not by J. but by another soul - the palm trees grew sturdy and tall, and the orange trees blossomed and bore fruit.
Parallels
  • Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez
  • The Beach - the film