Empalado

by Javier Romero Valentín (Spanish)

 

This story is a painting as much as it is a book. I would liken it to a painting by El Greco, laden with gloomy and macabre details that give the eyes as well as the soul a great deal to gaze upon and contemplate afterward. However, I would be telling only part of the truth if I said that this book is about horror, a mere collection of words and thoughts to scare the reader, to appeal to the need for adrenaline. On the surface, it may be just that, but if you dig a little deeper, you will find that it has plentiful philosophical, geopolitical and religious underpinnings.

 

Almost everyone knows about the mythical Count Dracula. Not everyone knows, however, that there was a real Dracula named Vlad Dracul who ruled part of what is now Romania with terror. In fact, he was also known as Vlad Tepes, or the Impaler. Impaling, which I already knew about to some extent, entails forcing a wooden stake through the lower part of the body (I'll let you discover the exact part for yourself) all the way through the inside of the body, taking care not to damage any internal organs, exiting through the shoulder. The victim is then hoisted up, fully conscious, and left to die a slow, cruel death, usually of infection from the wounds made from impalement. The story starts out with the impalement of a young soldier, Mircea, who sought to avenge his relatives' death caused either directly or indirectly by Vlad Dracul who would either maim or impale a person over any trivial matter. Not only that, he took pleasure in watching his subjects suffer. The author makes it clear that Vlad Dracul is the closest thing to the devil himself on Earth.

 

The nice thing about this book is that it is well researched. I learned a lot about medieval Romania, the way people lived, the way they dressed, and especially about the conflicts. The Vlachs were at war with the Hungarians and the Turks. There was much instability at that time, and many saw Dracul as an ironfisted defender of his realm. The problem was that he took advantage of his power and showed no mercy to anyone. Everyone was susceptible to his wrath — nobles and commoners alike. Once a person fell out of his favor, he or she was doomed.

 

The real philosophical and religious exercise of the story begins when Mircea is impaled alongside a priest. The priest wants him to confess , but Mircea is reluctant to do so because of the way that the church treated him and his family — especially his sister, Nicoleta. She was probably mildly retarded or perhaps autistic, the author doesn't really let us know that part. According to the beliefs of the day, she was viewed as a witch because she didn't interact with her surroundings. She was always lost in her own special world. This is a firm reminder of the way people used to act and think and how that had a deep influence on those who did not fit in. In fact, this is an example of myth versus reason, an important motif throughout Empalado. The question of God comes up here as well. Why would God let people be so cruelly treated, their lives taken away from them only to die a slow, lonely and excruciating death? Why would an infinite and benevolent being do such a thing? The priest next to Mircea does his best to explain, but even then he falters once or twice and does not always come up with a clear answer.

 

I am still thinking about this book, and I will undoubtedly do so for some time to come. Being impaled can be construed as being in a finite situation of suffering or distress that limits one's existence. This type of situation occurs every day to humanity — without any physical stake being driven through us. It only takes one little mishap, even a psychological one that does not outwardly affect the body, to place one in a similar predicament to that of Empalado. I was moved by the way that the people who were impaled still cared about their lives even though they knew that they were going to die anyway and that there was no way they could be saved — even if they were taken off of the stake, because they would either bleed to death from opening the wound or most likely die from infection. It only goes to show how much life is worth living for, even in its terminal phase.

 

From my description, I surmise that have already made it clear that this is not the type of book that you can read in a hurry or even casually. To get the most out of it, you have to set aside some time, maybe make a few notes, and definitely look up some of the more arcane terms and find the place names on the map. Google Maps is great for that. I have been to get this book for free thanks to Amazon's policy of making certain books free for a limited period of time, but I believe that the original price is quite low.