Well here he is. This is Jeeto, my beautiful, intelligent, sassy gecko. He is turning ten this year, but he has never uttered a single word to me before. I accept our non-verbal relationship and I think we mutually enjoy his walks along my arm.

Now to dive into this week’s novel “The Book of Chameleons” by Jose Eduardo Agualusa. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I thought it tied so many genres together in an unique and beautiful way. Firstly, Eulalio being a talking gecko that was once a man is a very whimsical element to the novel. While reading the novel, I found myself happy and smiling because the story unfolding of Felix and Eulalio spending their days together in an “alive” house, where Felix is a constructer of people’s dreams and stories. It all sounds quite peaceful and magical. However, there are also very bleak aspects to the novel, that in my opinion are toned down because of the manner they are told in the novel. For example, the construction of people’s identities is described as creating dreams. The dark side to this is that whoever is coming to Felix has likely faced some sort of immense turmoil, to the point where they must reconstruct themselves, and attempt to blend in once again, like a chameleon. Since Eulalio is the narrator of the novel, I do feel there is a bias towards Felix. Lets be honest, Felix has most likely aided all types of unsavoury characters in changing their identities and furthermore has kind of created a different type of crazy in his realm. This is really proven when we look at the case of Jose Buchmann. Although his rationale of wanting to get revenge on “Eduardo” may be justified, the fact that this reconstruction of his personhood is what got him so close should not be glossed over.

This brings me to my bigger point, which is, everyone has a bad side to them. This novel is written in plain language, yet it is purposefully confusing and slightly misleading. Then, right at the end of the novel, lots of the truth is revealed, including that Angela was Pedro’s daughter and how his wife was slaughtered. To me, the story felt half resolved, half unresolved. This is because of the very last sentence which is “Yes, I have made a dream.” This is where Felix writes in his journal after Eulalio has passed away. This is very controversial. Should we call it the construction of a dream when our true identities are being shaped into something they are not really. Or, can identities be hidden because that is human nature and therefore it is also beautiful.

Discussion Questions:

When Eulalio’s mom tells him that he should choose books over life because they contain sometimes more truth than reality, do we agree with that?

When the house is described as being alive in the beginning, is that because everything is a construct, or something else?