The Banality of Cruel Men
Tokyo, 1971—Master Yoshikawa bleeds to death on the floor of his mansion.
Vladivostok, 1938—Ekaterina Nikolayéva, accused of treason, awaits trial and sentencing.
Vladivostok, 2019—Takumi receives an urgent call from his homeland: his sister has been found near death in a ravine in the State of Mexico. He decides to return.
Three lives intertwined in this story that travels through the years and by the uneasiness that lingers within each character—yet, at their core, they are stories of love in its many fragile forms.
The Banality of Cruel Men is a powerful novel of solitude and tragedy, where loss and longing envelop the characters like mist, leading them toward the only possible redemption: a catharsis born of love and heartbreak.
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SPANISH (World) | Lumen/PRH Mexico
Reviews
"The Banality of Cruel Men is a beautifully abyssal, mirror-like novel, woven with painful and emotive meanders in which getting lost is inevitable—where the cruelty of banal men is contrasted with the empathy of sensitive souls." Eve Gil, La Jornada Semanal
"The characters reveal snapshots from different eras, experiencing painful events and facing them from their own trenches. Yet, they also carry light, and the author urges the reader not to overlook the moments of human kindness." Saúl Rodríguez, El Siglo de Torreón
"Norma Lazo crafts The Banality of Cruel Men with precision, relying on the power of brief chapters to create a gripping rhythm while keeping each storyline compelling throughout the novel. Some of these cruel men will provoke the necessary sense of revulsion to understand how certain societies operate, where the futile worth of a human being escapes our comprehension. ... This is a remarkable novel that you simply cannot miss." Élmer Mendoza, El Universal
"A story about the looming solitude that the characters face in the wake of their tragedies, but also about the human tendency to blame others for their own problems and misfortunes." Jesús Alejo Santiago, Milenio
"A book that, while exploring the tragedies of various characters across different times and places, finds refuge from hardship and cruelty in the outstretched hand of another." Richard Osuna, Debate México
"Separated by decades and miles, yet bound by the same world where human cruelty pushes them to the edge, three characters—Master Yoshikawa, Ekaterina Nikolayéva, and Takumi—navigate a whirlwind of ruthless and thoughtless acts. Amid the chaos, they find a small refuge of kindness before reaching the depths." Mauro Marines, Vanguardia México