In February 2003 the Marxist terrorist movement FARC abducts a man called Julio, a regular citizen without political connections or power. Author W.G. Van Dorian interviewed him about daily life under FARC rule. It was to become Van Dorian’s second novel, “The Song of Colombiaâ€ÂÂ, a thriller that is based on a true story that took place in 2003 in Colombia, South America.
The FARC, which still steals money from citizens and kidnaps and murders innocent people, without any ideological bases, demanded ransom from Julio’s family. Read how Julio, as one of few hostages, manages to escape certain death.
Around the same time, Dutch student ‘Tamara’ (in real life called: ‘Tanja’) joins the FARC in a naive attempt to ‘change the world’. She became well-known after the Colombian army raided a FARC rebel camp in 2007 and found her diaries in which she wrote vital information about the FARC. Where Tamara is at present, no one knows. She is likely to be punished (with death?) for her loss of the diaries. Her experiences come to a crossroads with those of Julio’s when the struggle for survival begins.
This thriller is mainly about Julio’s struggle with death and his will to survive. It is also about the idiocy of leftist European students joining or supporting murderous groups like the FARC under false pretences. They see it as a romantic way to help the struggle for the poor, as they think, not knowing about, or worse, ignoring the atrocities the FARC has committed.
Passages written in the third person are mixed with diary fragments of both leading characters in the first person and cause a chilling and horrific view of the happenings, supported by the fact that this is based on a true story. Van Dorian writes direct and confronting without showing any subtleties, politically incorrect if you will, but with the emphasis on FARC cruelty and not hiding his admiration for president Uribe of Colombia and his struggle against terrorism.
After Van Dorian’s debut: ‘The Invisible Invasion’, which became a bestseller in Holland and Belgium, again Van Dorian makes the reader shiver in this thriller/drama. For now, it is said to be the Dutch writer’s last work. With this provoking story, not sparing anyone, and simple style of writing Van Dorian once again hits the sore spot of some. But given the fact that this is a true story, it should!
The Song of Colombia is not a documentary. It is a thriller in which facts are being welded into the thrilling and horrific storyline.
W.G. Van Dorian is the Dutch author of the controversial novel The Invisible Invasion. Born in 1967, Van Dorian grew up in Holland in the middle of the cold war. His grandparents, who survived the Japanese concentration camps in Indonesia, taught him the values of personal freedoms, especially that of freedom of speech.
Van Dorian studied Dutch and International Law in The Netherlands and practiced law as a criminal law attorney. He’s also practiced immigration law and family law. Van Dorian and his Colombian wife subsequently went to live in Colombia.
