Aunt Julia
and the Scriptwriter, Mario Vargas Llosa
The world of radio drama and an unusual loving relationship
are two of the cornerstones of this novel. Its flexible structure is open to
interpolated funny stories. Based on the author's real life experience, this
novel combines a picture of Lima in the 1950s, and an examination of both the
practical and creative aspects of writing.
The Vortex,
José Eustasio Rivera
Trying to escape their problems, Arturo Cova and
his mistress Alicia venture into the Colombian jungle. They start an initiation
trip through the virgin rainforest, a hostile milieu masterfully depicted in the novel. The
author had taken part in an expedition that denounced violence against Indians in
rubber exploitation.
El señor Presidente (Mister President), Miguel Ángel
Asturias
The echoes of the first European avant-garde can
be seen in the narrative techniques employed in this novel, in which a dictatorship
continues its grip on Guatemala through violence and cruelty. A love story provides a counterweight to human
degradation, while a whole country wonders what the next step is.
The Kingdom
of this World, Alejo Carpentier
The slave rebellion in Haiti and mentalities in
contrast are the subjects of this novel, whose baroque prose is one of the
greatest achievements of the Latin American novel. The presence of Voodoo and the
circularity of time help shape this narrative.
Pedro Páramo, Juan Rulfo
At the beginning of this book, two characters move
along a dreamlike landscape. It is a symbolic, invented place, a peculiar hell where
shadows of the dead feed on old feelings and hate. Later the reader realizes
that they are only some of the sleepless ghosts that live in Comala.
Broad and Alien is the World, Ciro Alegría
Peruvian Indian groups are deprived of their lands
and natural wealth, with the acquiescence of the authorities and the passivity and
idleness of a local scholar. Classical narrative techniques are used in this
book that focuses on the dehumanization of life.
A World for Julius, Alfredo Bryce Echenique
The lives and doings of an influential, aristocratic
Peruvian family are the starting point of a novel of satire and social
criticism. The author shows Julius’s expanding world and the decline of his
family. A warm, tender and incisive portrait.
