Latin American Literature

Mario Vargas Llosa and the Nobel: The View From Latin America

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La Plaza in the LA Times has a very good run down (and in English) of the reactions to in Latin America to Mario Vargas’s Nobel Prize. Suffice it to say, he is a bit controversial, not only for his conservatism, but his abandonment of Latin America for Spain, the former imperial power.

Vargas Llosa also became identified with abandoning Latin America for Spain, which is what the author did, taking Spanish citizenship after losing the 1990 election. This move was also seen as a betrayal in some intellectual circles. His open and expressive affinity for Spain, which he’s reiterated in interviews since Thursday’s prize announcement, doesn’t win Vargas Llosa points among those who regard him as antagonistic — or at least indifferent — to indigenous-rights movements in Latin America.

The author is quoted as saying in 2003, while commenting on indigenous movements in Latin America in general (link in Spanish): “Development and civilization are incompatible with certain social phenomenons, the principle being collectivism. […] The indigenism … that appears to have been forgotten is now behind phenomenons such as the señor Evo Morales in Bolivia.”

Two years later, Peru’s neighbor Bolivia elected Morales, its first indigenous president in history — a moment regarded as a victory for long-oppressed indigenous groups in the Andean region. Vargas Llosa was unimpressed, dismissing Morales in 2008 as a “typical Latin American criollo [Spaniard born in the Americas], a Spanish-speaking mestizo, who is finishing off Bolivia.” (Link in Spanish.)

(Morales, for the record, is an Aymara Indian.)

Mario Vargas Llosas’ Newest Novel, an Excerpt

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You can read an excerpt of Nobel winning author Mario Vargas Llosas’ newest novel at El Pais. You can read it in web version here, or pdf here. And you can read an analysis of the novel here, although, honestly, doesn’t really tell you much.

Es un libro escalofriante del que uno sale con la boca pastosa, llena de hormigas oscuras que van deletreando esa palabra tan temida, i-n-f-i-e-r-n-o, la terrible, inclemente maldad del hombre hundiendo en el fango el cada vez más deterioro prestigio de la palabra nobleza.

Mario Vargas Llosa and the Nobel – the View From Spain

~ bythefirelight ~ 1 Comment

As you might expect, Spanish speakers are quite excited about the award. For the Spanish, Llosa gave a special shout out, noting they have done more for him than any other country in promoting his works than any other country. And naturally, the Real Academia (the group that confers definitions on what is Spanish and not) is quite happy, since he is their fifth member to win the award.

A few comments by Vargas Llosa.

An overview. Even if you don’t read Spanish, there is a slide show of 27 photos through the ages.

A profile of his agent Carmen Balcells, who has represented some of the greatest Spanish language writers: Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Fuentes, etc.

Thoughts from the director the Real Academia.

An editorial about why he deserves the prize.

And a special edition with a huge number of tributes from the likes of Antonio Muñoz Molina, Javier Cercas, Santiago Roncagliolo, and Fernando Iwasaki.

Mario Vargas Llosa wins Nobel literature prize

~ bythefirelight

Mario Vargas Llosa has won the Nobel literature prize. It has been a while since someone from Latin America has one the prize. I believe Octavio Paz in 1990 was the last. I should probably read more of his work, and maybe I will now. I have only read two of his books: In Praise of the Stepmother (not worth it); and another I can’t remember. I think I will finally get around to reading Coversation in the Cathedral soon.

You can read an AP story here. And the NY Times coverage here.

Without Borders Featuring Argentina and Granta Youngsters, Andres Nueman and Samanta Schweblin

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I’m looking forward to Words Without Borders issue on Argentinian literature. There look to be some interesting items and if you are one of those following the Granta en español best young writers you can put you can give a read to Andres Neuman and Samanta Schweblin. IF you are looking for a fresher take on Latin American literature this would be a good place to start.

This month we join the publishing world in celebrating Argentina, guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair and a pulse point of the vibrant Latin American literary scene. As might be expected of the heirs of Borges and Cortázar, the writers featured here both reflect and extend the masters’ work, combining a touch of the fantastic with surprising turns of both plot and phrase. The prolific Ana María Shua sends an alien invader in a clever disguise.  Guillermo Martínez watches a couple struggle with chance and unimaginable loss.  Sergio Bizzio’s teens pull a disappearing act. Irish-Argentine Juan José Delaney considers mortality, while young star Samanta Schweblin practices unorthodox family planning. In two tales of the Dirty War, writer and journalist Mempo Giardinelli metes out a karmic revenge, and Edgar Brau finds the key to a prison break. Poet Maria Negroni stands at the mouth of hell. National Critics Prize-winner Andrés Neuman’s quarreling couple literally draws a line in the sand. The great Silvina Ocampo pens a gentle fable. And in contributions from other languages, Witold Gombrowicz’s widow collects tales of his time in Argentina, and Lúcia Bettencourt reveals the secrets of Borges’s muse.

Samanta Schweblin Discussing the Line Between Reality and the Fantastic (Spanish Only)

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The Samanta Schweblin interview on Canal-L is definitely worth watching. From the way she talks she falls into the group of writers stemming from Cortazar who mix reality with the fantastic, but try to keep the two blurred, as if they were interchangeable. I’d be curious to read her book of stories as I am on a bit of a kick to read stories that blur the two.

Santiago Roncagliolo Opens the New Season of El Publico Lee

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El Publico Lee is opening its new season with an interview with Santiago Roncagliolo. Roncagliolo is a younger Peruvian writer who has written political thrillers and who Jorge Volpi has pointed to as a one of the younger authors who are showing a different approach to writing from Latin America. He has at least one book in English Red April.

Santiago Roncagliolo nos presenta una novela que combina el thriller psicológico con la ciencia ficción. Una historia donde los afectos, el sexo y la amistad marcan a personajes que no logran comunicarse en un mundo de alta tecnología. Un escenario subyugante y misterioso para una historia en la que lo imposible y lo tangible se encuentran.

Santiago Roncagliolo (Lima, 1975) es uno de los escritores más versátiles e impredecibles en español. Cada novela suya juega con distintos géneros y explora distintos países. Su historia íntima Pudor (Alfaguara, 2004) fue llevada al cine. Su thriller político Abril rojo ganó el Premio Alfaguara de novela 2006. Su libro de no ficción La cuarta espada penetró en la mente del terrorista más peligroso de la historia americana. Su último libro fue Memorias de una dama (Alfaguara, 2009). Su trabajo ha vendido más de 150.000 ejemplares y se ha traducido a trece idiomas.

Mario Benedetti’s The Rest is Jungle and Other Stories – A Super Brief Review

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I just finished reading the short stories of Mario Benedetti in The Rest is Jungle and Other Short Stories which is now available from Host Publications. I don’t want to say to much because I’m writing a review for the Quarterly Conversation, but it is a shame that his stories didn’t come out in an English volume earlier. They are all excellent and some are quite memorable and funny. It makes me want to read some of his other works, especially La Tregua which I’ve heard so much about.

More About Bioy Casares Brazilian Journal

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El País has a short and positive review of Adolfo Bioy Casares´journal of his trip to Brazil in 1960. Essentially, if you like his diary/biography of Borges, which hasn´t come out in English yet, you will probably like this book because it is filled with the same humor and wry observations that fill borges.

Si el posible lector de esta reseña tuvo el privilegio de leer Borges, parte del diario de Bioy Casares (Destino, 2006), recordará que entre el 21 de julio de 1960 y el 31 del mismo mes, hay un vacío. (Recuérdese que este diario sólo habla de la relación de Bioy con Borges). Pues bien, Unos días en el Brasil llena ese vacío. El autor de La guerra del cerdo fue invitado a un congreso del PEN Club celebrado en Brasilia en aquellos días. Bioy Casares suspende su diario, pero abre otro de pequeño formato para comentar solo sus impresiones del congreso (editado en una tirada no venal de 300 ejemplares, en 1991, para ser obsequiado a los amigos del escritor). El sucinto diario mantiene vivo el tono irónico de su autor. Durante el congreso conoce a Moravia (de quien escucha palabras nada amables de la obra de Giorgio Bassani), conoce a su mujer (a la que llama señora Moravia, porque no se acordaba que era Elsa Morante). Como está en Brasil, Bioy Casares elabora una teoría del patriotismo muy interesante: hay patriotas negativos (a los que se les eriza la piel cuando alguien critica a su país) y los patriotas positivos (los que hacen algo útil por su patria). Si uno recuerda su Borges, tendrá presente el constante aliento irreverente de sus páginas, su humor devastador. En Unos días en el Brasil, se mantiene constante esa característica, guardando siempre una educación exquisita ante quien se hace merecedor de algunos gramos de su sarcasmo. Escucha con suma atención a quienes tienen algo interesante que comunicarle sobre el modo de ser de los brasileños. Oye decir que hay un racismo muy soterrado extendido en todo el país, sobre todo respecto a los negros. Y luego no puede disimular su condición de seductor irrefrenable, sus tentaciones enamoradizas que no oculta. No tienen desperdicio sus opiniones sobre Brasilia, sobre la injustificada necesidad de crear una nueva capitalidad. En fin, ha sido un inmenso placer volver a leerlo señor Adolfo Bioy Casares.

Alfredo Bryce Interview Video (In Spanish Only)

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Canal-L interviewed Alfredo Bryce about his new book and the Cuban Revolution. It can be petty hard to understand as Bryce acts drunk, a legacy, I think, of his love of the high life.

Independent Books In Argentina at Literary Saloon

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The Literary Saloon links to a couple of articles about independent publishing in Argentina. You are unlikely to find any of these authors in your typical Latin American collection.Worth a look if our are interested in other Latin American authors.

From the literary Saloon:

Argentinian indie ‘Hot 20’

In the Buenos Aires Herald Ana Laura Caruso writes that ‘Independent publishers showcase their best books in select bookstores this week’ in Hot 20, as:

In Buenos Aires, until next Sunday, indie publisher association Alianza de Editores Independientes de la Argentina (EDINAR) presents a Hot List with what’s hot in the indie literature world. EDINAR, which comprises 30 publishing houses, was created in 2005 in order to defend diversity in the publishing environment. This time, 20 publishers chose one book each from their catalogues to be part of a Hot List, available and prominently displayed at different bookstores – these are not their best sellers, but the books that they feel deserve more of the spotlight than they’re currently getting. The Hot List comprises a great variety of genres such as novels, short stories books, poetry, and essays.

Caruso runs down all twenty titles in English, but see also the EDINAR hotLIST page; authors include Macedonio Fernández, Ricardo Piglia, and … Gary Snyder
And Caruso notes:

Perhaps the best writing of today is being published through small presses, who are keeping the independent spirit of literature alive. New small publishing houses are born every month but they can die out easily due to financial problems. There’s a lot of new things shimmering right now, so let that best-seller book drop off your hand and get to know what’s hot today in Argentine literature.

Sounds good — and, with Argentina the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair this fall — see my recent mention — I hope they’ll be well-represented. 

The Millions on César Aira

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The Millions has a good over view of the work of Argentine author César Aira. While he is not necessarily new to English, he is lesser known and the article reviews each of his four books. I’m not sure which one intrigues me most, perhaps Ghosts. Which ever one I choose they all sound interesting.

Ghosts shares Episode’s preoccupation with the visible world, if in a less frenzied key.  The entire action takes place over the course of a single day, New Year’s Eve, in and around a Buenos Aires construction site.  The night watchman, a Chilean immigrant, and his family live in the unfinished building as squatters.  The father, Raúl, is a good worker, but a bit of a drunkard.  His wife, Elisa, is a levelheaded housewife, “that anomaly, not nearly as rare as is often supposed: a mother immune to the terrifying fantasy of losing her children in a crowd.”  Their daughter, Patri, quiet but philosophically “frivolous,” spends the day wandering through the empty structure.  All of them see the ghosts which haunt it: portly naked men covered in fine cement dust whose members stretch like accordions.  The ghosts float between floors and sit on the satellite dishes “on which no bird would have dared to perch.”  Raúl uses them to refrigerate his wine; inserting a bottle into the ghosts’ thorax not only cools the wine, but also transmutes it into an “exquisite, matured cabernet sauvignon.”  Elisa does her best to ignore them.  But Patri is drawn to them by a strange attraction, and they to her, swarming around her head in a “luminous helix.”  Toward evening, they invite her to their midnight feast, though without mentioning the price of admission.

Between hauntings, Ghosts is filled with Aira’s beautifully precise observation of the texture of everyday life.  Most of the novel is occupied with the description of a workday, the preparations for a lunch, the problem of getting change in a grocery store, the difference between Chilean and Argentinean hair styles, laundry.  Elisa uses an inordinate amount of bleach in her washing, with the result that her family’s clothes “were so faded and had that threadbare look, humble and worn, yet beautifully so.  Even if an article of clothing was new, or brightly colored when she bought it, for the very first wash (a night-long soak in bleach) it took on the whitish, delicate and somehow aristocratic appearance that distinguished the clothes of the Viñas family.”  Viewed from this close, ordinary existence opens out to other dimensions.  Aira is a master at pivoting between the mundane and metaphysical.  In the middle of Ghosts, Patri takes a nap during the siesta and dreams of her unfinished building.  Her dream turns into a disquisition on the problem of the unbuilt in the arts, on the philosophical underpinnings of architecture in different cultures, and finally, a blueprint for Aira’s brand of literature, “an art in which the limitations of reality would be minimized, in which the made and the unmade would be indistinct, an art that would be instantaneously real, without ghosts.”

Mis días en Shanghai – The Writings of the Late Aura Estrada

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Metapolitica (via @ezrafitz) has a beautiful review of the late Aura Estrada’s most recent book. Most of you probably don’t know who she is because she was killed while swimming on the Pacific coast of Mexico at the young age of 30. She was one of the authors in Zoetrope’s recent Latin American literature issue a while back that I really enjoyed and was interested in seeing more from, only to be shocked that she was no longer with us. Meapolitica has reviewed a collection of her unpublished work that she had been working on when she died and the review is good, if not sad. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, it is in Spanish and I fear her work will never come to English, but I offer a Google Translate for you perusal.

Pop manners, fantastic tales, told with a loose scenes prose and plain amazing detailed reliefs, reflections of an author that his teachers wanted in the way personal, sudden fictions that do not end in his few lines of length I think the main virtues that attracted me writing are, first, his prose. The writer did not give breaks or permits: each paragraph focuses at least a surprise and a reason to continue to share the observations of a witness sharp a narrator who does not waste his time nor the reader, and attacks: direct observation is smart, play seductive, mystery without falsifications “, capable of creating the need to follow the zigzag lines that prey on human experiences. The second is his sense of humor The narrative of our country dressed in black, navy blue, when the day is clearing. Aura ibargüengoitiana had a vein that would be wrong to conserve and value our letters. The author disarms social conventions, the currency of the commonplaces of life social rules, so familiar, prejudices, to introduce the thin side of our certainties: a smiling, laughing with his critical eye, the acid comments, jokes that complemented their stories illustrated, where no one goes unscathed tragicomedies This ability to lighten the solemn and bitter. His unique sense of humor.

Costumbrismo pop, relatos fantásticos, escenas sueltas narradas con una prosa de relieves sorprendentes y planicies detalladas, reflexiones de una autora que buscaba en sus maestros el camino personal, ficciones repentinas que no se agotan en sus escasas líneas de duración. Me parece que las principales virtudes con que esta escritura me sedujo son, en primer lugar, su prosa. La escritora no se daba descansos ni permisos: cada párrafo concentra al menos una sorpresa y un motivo para continuar compartiendo las observaciones de un testigo agudo, un narrador que no desperdicia su tiempo ni el del lector —y ataca: va directo a la observación inteligente, al juego seductor, al misterio sin falseos—, capaz de crear la necesidad de seguir los zigzag con que sus líneas apresan las experiencias humanas. La segunda es su sentido del humor. La narrativa de nuestro país viste de negro —de azul marino, cuando el día es claro—. Aura poseía una vena ibargüengoitiana que no le vendría mal a nuestras letras conservar y valorar. La autora desarma las convenciones sociales, la moneda corriente de los lugares comunes de la vida, las reglas sociales, lo consabido, los prejuicios, para presentarnos el lado más delgado de nuestras certidumbres: uno sonríe, se ríe con su mirada crítica, el comentario ácido, la burla ilustrada que contrapuntea sus historias, tragicomedias donde nadie sale ileso. Esa capacidad de aligerar lo solemne y lo amargo. Su sentido del humor único.

Controversy: Isabel Allende and the National Prize for Literature

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Perhaps it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone who follows Latin American literature that there would be some controversy about Isabel Allende and Chile’s National Prize for Literature. I haven’t heard a kind word for her in a while, usually it is wrapped up in criticisms of popularity, but none of her recent books have really interested me. She doesn’t have to spend all her time writing magical realism, but I just don’t trust her when she writes about the US. Global Voices has a quick run down on some of the chatter that is accompanying her nomination. You can decide if it is petty or warranted.

Isabel Allende, author of The House of Spirits and the recently published Island Beneath the Sea, among other novels, is one of the best-known and most-read Latin American writers. This year, she is a candidate for the Chilean National Prize for Literature, a prize given by the government, the Ministry of Education, and the National Council of Culture and the Arts. Her candidacy has sparked debate among literature critics, writers, and average Chilean citizens.

Isabel Allende was born in Peru while her father worked there as a diplomat; her father’s cousin was Salvador Allende, the president who was ousted by a coup d’état led by Augusto Pinochet in 1973. Isabel Allende now lives in California. As reported by the Latin American Herald Tribune, “Her books have been translated into more than two-dozen languages and 51 million copies of her novels have been sold.” However, some critics, and even some readers, think her popularity is not enough reason to give her the prize.

Tomás Eloy Martínez’s Peron Books Reviewed at Book Slut

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Jesse Tangen-Mills has a review of three of  Tomás Eloy Martínez’s books, Saint Evita, The Novel of Peron, and the Tango Singer at Book Slut. He gives a good overview of the books, ones I should have read some time ago, especially since I own a copy of the Novel of Peron in Spanish. Both of the Peron novels are intriguing approaches to story telling. He gave an interesting interview here where he discussed some of what he wanted to do with the books.

His first attempt, The Perón Novel, took him thirty years to complete, and took me nearly six months to find. Big Spanish-language publishing houses have bases in more than one country, certainly in the biggies like Mexico and Argentina. The really big publishing houses have a base in every country in South America, and publish roughly a dozen autóctonos novels in each country, that will only be sold within that nation. The Argentine novelist, and contemporary of Martínez, Ricardo Piglia recently described it as “the Balkanization of literature in Spanish.” A less brilliant mind might just say it sucks. Every bookseller I spoke to in Colombia had read the novel, but didn’t have it. The translation was much easier to get used. In the end, I decided to read a bootleg version first (bootleg PDFs abound in Spanish) on my grime-covered laptop, before turning to the translation.

I didn’t mind starting The Perón Novel on a laptop because it was as good as I had expected, although I should warn the the reader that despite the straightforward prose with which the novel is written, without a good foundation in Argentine history, the book’s plot — and its many unbelievable characters — will be confusing. So before I get into the novel, I need to provide some background. Perón was what no American president has ever been, but always promises to be: bipartisan. He’s a Fascist-socialist-dictator-populist. And depending on who you ask, he is all or none of those labels. He’s Mussolini, an orator he greatly admired; he’s Lenin. His second wife was Evita, Miss “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina” until her death in 1952 (Martínez devotes another novel, Santa Evita, to her). Then in 1955, Pedro Eugenio Aramburu led a coup, and Perón was forced into exile for nearly twenty years. And then one day he came back. That’s where this novel begins.

It should be said that Martínez never intended these books to be nonfiction. He was adamant about that. He said it was fiction correcting the so-called “truth.” The entire book, in fact, reconstructs the arrival of Perón to Argentina and the mayhem that followed. The whole historical cast is here: José López Rega, astrologist, maniac, the Iago to Perón’s Othello; Isabel Martínez de Perón, who is also a star-reader; the dictator Aramburu’s guerrilla assassins for whom Perón is like Trotsky; the counter-insurgent Archangel, a poor boy trained in the art of taking abuse. I’m not sure if that last one is real, and all of them appear to be fictional. Astrology? Really? Yes? It’s all quite unbelievable.

Interview with Borges Translator Suzanne Jill Levine

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3 Quarks Daily has the transcript of an interview with Suzanne Jill Levine about Jorge Luis Borges. It is a lengthy interview and worth a look. It goes beyond his stories and talks about his non fiction works, something that he is not necessarily well known for in the US. You can also listen to the interview here.

In the nonfiction in these collections, are these a different Borges than you see in the fictions, or is it all of a piece, to your mind?

Both are true. In some ways, in order to understand, truly, his fictions, you have to look at his nonfiction work as well as his poetry to see where this language is coming from, where these ideas are coming from. What we wanted to do was bring forth to the reader not only the Borges they already know, but also expand their concept of who Borges is. For example, On Argentina is an aspect completely missing from the Selected Nonfictions, which is a wonderful volume. It’s just that that volume wanted to capture, let’s say, a more universal, international, and maybe more Anglo-oriented Borges.

But On Argentina shows you how Argentine Borges was. This really is a revelation. You understand how committed he was, politically, socially, culturally, to his particular country. That’s a part that many people aren’t aware of. It gives them insights they wouldn’t otherwise have about his fictions.

It is kind of, I don’t know if “fraught relationship” is the right term, he has with Argentina. It’s one that develops. You can flip through this book and see change: he’s come more to terms with Argentina. What was the process of his point of view on his country? He didn’t seem to like it very much early on, and at the end he’s still saying, “Here are the things we can’t do in Argentina,” but he’s matured.

It’s a very complex relationship. For me to sum up the history of Argentina and Borges’ ideas on it would be very ambitious, and probably wouldn’t work as well as the reader just picking up this lovely volume and reading the brilliant introduction by Alfred MacAdam, which does tell the story very well, as well as the essays themselves. He loved this culture, but was very pained by limitations, by a sense of a a lack of civic-mindedness, of a lack of, let’s say, political development. In other words, he saw it as a culture that was very rich, but, unfortunately, a country that was in the hands of, as he said, “gangsters.”

Naturally, at the time he was writing, regionalism was a very big movement. It really was a continuation of good old-fashioned European naturalism and realism. He wanted Argentina to find its own voice. He didn’t want writers to feel they had to write about certain subjects in a certain way. The fact of being Argentine was, whatever they wrote, it would be Argentine. This concept of identity was shocking, refreshing, and makes total sense.

Peruvian Author Alfredo Bryce Echenique On His Writing and Drinking

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Alfredo Bryce Echenique has published his most recent book, La esposa del rey de las curvas. It is his first book in a few years and he was in Bolivia recently talking about it and his reputation for drinking. Many of his books have been translated into English, so if you are curious you can give him a try. The following is from mexico.americaenews.com and rads as if it was run through Google Translate.

Wednesday, July 7, 6:55 PM La Paz, July 7 (EFE) .- The Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique (Lima, 1939) said Thursday that despite his reputation as a life of “debauchery” is a writer “uncluttered” , which has led him to be able to publish over 25 books. At the opening of the VI Meeting of Latin American writers to be held in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba (center), said Bryce Echenique accompanying a reputation as “anti (Mario) Vargas Llosa, for his alleged life “bohemian, casual and untimely.” He said he recently asked “how having led a dissolute life” has been written 25 books, to which he replied that in reality is “uncluttered”. ” I’ll take my house and I will not invite or a drink to see what I ordered, “he joked to his audience. It added that it considered” that has been able to consume the largest amount of alcohol in history of humanity, the drunkest of all Latin American writers. “Peruvian writer explained that never flaunted his order because” it is easier to “live with a bad reputation. In turn, said the key to his success has been “much work, much order, discipline and a lot of silence” as you type. The author of “A World for Julius” (1970) also took the opportunity to talk about the new novel in the works, whose title is “Giving sorrow to sorrow” . Bryce Echenique explained that the name of his new book comes from a conversation he had with that was his carer as a child, “Mama Rosa”, who replied with this phrase to a phone call, more than 40 years. ” It is a very violent novel, even I got scared. (…) It is a novel about the utter decadence, crime and the subnormal family, “he said, while saying that this is a book completely antagonistic “to” A World for Julius. “Peruvian writer added that his visit to Bolivia will be a” great opportunity to catch up “literature of the country, which professed to know” nothing, very little, “if well said however, does know the history of Bolivian social reforms. The meeting of Latin American writers, who has the 2002 Metro Award winner for “The garden of my beloved” headlining, will last until Friday 9 participation will also Peruvian and Argentine Diego Trelles Juan Newfoundland. will be joined by local writers Edward Scott, Jesus Urzagasti, Manuel Vargas and Ramon Rocha Monroy. In previous editions of this meeting, held since 2000, and involved great names of Latin American literature as the Peruvian Vargas Llosa, Antonio Skarmeta Chilean, Argentine Pablo de Santis and Jorge Volpi. Average (Not Rated)

Neruda, Huerta, and Bolano – An Investigation of Influences

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John Herbert Cunningham has a long and detailed examination of the late poetry of Neruda, and an Cunningham’s thoughts on its influences on the poetry of David Huerta and Roberto Bolano that was written at the same time. It is an one of those few articles where the writer has the luxury of making his case mostly with the art form, instead of summaries. Even if you don’t like his conclusions, you can at least read large sections of poetry from each of these authors.

Where Have the Latin American Novelists and the Dictators Gone?

~ bythefirelight ~ 1 Comment

Ilan Stavans has an article in the Chronicle Review looking at the demise of Latin American novelists who were politically engaged. I think the article provides a good overview of the boom authors, but I think it is a little weak when describing younger authors. Certainly there are authors who haven’t been politically engaged like Llosa or Fuentes, but not all of them. It also depends what engagement means. Is it writing about a dictatorship, or has it shifted to the narco novel? Perhaps when Volpi goes expands from Mexico, he is actually making a new engagement with the new realities that leave a country like Mexico at the mercy of other forces, too. I wonder what he would think of Jorge Volpi’s three examples of political writers: Edmundo Paz Soldan, Ivan Thays, or Santiago Rocagliolo? Ultimately, what he didn’t mention was perhaps the novel of the cauldio is just tired. There are so many of them that they may have worn themselves out.

Is it that they don’t usually torture and kill adversaries? That their regimes aren’t controlled by vengeful police forces? That they have been democratically (more or less) elected? Perhaps. But in important ways, they are caudillos. They rewrite constitutions to perpetuate themselves as supreme leaders. They embrace a populist oratory that condemns materialism and ridicules individuality (thereby fostering an environment where freedom is often a casualty). They promote an anti-imperialist (often synonymous with anti-American) message that brooks no disagreement. Their rhetoric embraces the downtrodden but creates fear among all who disagree with them.

To answer why writers have not taken on the left-wing strongmen, it is important to remember that the Latin American intelligentsia in the 20th century, particularly from the 1930s through the 70s, habitually embraced communism. To be a novelist was tantamount to being anti-establishment. As opposed to writers in North America, you didn’t need to be a bohemian to be considered serious. You needed to believe that power corrupts, and that excess power corrupts excessively. And you needed to see Latin America as the victim of colonialism and capitalism.

The road to the region’s redemption lay in rejecting foreign ideologies—except those of communism. Communism was viewed as representative of collective goodness, a utopianism that would magically retrieve what was best in the pre-Columbian past, as if the indigenous population before the arrival of the Europeans had always lived in harmony. Communism became a vindication of the Indian past.

Martín Solares’ Mexican Noir Novel Reviewed at NY Times

~ bythefirelight ~ 1 Comment

Martín Solares novel The Black Minutes was reviewed by the NY Times. It is a positive review and for a crime novel it sounds a little atypical. Perhaps one of the reasons it was translated was it has a sense of the urgent with characters involved in the drug trade and corruption, something that is plaguing Mexico. While I don’t read much crime fiction, done right it can transcend the genre and become a report on its times. Considering Jorge Volpi’s call for a more committed literature, perhaps this novel is a good example in the Mexican context.

The best detective novels are those that go beyond the limitations of genre and a specific story to limn the broader society in which they take place. Mr. Solares does that in a profound but entertaining fashion here, revealing the surprising subterranean linkages that give politicians, the police, labor unions, drug cartels, the Roman Catholic Church, business interests and sectors of the press an interest in covering up the truth of the two cases.

To that end he makes especially effective and clever use of the separate time frames, one of whose purposes is to show how chronic, endemic corruption erodes the desire and ability of the individual to do the right thing, or even to act at all. Current-day Paracuán’s duplicitous police chief, Joaquín Taboada, is thus shown as a young, somewhat bumbling officer in the 1970s with the hilarious nickname El Travolta. There is also Fritz Tschanz, an immigrant Jesuit priest who knows so much and has heard so many sordid confessions over the years that his world-weariness has paralyzed him.

Over all it sounds good, but I’m not sure what ethnic types he is talking about:

But Mr. Solares is a graceful, even poetic, writer, especially in his hard-boiled dialogue and his descriptions of the wildly varied landscapes and ethnic types of northern Mexico. Though the world of “The Black Minutes” is one to inspire fear and revulsion, Mr. Solares’s descriptions of it are oddly beautiful and fascinating in the same way that overturning a rock and observing the maggots beneath can be a perversely edifying spectacle.