inthelouvre.org » Latin American Lit Rec’s

Latin American Lit Rec’s

Apr

'08

I’ve compiled this post not only as my contribution to the upcoming Bookworms Carnival, but also to start a series of recommendation lists I’ll be (hopefully) getting around to doing. Though I love to fully and lengthily review books, most of my reviews contain spoilers or personal thoughts which may or may not be relevent to my visiting readers. By compiling these lists, I can better direct my visitors to my favorites without forcing them to druge through my reviews.

The Books

The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru). I was told that the structure of this book is reminiscient of The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. I later read that book and found it to be the most difficult read of my life, but agreed that the structure was similar. The writing follows three points of view during the last years of Trujillo’s despotism in the Dominican Republic: 49-year-old Urania Cabral’s memories of her life there in 1961; Trujillo’s thoughts on his leadership, health, church, and politics; and the four conspirators involved in Trujillo’s assassination.

Santa Evita by Tomas Eloy Martinez (Argentina). This isn’t one of those flowing biographical (or even fictional) accounts of an admired and respected leader. This is the story of a corpse. Eva Peron only takes part in this story after her death; it is her spirit and saintliness that define her character. Her husband, Juan Peron, was overthrown before her body was to be put on public display; this book is the story of the travels of the corpse - what do you do with the body of an ex-political leader’s wife which causes much controversy? Hilarious at parts, I was unable to put this down when I read it.

Poems, Protest, and a Dream by Sor Juana de la Cruz (Mexico). A parallel text - the original Spanish facing the reader next to the translated English, this collection of writings is (I hear) an excellent introduction to not only the works of this woman, but also to her life, struggles, and thoughts on religion, gender, and ethnicity.

Loving Che by Ana Menendez (Cuba). In the middle of my reading, I made a post with my so-far thoughts which may not make complete sense to someone who hasn’t read the book, but which provide some insight into what to expect while reading this book. I recall this book being very poetic and thoughtful. The main character is lost in identiy trying to figure out her mother’s past while learning details of the man who may have been her father.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru). This is the tale of a man who falls in love with his aunt, but also of a man who befriends a scriptwriter. It’s also the story of the scripts that were written, as well as the effects that serial radios have on their listeners. I wrote a review post with my thoughts (minor spoilers included), but that doesn’t even begin to go into depth on what I thought of this book. I have found, so far, that Mario Vargas Llosa’s books are creatively put together with complex structures that only come together at or towards the ends of the books (which is something I thoroughly enjoy about them). It wasn’t a quick read, though I think that is more due to font than to content; I couldn’t easily put this book down unless I found myself at the end of a chapter, but once I picked it back up I didn’t want to let go.

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina). I haven’t finished this book yet. Since I was required to read it in a college class several years ago, I find myself reading stories repeatedly instead of starting new ones and thus completing the entire collection. Borges is one of those writers from whom the reader gains a new understanding upon each read. This collection of short fiction works is no exception.

Eva Peron: The Myths of a Woman by JM Taylor (Argentina). I admit I only picked up this book for a class but I found it extremely invigorating - the writing wasn’t boring even though it’s written in academic format. Eva Peron is a well-known name, if not just for Madonna’s portrayal of her in the movie Evita, at the very least because of the religious associations. Taylor’s book dives into the myths that were constructed surrounding this woman and her life.

Brief Encounters with Che Guevara by Ben Fountain (Cuba). Though the author doesn’t appear to be Latin American himself (to be honest, I can’t find any information about him anywhere!), the title implicates the obvious connection with this topic. I wrote my thoughts on some of the stories (contains a few spoilers), but generally I thought it was a well-written compilation of - you guessed it - brief encounters with the revolutionary leader Che Guevara. An interesting idea well executed and certainly recommended.

Some Links

- Latin American Literature Wikipedia page
- Mostlyfiction.com Book Reviews tagged “Latin American”
- Boston Public Library Booklist
- Complete Review’s Index of Latin and South American Lit
- Latin American Studies

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