Author: Mario Vargas Llosa
Since I was visiting Peru during the Christmas break of 2024, I was eager to read something set in Peru. Mario Vargas Llosa is a highly decorated Peruvian author and this came up as a suggestion. While it starts out in Peru, the protagonist, Ricardo moves to Paris and seems to like it there. So most of the action is set in Europe.
The story is a common trope the most famous being Gustave Falubert’s Madame Bovary. Guy falls head over heels in love with a girl, who doesn’t give a hoot about him. The girl disappears and re-appears multiple times in the book. They see each other for very short durations, but enjoy everyone of them so much that it makes up for the lost time. This pattern gets repetitive and you are just waiting to see how Mario is going to portray it the next time.
The predictability notwithstanding, Mario’s description of people and their interaction with each other is simply wonderful. His reflections on the hippie movement and the rock music scene in the seventies in England is welcome additiona. The book is effortless to read and very enjoyable.
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