Mario Vargas Llosa's new book of essays is a selection of his newspapar columns from the early 1980s to 2000. The range of subject matter is quite broad, from Carnaval in Rio ("The Permanent Erection") to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ("A Walk Through Hebron") to economic aid for the Third World ("Aid for the First World"). Vargas Llosa uses several of these essays to stand up for the values and beliefs that he holds, which seem to boil down to three clear ideas: democracy, academic clarity and the free market. In "Seven Years, Seven Days," Vargas Llosa criticizes the anti-democratic policies of the Fujimori presidency in Perú, while praising Fujimori for adopting certain neoliberal policies. He makes his opposition to Hugo Chavez apparent in "The Suicide of a Nation." In "The Life and Trials of Elián," the author laments the fate of Elián González, as well as the victory that Castro ("one of the most repugnant dictators ever produced by the authoritarian fauna of Latin America" p. 264) scored in the whole debacle.

Vargas Llosa believes equally strongly in the free market, and takes George Soros to task for doubting it in "The Devil's Advocate." And he makes his plea for academic clarity and sets himself in opposition to obscurantist postmodern philosophy in "Postmodernism and Frivolity."

Some of Vargas Llosa's opinions, nevertheless, seem limited to the times in which they were written. As the most recent of the essays were published in 2000, what does the author think about the Argentine meltdown? Does the unequal playing field of the free market deserve any blame, or can corruption and mis-management explain it all? What about the recent riots in Bolivia, where water privatization has aggravated resource-distribution conflicts? (Vargas Llosa is very complimentary of Bolivia's political class and policies, at least in comparison to Italy's, in "Italy is not Bolivia.")

Whether you agree with Vargas Llosa's opinions or not, these essays are well-written and truly provide food for thought. I highly recommend this book.

This novel meant the came back from the political to the literary world of Vargas LLosa. The novel tells the story of a Civil Guard, Lituma, that is sent to a post in Naccos, the Andes. Once in there , he will try to solve what happened to three missing men. The novel is an excellent mix of peruvian mythology, Sendero Luminoso and Love.

Es una historia que sobre la vida de un chico,"Pichula" Cuellar, que vive en la Lima de principios de los '60. De niño se cuenta su vida en el colegio, donde tiene un feo accidente, cuyas marcas tendra que sobrellevar toda su vida; más tarde sus salidas con sus amigos y el inicio de la vida social en la adolescencia; y finalmente sus problemas amorosos en la juventud... Narrado por el que se considera que es el mejor autor peruano...

Este libro narra la historia de "Pichulita" Cuellar, un joven proveniente de una familia acomodada que sufre una castración cuando es un estudiante escolar. Podemos apreciar la negación de la pérdida y la aparente aceptación posterior de su situación. Cuellar atravieza por este proceso rodeado de un grupo cercano de amigos, que paulatinamente se alejan de él, por el estancamiento de su conducta. Recomiendo esta historia trágica y "cómica", donde ya se aprecia el estilo innovador de Vargas Llosa, que introduce nuevas formas narrativas que agilizan y amenizan la lectura.

It is brilliant. It really gets you into it, describing a reality of a society that most of us do not know and most institutions do not show.

The author added such an interesting twist on the writings of two of my favorite Latin American authors

Mario Vargas LLosa in no way represents Peru. He has not seen Peru. he has not seen the heart of it. I think his view of Peru is narrow. I have read many of his books, and come to admire him, but his narrative 95% of its content is fiction.

Dos Narraciones alternan, en El Hablador, para relatarnos el anverso y reverso de una historia singular. Por una parte, un narrador principal (que al igual que en la Tía Julia y el escribidor o Historia de Mayta, parecería identificarse con el autor) evoca sus recuerdos de un compñero de juventud limeño, apodado Mascarita, que siente fascinación por una pequeña cultura primitiva; por otra parte, un anónimo contador ambulante de historias - un hablador -, viviente memoria colectiva de los indios machiguengas de la Mazonía peruana, nos narra en un lenguaje de desusada poesía y de magia, su propia existencia y la historia y mitos de su pueblo. La confluencia final de los dos relatos, al revelar su secreta unidad, muestra las misteriosas relaciones de la ficción con las sociedaddes y con los individuos, su razón de ser, sus mecanismos y sus efectos en la vida. Por su dominio expresivo y la problemática abordada, El Hablador es una de las más significativas y originales aportaciones de la narrativa de Mario Vargas Llosa.

Este libro es muy diferente a cualquier otro escrito por Vargas Llosa. En el, al mismo tiempo que narra la historia de un amigo de la juventud (ficticia o cierta, la verdad es que para el caso no importa), muestra con una vision de antropologo la filosofia y estilo de vida de una tribu de la amazonia peruana, asi como los peligros a los que esta expuesta a causa de la civilizacion. La obra tiene una fluidez casi magica y nos transporta a lo profundo de la selva. Tanto por su forma como por su contenido es un libro excelente y una muestra de la versatilidad de Vargas Llosa como escritor. By the way, the "Reader from Canada" has no idea of what he/she is talking about. Vargas Llosa depicts Peruvian society in a very realistic way in all of his books. Readers have to keep in mind that Peru is a very complex mixture of extremely different realities, socially, economically, and racially speaking. There are many different valid perspectives. The author is inevitably immersed in his own reality and that is what he presents us with.