Conversation in the Cathedral Review
I can see how this book could be off-putting to many a reader, as it was off-putting to me through a great deal of the reading of it. To begin with, there is Llosa's style: Flashbacks, interior monologues, time-frame loops (often all in a single page!) - the whole Joycean, Faulknerian kitbag - so much so that, regarding the first half of the novel, I might suggest that it wouldn't be such a bad idea for the intrepid reader to use a pen - or perhaps pens of different colours - to mark off the different time-frames and narratives.
And then there's the setting and characters: Peru - 95% set in the capital, Lima - in the 1950s, a city of dreadful night indeed, a world of whores - lots of these - cutthroats, assassins, and, above all, slews of very poor people living in squalid conditions in shantytowns---oh, and a few rich families. In short, the way most of humanity lives, are living, as I write this, on less than a dollar a day.
Fortunately, for the persevering reader, one gradually becomes accustomed to Llosa's technique and the stylistic pyrotechnics slowly ebb away to an almost straight linear narrative at the end. Also, one realises how many layers the novel touches on: political, psychological, spiritual. I should say that - more than anything - it is a Bildungsroman of Santiago (read Llosa) and his disillusionment with Marxism, Capitalism - really any "-ism" and determination to shun the venality that makes the world around him a cesspool on so many levels. At the end, the reader feels that it is the most lovely life in the world to have a small apartment with books, a spouse and let's not forget the dog with which the novel begins and ends.
Of course, it's not so simple; otherwise, this book would never have been penned. Santiago has tried to disencumber himself of the horrors of this world, even disowning his family, yet he lays bare the psychological scars of country and family for all to see here as if he is laying down a crown of thorns he has been wearing for his entire life.
The Balzac quote at the beginning is quite apt and bears repeating. It's left in the French in my copy, so the reader of this review will have to do with my perhaps somewhat clunky, though accurate translation:
"One must have searched through all social life to be a true novelist, seen that the novel is the private history of nations."
The book accomplishes this feat astoundingly well. Indeed, the history revealed is so private that, fifty years on from the events in this book, I doubt you will be ingratiating yourself to the populace if seen on the streets of Lima with this book.
It's really a very lonely, frequently depressing book, filled with what Wordsworth called "the still, sad music of humanity." Read it anyway.
Conversation in the Cathedral Feature
- ISBN13: 9780060732806
- Condition: New
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Conversation in the Cathedral Overview
A Haunting tale of power, corruption,
and the complex search for identity
Conversation in The Cathedral takes place in 1950s Peru during the dictatorship of Manuel A. Odría. Over beers and a sea of freely spoken words, the conversation flows between two individuals, Santiago and Ambrosia, who talk of their tormented lives and of the overall degradation and frustration that has slowly taken over their town.
Through a complicated web of secrets and historical references, Mario Vargas Llosa analyzes the mental and moral mechanisms that govern power and the people behind it. More than a historic analysis, Conversation in The Cathedral is a groundbreaking novel that tackles identity as well as the role of a citizen and how a lack of personal freedom can forever scar a people and a nation.
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Customer Reviews
Peru After a Few Beers - JAK - nj
This a difficult , confusing book.That is because the narrative structure is non-linear and not given towards explanations.At times it is impossible to figure out who is speaking and what is going on.Often novels with non traditional narrative structures are merely irritating.You feel like telling the author get on with it and make your point or tell your story.Stop trying to show me how clever you are, I don't care.That is a criticism that would make no sense here.The form is an integral and effective aspect of the novel not a gimmick.You are presented with a Peruvian panorama taking in various races and classes.However the focus is really on the country's upper middle class who are shown as corrupt , snobbish and to be , not really a bad lot.I would say that the most evil character in the book- Don Cayo - isn't that evil.He has a kind of Hannah Arendt Nazi quality to him.He believes in nothing and you can't figure out why he bothers.He's just good a being an enforcer.In fairness he seems to want to avoid extreme violence when possible.Not some one you particularly want to have around but there are far worse than him out there.In this novel , Vargas seems to have come to terms with the realities of his country or maybe society in general.It's an understanding that some will find cynical but that misses the point.It's my impression that with this novel ,Vargas was thumbing his nose at Left and Right alike.Religion is useless and Marxism pretty much a waste of time.There aren't solutions.That doesn't mean all is despair , it means we have to look at what we see and deal with it, not transform it into ideological fairytales .
I should add this is a fascinating , compulsively readible book.I'd been thinking about reading it for years .I'm glad I finally got around to it.
Don't miss this one - Richard K. Woodward - Edinburgh, Scotland
I'm surprised there are not more reviews of this book on Amazon, as I consider it to be one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature. The book is known for its complex narrative structure, but I found it surprisingly easy to navigate this once I got the hang of it. Vargas Llosa's work is often compared to that of Joyce and Flaubert, but I think the most salient comparison is with Vargas Llosa's self-proclaimed master, Faulkner - in particular, Faulkner's novel Absalom! Absalom! Absalom, Absalom!: The Corrected Text (Modern Library) In fact, I would recommend reading the two books back-to-back. Both are fascinating and insightful studies of how the souls of men are corrupted. The central characters of the two novels, Cayo Bermudez in Vargas Llosa's book and Sutpen in Faulkner's, are men who have become evil due to the social evils (racism and class discrimination) that have damaged them in their youth. As such, both of these novels go beyond a simplistic, moralizing approach to politics and tyranny, showing us the (ruined) human side of the "beast." For this reason, it is all the more remarkable to me that Vargas Llosa was able to create such an honest and incisive fictional portrait of young Marxists while at the same time writing the transparently propagandistic Marxist pieces that one can find in his collection of essays, Making Waves Making Waves: Essays.
The best Latin American novel I've read - Darryl R. Morris - Atlanta, GA
Santiago Zavala is the 30 year old son of a powerful Peruvian senator, who is estranged from his upper middle class family and eking out a meager existence as a investigational journalist in Lima. One day during an afternoon siesta his wife tells him that two black men snatched her beloved dog out of her arms, and he goes to the nearest pound to look for the animal. He finds the dog, and one of the men who took it is also there. Santiago quickly recognizes this man as his father's former chauffeur Ambrosio, who has obviously fallen on hard times. Ambrosio takes him to a local dive, La Catedral, where they reminisce about their former lives over the remainder of the afternoon.
The conversation is interspersed with other conversations that take place a few years before, during the dictatorial presidency of Manuel Odría (1948-56). Ambrosio was also formerly employed by the despicable and cunning Don Cayo Bermúdez, who was Odría's Director of Security and Minister for Public Order and the enemy of the senator. Santiago had previously learned that Ambrosio had been accused of the brutal murder of Bermúdez's mistress while he worked for Senatory Zavala, but Ambrosio reveals much more unsavory information about himself, the senator and Bermúdez, and the extent of the depravity of the Odría regime.
Llosa gives us an unsettling and unforgettable view of the effect of dictatorship and corruption on individuals of all levels of Peruvian society during and after Odría. All are adversely affected, even Bermúdez, who profits more than anyone from the regime.
This book was not an easy read, particularly in its first half, as the different conversations are woven together at times, which requires close attention and occasional review of previous pages or chapters. I'd encourage anyone who reads this book to be aware of this in advance, and to stick with it, as most of the latter half in the book does not use this technique, making for a faster read.
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