Lituma en los Andes (Spanish Edition)

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I really can't think of a writer with more tricks up his sleeve than Mario Vargas Llosa! Punitive assignment in the Andes. Nature is magnificent but relentless and oppressive. The days are "furnace" and polar nights. The police station is a hovel and its occupants live there like monks Punitive assignment in the Andes. The police station is a hovel and its occupants live there like monks, with the only derivative of their confidences of past love stories. A dream stay for the police officer and his young assistant in the investigation of three unexplained disappearances.

Between the terror of the Shining Path guerrillas, the beliefs of another age of the Indians and the total misery imposed on the civil guard, the affair looks complicated. With its twisting style, Mario Vargas Llosa is a joking tourist guide and truculent to train us on the stony paths of the Andes, countries of extremes and beliefs of lost civilizations.

Death in the Andes

View all 7 comments. This book doesn't just tell a story. It is told through stories, through storytelling, and this makes all the stories of Peru, even those beyond the confines of the page, one story. Death in the Andes follows three stories for a while. The first follows Corporal Litu This book doesn't just tell a story. The second is a string of short stories wherein characters peripheral to Lituma's investigation are shown interacting in some way or other with the Sendero Luminoso.

Some hide, some are executed, some help the Senderistas, some escape, some bear witness, but all are touched by the presence of the terrrucos in the Andes. The third is the tale of how Lituma's aid found himself in the crappy town of Naccos, and his great obsessive passion for a beautiful woman named Mercedes. It is difficult to place these tales in time, even more difficult to place them in space, but none of that is really important because Llosa isn't trying to deliver a plot or even a character study; he is trying to express the reality of brutality, and its omnipresence in Peru -- now as ever.

We can't know if it is a true story, but it doesn't really matter because whether or not it happened to the mute, it happened to somebody somewhere. And when we finally discover what did happen to the mute it is even more brutal than we could have expected. Yet even with all the brutality that swirls around and through Llosa's Andes, his tragic Peru, there is life and living. It might not be pretty or gentle or caring or healthy, but it is beauifully alive. And all of that is reflected in Llosa's structure and prose. Death in the Andes is an exercise in language. And I read this wonderful Spanish novel in English.

How sad is that? I must continue my Spanish lessons just so I can read this in its original form. I am sure it will blow my mind. View all 4 comments. View all 5 comments. May 16, Louise rated it liked it Shelves: Two Peruvian police officers, both outsiders, are stationed in a remote post in the Andes. While they investigate the disappearance of 3 men a terroristic organization operates in the area.

In the cold lonely nights, the younger officer Tomasito tells the older officer Lituma his love story which is how he came to be assigned to this dying mining town. They frequent a bar where the story of its owners weaves in and out. The tenses move past to present and back. A conversation can be interrupted without warning to a back story. An episode can begin while another is in progress. As the book begins, you expect it is about the serruchos, the Maoist style terrorists who could descend on this small town at any time. The best prose relates to them: The story of the missing Pedrito Tinoco, his bonding with the vicunas and how the serruchos visited them; the French couple and their presumptions about the terrorists; and the portrait of environmental researcher who believes that the terrorists share her brand of idealism.

This good prose is sandwiched in with anecdotes and side stories such that at md-point the book seems to be about life in the Peruvian Andes. Some stories have what seems to be gratuitous crudity, both scatological and sexual. The Feast of the Goat was masterful, and I remember many years ago Aunt Julia and the script writer as great. The last two Llosa books I've read Conversation in the Cathedral and this one have had prose that wandered too much to either enjoy or to provoke thought.

Were it not for the portions of exceptional prose I'd give it only one or two stars. I have enjoyed everything I have read by Vargas Llosa, so I am biased. This was a great read, I didn't want to put it down. I was quite surprised that it had a relatively happy ending, considering the whole novel is about the death and destruction brought on by terrorism and corrupt government. Three years later, I am reading it in English, planning to teach it in a freshman seminar, and trying to read it through the eyes of an year-old.

Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa

This time around, the novel seemed more vulgar I guess the English words are more shocking to me than the Spanish , and Lituma less likeable. But I was much more attentive to the misogynistic and racist language characteristic of Vargas Llosa's works. My love-hate relationship with him continues: I love everything he writes above all, I love a well-told story but I hate the blatant racism, elitism, misogyny, etc.

Blown away again by Vargas Llosa, this time because I paid more attention to the numerous narrative voices that are woven together to tell this story. I don't understand why this novel is not more widely read. Despite my own issues with his ideology, he is undoubtedly a master of language, character development, and stylistic experimentation. In fact, I am tempted to give the novel five stars this time! Also frustrating to reread all the horrifically racist descriptions of the serranos. Lots of emotions this time!

Human sacrifices and spirits of the mountains, road building, terrucos — uncompromising, ruthless and cruel freedom fighters coming out of nowhere and conducting their cruel people trials, and superstitious mountain people serruchos are the backdrop for the plot and its main characters. Captain Lituma and his adjutant Tomasito, people from the new, more modern world, are posted in a remote mountain village to guard the road building against the terrucos.

Captain Lituma is obsessively trying to piece what happened to them. Tradition and superstition, death, love and obsession interweave and drive the plot in this tale. It was very well written, and I loved the style. I found the world portrayed sinister yet fascinating. View all 14 comments. Stretto tra lo spettacolo deprimente della dura vita dei minatori da una parte, e dalla minaccia della sanguinosa violenza senderista dall'altra, sulle prime al sottufficiale questa sembra una via di mezzo tra un ergastolo ed una condanna a morte.

Queste sembrano vivere di vita propria, animate da demoni antichissimi che non tollerano di perdere la loro parte di venerazione in favore del dio cristiano o del dio denaro che in questi luoghi assumono lo stesso volto. Gli uomini dell'ovest pensano all'America solo in termini di sfruttamento da una parte e conversione dall'altra, ma con il loro bieco materialismo guardano a questo mondo senza capirlo, e puntualmente falliscono. Scomparse che, tuttavia, dopo questo magnifico e terribile incontro con la gente delle montagne perderanno di rilevanza.

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Chi ad essi non si piega e non accetta di pagar dazio a questa irrazionale ed inspiegabile forza, se ne deve andare. Vattene dunque, vecchio caporale Lituma. Jul 23, Nina rated it really liked it Shelves: I started reading this book before I went to Peru, and I was connecting with it. It is totally possible that I was distracted by trip preparations, etc.

I picked up the book again at the end of my trip when my Kindle, which had been malfunctioning on vacation, miraculously started working again. And then I got totally absorbed. The landscapes of Peru were brought to life, and the mystery sucked me in! Aug 13, Steve rated it liked it Recommended to Steve by: This was an odd duck. At first I wondered about the translation, but Grossman is an old hand, so I'm not laying the reading experience at her feet. I'm a big fan of Llosa's War of the End of the World , which is pretty much an epic.

With this one, it seems he wanted shrink his focus -- but still have it be a big novel that says things. The numerous flashbacks got on my nerves in English they seemed clumsily handled , and at times even manipulative, thus draining important scenes of the This was an odd duck. The numerous flashbacks got on my nerves in English they seemed clumsily handled , and at times even manipulative, thus draining important scenes of their impact.

Something about those bleak Andean peaks which Llosa describes very well -- and the Evil that men do. There was a so-so movie made of it, but I recall liking that novel a great deal. May 06, Ioana rated it it was amazing Shelves: I am ashamed to admit that I only recently in my early 30s "discovered" Vargas Llosa, and only read my first work by him in April My choice of "Death in the Andes" was twofold: Second, I had just within the past year visited South America for the first time, hiking the Inca trail and falling in love with the people and culture of Peru in a more intense and passionate way than I ever have with a locale previously during my travels--the fact that Vargas Llosa is Peruvian and that this novel takes place in the most beautiful, mysterious, tranquil and surreal setting I have ever experienced clinched the decision to try and move beyond my current phase of shallow feel-good mysteries.

By most accounts, this is not Vargas Llosa's best work, and by others, "Death in the Andes" is a meandering "mystery" that doesn't quite live up to any mystery standards. I agree wholeheartedly with both appraisals: Regarding the second point, "Death in the Andes" is not a mystery; it's full of mystery, but is not in any way, shape, or form, a detective or mystery novel in which the three disappearances which center the novel are systematically solved. Rather, it is a lyrical, incredibly written drama which offers profound insights into the nature of human experience, a beautiful description of native life in the Andes of Peru, a surreal atmosphere in which the horrific is rendered mundane while the prosaic is transposed into the realm of mystery, and a tragic illustration of the mechanics of terror, superstition, and power--an incredible induction into Latin American "magical realism".

The story begins after the third disappearance of a miner, as the guards are seeking answers to the possible fates of the missing men Were they killed by the Shining Path?

Did they run off to join this group? Were acts of nature involved? Or were the men "sacrificed"--willingly or not--to the spirits of the mountains, to appease them for the tumultuous changes ravaging local communities? As much as the disappearances play a role in the broader illustrations of how individuals make meaning within a chaotic, senseless world in which they are manipulated by forces which they feel helpless to shape such as terrorism , the mystery, and the "solving" of possible crimes, is besides the point.

Instead, Vargas Llosa paints a complex world in which even when known as fact, the "solution" of the disappearances remains ambiguous, unintelligible, mysterious, in which any clear lines between "good" and its opposite have been effectively blurred beyond recognition, and in which we are left to question how we can possibly identify and empathize with those who practice acts which, if written as catchy bylines, would terrify us such as "Human Sacrifice in the Andes". If it's not already clear why I absolutely loved this book so much that the next day I bought five more Vargas Llosa books and almost immediately started reading "The War of the End of the World," suffice to say that there is only one reason, and it's more than one hundred others together: Vargas Llosa's brilliant aesthetic and incredible ability to poignantly depict the ambiguous and complex nature of humanity.

I haven't been this glued to every word, nuance, and detail in a book for many, many years. Usually I read fast, trying to devour as many books as possible in the limited time I have to read in a week, but with "Death in the Andes," I was savoring every word, looking up references online, visualizing the setting and characters, in general just taking my time to enjoy the beautiful writing and surreal to a Westerner story I can only imagine how beautiful this novel is in Spanish: Vargas Llosa has inspired me to get going on my Spanish learning I've been meaning to for a while so I can read this powerful novel in its original language.

Everything worked out too perfectly for both protagonists, they both got what they wanted: I kept waiting for the same fate to befall the two Guards as the other "missing" characters I am looking forward to a Vargas Llosa binge for the next few months, or however long it takes me to get through the rest of his novels: I am in love!!!!

Me ha gustado esta novela que fue Premio Planeta en Mar 18, Robert Gammon rated it it was amazing. Death in the Andes Spanish title: It is set in the midst of a virtual civil war that took place in his native Peru between and , leaving 70, people dead. The conflict was between the Shining Path maoist guerrillas and the Peruvian armed forces and anti-maoist peasant groups. Both sides were accused of terrible atrocities.

Vargas Llosa was directly invo Death in the Andes Spanish title: Vargas Llosa was directly involved as the Peruvian President appointed him to head a commission to investigate the assassination of eight journalists in In , Vargas Llosa himself would narrowly lose the Peruvian Presidential elections. The novel depicts the atmosphere of fear in the Peruvian Andes at the time, with the Shining Path guerrillas controlling large areas of the countryside and descending on villages.

Guerrillas would recruit men, young women and even children to carry out these terrible deeds. Vargas Llosa does a masterful job of taking the reader into this nightmarish scenario. The author also introduces us to Andean Indian culture, superstitions and harsh life as the background to three assassinations that Lituma diligently tries to investigate. The novel also reveals entrenched prejudices between Peruvians from the coast like Lituma and those from the Andes.

However, I would say that this novel is more plot driven than character driven, compared to other novels by Vargas Llosa, where the strength of his characters is often a greater allure for readers. As I prepare for an eventual visit to Peru -- perhaps next year sometime -- I find myself entranced by the novels of Mario Vargas Llosa.

Find your reading speed by taking one of these tests or by reading this book's description, below. To calculate your words per minute WPM reading speed, click the 'Start reading' button and read the entirety of the book's description below. When you are done reading, click the 'Stop and calculate' button. The website will then calculate your reading speed and give you your WPM. En un campamento minero de las montanas del Peru, el cabo Lituma y su adjunto Tomas viven en un ambiente barbaro y hostil, bajo la constante amenaza de los guerrilleros maoistas de Sendero Luminoso, y debatiendose con misterios sin aclarar que les obsesionan, como ciertas desapariciones inexplicables.

La historia intima de estos personajes, sobre todo la de un antiguo amor de Tomas, se va contando en forma de episodios intercalados como un contrapunto de recuerdos al drama colectivo. El aliento mitico de la narracion, en la que se entreven otras muchas siluetas energicamente trazadas, infunde una extraordinaria vida a realidades que se observan de un modo implacable y minucioso.

Solo un maestro de la lengua espanola como Vargas Llosa podria conseguir tanto dramatismo y profundidad en las paginas de esta novela, que obtuvo el Premio Planeta en You read this over an average of words per minute. Tan cerca de la vida Spanish Edition Look on Amazon.

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