The Time of the Hero

[Segunda lectura]
Tuve que leerlo un poco apresurado, para una clase. Esta segunda vuelta ya estaba familiarizado con la historia y la estructura, se me hizo muchísimo más sencillo. Sigo pensando que es una novela genial.


[Primera lectura]
[b:La ciudad y los perros|60142|La ciudad y los perros|Mario Vargas Llosa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388862058s/60142.jpg|2115431] es una novela extraordinaria. A pesar de ser la primera novela que publicó Mario Vargas Llosa, está muy lejos de ser una obra de juventud. La novela está estructurada de una forma tan compleja y experta que resulta, al comienzo, muy difícil de leer (yo la comencé a leer un par de veces hace varios años, sin poder terminar el primer capítulo. Tal vez me hacía show more falta mucha experiencia lectora).
Ésta NO es una novela fácil en ningún sentido de la palabra: requiere concentración, tiempo y esfuerzo encontrarle el hilo, un hilo casi invisible que, a veces, parece desaparecer entre las líneas. Si te atreves a leerla, muchas veces sentirás que no sabes quién te está hablando, sentirás que oyes un coro de voces desconocidas. No desesperes. Llosa no te va a tomar de la mano, su obra es una trampa en la que puedes entrar solamente por tu cuenta. Tampoco es una obra fácil desde el punto de vista emocional: se requiere mucho estómago para digerir sucesos tan brutales, palabras tan incisivas, ambientes tan llenos de impotencia y humillación. Pero, cuando llegas a la última página, sientes haber atravesado un campo de batalla, sientes una libertad que sólo los náufragos conocen cuando tocan el puerto del que zarparon.
Muchas veces nos negamos el placer de leer a un puñado de autores por no estar de acuerdo con sus posturas políticas, con sus opiniones, con sus afiliaciones: Mishima, Pound, Hamsun... la lista sigue y sigue. Llosa me enseñó que hacer eso es una tremenda estupidez. Puede caerme antipático, puedo pensar lo que sea de sus ideas, pero no puedo negar que La ciudad y los perros es una pequeña obra maestra. show less

Vargas Llosa’s first novel, written in 1963 when he was 27, shows his talent as a novelist. It centers on a group of young cadets in the Leoncio Prado Military Academy, which he himself attended from the age of 14 to 16, and the underworld of violence and drinking there.

The young men are frequently cruel and engage in some pretty disgusting acts (I’m tempted to describe one of them that occurs 33 pages in, but I’ll refrain from doing so). However, I don’t think this was the reason that the book caused an immediate outrage and ceremonial book burnings in Peru when it was published; I think it’s because it showed the sordid reality of life as a cadet, and the hypocrisy and corruption in the leaders of the academy.

While there is show more bullying and jealousy over girls that leads to violence, there are no heroes or villains here, and that’s to Vargas Llosa’s credit. It’s very strange to me that the English title was made “The Time of the Hero” in light of this; the original is quite simply “The City and the Dogs” in Spanish. Vargas Llosa uses multiple narrators and interleaved flashbacks, occasionally dabbling in stream of consciousness writing, and shows understanding of the psychology for all of his characters. In an understated way he explains their pasts and what formed them, and he also shows the sense of honor that some of them have despite their heinous outward actions. I also liked the ‘surprise’ which he cleverly builds up over the back half of the book.

Just this quote, in the preface, from Sartre:
“We play the part of heroes because we’re cowards, the part of saints because we’re wicked: we play the killer’s role because we’re dying to murder our fellow man: we play at being because we’re liars from the moment we’re born.” show less

Vargas Llosa's first novel demonstrates many of the techniques and themes of his later novels, including multiple (often confusing) narrators, class, race, and sex, but for me it was a less thrilling read than his later works. Set in a military academy for cadets (one which Vargas Llosa himself attended), the novel is a scathing indictment of such academies and implicitly the military itself, leavened by satire. I found the first third or so of the book difficult to read as it details the sadistic and horrifying way the cadets treat each other and introduces many characters all at once. Then, once one of the cadets as been killed, the book becomes more readable, and explores betrayal, loyalty, honesty, and hypocrisy. The story of what show more happens in the academy is mixed with scenes of some of the cadets back in their homes, both before and after their time in the academy. As I neared the end of the novel, I found it hard to put down.

Incidentally, Vargas Llosa is said to have disliked the English title; the Spanish title translates literally as "The City and the Dogs" and is a much better title ("dogs" is the nickname of the first-year cadets). show less

Muy impresionante; merece todo elogio que haya recibido. Al principio me hizo pensar mucho en la Zögling Törleß de Robert Musil por su situación en un colegio militar, la violencia y economía negra, aunque ésta no está tan desarrollada --siendo casi cincuenta años mayor --como Ciudad y los perros. Al fin me encontré completamente equivocado sobre la identidad del narrador sin nombre (hubiera conectado los hábitos del padre con la actitud de un cadete pero en fin), y me hizo disculpar por toda opinión previa acerca de una interpretación más bien floja de las técnicas de Faulkner. La verdad, Vargas Llosa ha sacado todo lo excelente de Faulkner con lo listo de este cuento.

Ho comprato questo libro nel 1985, ristampa Rizzoli, prima edizione. Ricordo di averlo iniziato e mollato subito. Per una curiosa coincidenza lo avevo ripescato dallo scaffale pochi giorni prima dell'annuncio del Nobel. Dello stesso autore avevo letto un paio d'anni fa Avventure della ragazza cattiva, che mi aveva incantata. E così ho ripreso questo suo primo libro, e devo dire che valeva davvero la pena. Nel 1985 non avrei potuto leggerlo. era una prosa, un modo di narrare inusuale, molto in anticipo sui tempi. Prima e terza persona, passato e presente, molti punti di vista, molti piani narrativi. Incredibile scrivere un romanzo corale così e dominarlo saldamente. Certo anche il lettore deve lasciarsi condurre, non è un libro per show more chi ama la prosa facile e il susseguirsi cronologico. E' un libro impegnativo. Ne esce un quadro di gioventù dolente, in alcuni tratti bisogna togliere un attimo gli occhi dalle pagine e guardare altrove. Consigliato ai mega-lettori. show less

I was once told that it is good to read a book about the places you are going to visit, whether you know them or not. So I read this before going to Lima, Peru. It would be wrong to say that La ciudad y los perros gives an accurate description of the city or the country: it is too personal for that. But the characters are so violently human you get attached to them. I found myself trying catching glimpses of them in the streets of Lima.

While at first a bit confusing with multiple narrators, the persistent reader will fall right into the rhythm of the story. It is the story of a group of military school cadets that was banned in Peru when it was originally published because it was considered scandalous. It was even burned publicly in Peru. Vargas Llosa was not happy with the American title. He wanted it closer to the book's title in Spanish, "The City of the Dogs".