Mario Vargas-Llosa
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Mario Vargas-Llosa (Peru, 1936)
La Ciudad y los Perros (1962) + La Casa Verde/ The Green House (1966) ++ is a sequence of stories that eventually make sense but it looks like the chapters have been shuffled randomly. The temporal sequence is continuously altered, so the reading becomes a bit of a puzzle. Slowly one understands the chronology. By the end, the stories look like miniature Shakespeareian tragedies of ambition, love and murder. Another storyline is about the old Aquilino, who is escorting his friend Fushia up the river. Aquilino is a trader who spent his life plying the river back and forth with his merchandise. Fushia, an ethnic Japanese, was a Brazilian fugitive who had become a criminal after being unjustly jailed. Fushia tells Aquilino how Julio Reategui made a fortune through smuggling rubber. Don Fabio had introduced Fushia to Reategui. They had been business partners for a while, but Fushia's dream of getting rich had not materialized, whereas Reategui had even become the governor of the region (only now retired and replaced by Don Fabio). Fushia had been blamed for the illegal trade of rubber. His revenge on Reategui had been to seduce the same girl that he wanted: Lalita. Fushia pretended to sell Lalita to Reategui in exchange for a boat and money so he could escape. He then instructed Lalita to escape. Lalita was madly in love with him and followed him into the jungle, where they set up operations with Nieves and an indio named Jum. Now Fushia calls Lalita a whore, but Aquilino reminds him that she merely obeyed him, and out of love. Fushia promised Lalita that he would make her rich. The jungle was a safe place for him, a wanted man, and he was sure he could rob the indios with help from Nieves, Panticha and Jum. She was the only white woman in that part of the world and lonely most of the time. Her only friend was Aquilino, who even helped her give birth to their son, hence named Aquilino too. Aquilino was the man who helped Fushia sell the loot. Nieves' story actually began in the nearby garrison, where corporal Roberto Delgado asked captain Artemio Quiroga for permission to visit his family in the jungle. The captain granted him three weeks and gave him a pilot, Nieves, and a porter. They were attacked by indios and only Nieves escaped unharmed. He decided to desert because he hated the life at the garrison. He found employment in the jungle with a white couple who were running an illegal business: Fushia and Lalita. Another story centers on Lituma, who has returned to the city after spending several years in jail. His old buddy Josefino welcomes him. Lituma has decided to settle there. He wants to celebrate at the local brothel, the Green House, but there is something that Josefino has to tell him first, something unpleasant: his wife Bonifacia has become a whore at the Green House and now goes by the nickname of Wildflower. After he was arrested for causing the death of a wealthy ranchero, Seminario, Bonifacia was pregnant and penniless. Josefino claims that he fled town right away because he was afraid of being implicated as an accomplice, and that Bonifacia remained alone. Lituma visits Wildflower at Chunga's brothel. He only pretends to believe Josefino's story. He knows the truth: Josefino took advantage of Lituma's arrest to seduce Bonifacia, who was already pregnant with Lituma's baby. Lituma beats the hell out of Josefino while Wildflower exults, but then Lituma turns against Wildflower too, sending her back to her whoring duties at Chunga's place. Another story has to do with Don Anselmo, a talented harp player who arrived in town one day with lots of money and a mysterious past. He opened the brothel where the town ends in the desert. People started coming from all over. The Green House made the city popular. It also made lots of enemies for Don Anselmo, particularly Father Garcia. Reategui was disturbed by the news that the indios were refusing to sell rubber to him like in the old days. Some white "teachers" had educated them and stirred them up against him. Lalita was faithful to Fushia while he mistreated her, beat her and cheated on her. Eventually she ran away with the pilot, Nieves. By then Fushia had become impotent because of an uncured infection that was eating up his legs. Aquilino is the only friend that Fushia has, but defends Lalita's actions. On the mission to rescue the children Nieves befriended the sergeant, Lituma, a jungle boy, and offered to introduce him to his wife Lalita and to the girl who helped the children escape, Bonifacia, who had moved in with them. Lalita immediately sets out to arrange a marriage between Lituma and Bonifacia, except that Bonifacia is very shy: she has always lived among women. Antonia was an orphan who had been adopted by the wealthy Quirogas. One day the Quirogas were attacked and killed. She survived by miracle but lost her eyes and her tongue to the vultures. Blind and mute, she was adopted by a washerwoman, Juana Baura. One day Antonia disappeared and the whole town searched in vain for her. Anselmo confessed that he had convinced her to live with him in the brothel where only the prostitutes knew of their affair. The pervert had seduced the poor girl and got her pregnant and she had died giving birth. The women of the town, furious and led by Father Garcia, set the Green House on fire. Anselmo cries that Antonia's baby is burning alive. The cook saves her: Chunga. A new lieautenant is odered to track down and arrest the white bandits that have been robbing indio villages in the jungle. He takes Lituma with him but Nieves refuses to follow them and suggests another pilot. An indio, Jum, was punished as an example after Delgado was beaten and Nieves disappeared (some believed killed). Jum, though, always claimed that Delgado was a thief and that Nieves was not killed but ran away. Jum demanded that they returned what was stolen and a little girl who had been taken by Reategui. Jum claimed that the indios stopped selling rubber to Reategui because he was cheating them. Reategui delivered the little girl to the nuns, so she could be raised properly. The nuns reproached him, though, for punishing Jum without a trial. Reategui defended his action claiming it was for the common good. It was his last action as a governor before retiring to a distant city. Bonifacia marries the sergeant Lituma and the nuns come to the wedding and forgive her. Lituma gets in an argument with the rich ranchero, Seminario. They play Russian roulette and Seminario loses, i.e. kills himself. Lituma is arrested for having caused the death and sentenced to ten years in prison. Josefino pretends to be a friend but he is already eyeing the pregnant Bonifacia. (The story is told by Chunga at the Green House, where Bonifacia is now a whore named Wildflower). Chunga is now the owner of the Green House. Josefino was five when the first Green House burned down. Anselmo, now old, refuses to talk about it. Anselmo consoles himself with the orchestra that he organized and that is popular all over the place. Many brothels opened along the river after the Green House was rebuilt. The soldiers find that Fushia's band has long left the jungle. They only find Pantacha gone crazy, who tells them that Nieves is the pilot who deserted and then became an associate of the bandits. Now Lituma understands why Nieves didn't want to join the expedition. Lituma goes back to warm Nieves and give him a chance to escape, but Nieves is tired and lets Lituma arrest him instead. Fushia has only one friend left, Aquilino, who helps him reach a city where he can get cured. Fushia has to spend his entire meager fortune to survive. His enormous ambition gave him nothing: a rotting body. The modest Aquilino has fared a lot better in life. Years later Aquilino is still visiting Fushia at the hospital where he is attended by nuns. Fushia has lost a leg and is rapidly losing his mind. Aquilino has seen Lalita in town: she is now married to a policeman and raises all her children together (Fushia's, Nieves' and the new ones). FUshia doesn't even understand him. Anselmo dies and Wildflower even fetches his lifelong nemesis Father Garcia to bless him before he dies. Lalita learns that Nieves has finally been released but he probably left the country. Their son, also called Aquilino, is getting married. Before Anselmo died, Chunga also called the doctor, Zevalos. Zevalos is the one who brought CHunga to the world: her mother Antonia died in his arms. Father Garcia still has not forgiven the pervert who seduced Antonia and then caused her death. Zevalos remembers how Antonia died while he was operating her. His memories are mixed with the abortion that Josefino forced on Bonifacia and that almost killed her too. The mystery of where Anselmo came from dies with him: he told Bonifacia that he too came from the jungle like her but nobody believes her. Father Garcia, after having cursed all the sinners of the Green House, especially Lituma who lives on Bonifacia's prostitution, walks away with Zevalos: they are the only survivors of that generation. This is the chronology of events:
Conversacion en la Catedral/ Conversation in the Cathedral (1969) ++ spans the period between the dictatorship of Manuel Odria (1948-1956) and the first presidential election of Fernando Belaunde Terry. The story, divided into four parts, is told via multiple interlocked conversations that take place at different times (sometimes by the same speakers at different stages of their lives), creating a chaotic kind of counterpoint. The chapters are not organized chronologically but instead jump backwards and forwards in time. This is especially true in the first of the four parts. The narrative becomes more linear in the second part, which is focused on one character (the brutal director of security). The main conversation, that spans the entire book, is between a young journalist and an old former chaffeur, a four-hour conversation in a cafe called Cathedral. But conversations pop up all the time creating a maze of narratives. The cast is Dante-esque (politicians, servants, students, entrepreneurs, police, prostitutes, etc) set in the hell of Peru, where economic and moral forms of degradation are rampant. There's a lot of Balzac's "comedie humaine" and of Stendhal in this novel. But there is also a Dostoevskyan search for a young soul's essence, and its failure, its decline into mediocrity, against the backdrop of sociopolitical upheavals and his own family's fortunes. Later into the novel, there is also a mystery to be solved: the young man wants to find out whether his father was involved in the sordid murder of a prostitute. The four protagonists all fail: Santiago succumbs to inertia and, after failing as a student, as a revolutionary and as a journalist, ends up living way below his social status, Cayo loses his political power, Ambrosio loses his wife and ends up broke, and Fermin loses his son Santiago and his own life. I-2. Santiago is a teenager. His friend Popeye Arevalo is the son of a senator. He is studying hard for university and is in love with Santiago's sister Tete, but she doesn't care. Santiago is also known as "Skinny". He hates his rich father Fermin because his father backed the dictator Odria. The senator serves under Odria. Father and son also disagree on education: Santiago wants to go to a humble university whereas his rich father Fermin wants him to go to the Catholic university. Santiago is also quarrelling with his brother "Sparky", who spends most of his time drinking and gambling and sides with their father. Popeye asks Santiago to engineer an encounter with Tete, but first Santiago, despite being broke, wants to deliver some money to Amalia, the family servant, because he feels guilty that she has been fired. Santiago heard from his brother that a dose of yobimbine turns on a girl and tries it on Amalia, but to no avail. Santiago and Ambrosio discuss their marital stories. Santiago got married, Ambrosio didn't because his woman died while giving birth. I-3. After Odria's coup, soldiers travel to a remote town to pick up Cayo Bermudez, a mulatto of humble origins, the son of the shylock Vulture and of his devout wife Catalina, and bring him to the capital: his high-school friend Espina has become a minister. Espina offers him the post of minister of security. Cayo had married the poor Rosa, daughter of the milk merchant Tumula, after his friend Ambrosio helped him kidnap her. Instead of just using her for a night, he had ended up marrying her. Later in life Rosa gets ugly and Cayo neglects her for his political career. I-4. In college Santiago falls in love with the communist and atheist Aida but is too shy to tell her so. He hangs out with the young leftists who hate the dictator Odria. As a child he was Fermin's favorite son. Tete and Sparky were jealous. Santiago was writing poetry and they nicknamed him "Superbrain". When he passes the college examination, Fermin asks the whole family to celebrate, and the children are jealous again. I-5. When Santiago is still a teenager, Amalia is fired from the house but Fermin hires her in his laboratory. A worker in the nearby textile factory, Trinidad, falls in love with her. She confesses that she lost her virginity with Fermin's chaffeur Ambrosio and Trinidad initially refuses her; but then they meet again accidentally and Trinidad proposes to her. He makes her quit her job and she gets pregnant. He gets arrested during some strikes. She begs Fermin to intervene and Fermin makes a phone call to get him released. But Trinidad has been fired from his job and claims that he cannot find job anywhere else. Amalia, desperate for money, goes back to work at Fermin's laboratory. Trinidad goes truly mad, lies to Amalia about having found a job, lies about his cousin Pedro, gets arrested for shouting political insults, and dies of a stroke (so they tell Amalia). The following day her baby is stillborn. A good woman, Rosario, lets Amalia live with her and her children Celeste and Jesus. Amalia refuses to go back to work. She only sees Trinidad's friend Atanasio and her own friend Gertrudis, but her health declines rapidly. Ambrosio (who is telling the story to Santiago) mentions that she will die of a medical operation. I-6. In college Santiago is jealous of Jacobo, a fellow student who too is in love with Aida. Santiago never tells Aida but Jacobo does and wins her over. They form a group that studies Marxism, a topic outlawed by the dictator. One of the members, Washington, is their liaison to the (outlawed) communist party. This is when Santiago begins to despise his father, who is involved with the government. Ambrosio (at the Cathedral) tells Santiago that he frequently overheard his father Fermin complain that Santiago didn't love him anymore. While they are chatting, Santiago mentions to Ambrosio that Tete has two children while he (Santiago) has none. I-7. Cayo, now director of security under minister Espina, launches a raid on Santiago's university to arrest the communists. Espina senses that Cayo is becoming a threat to his power. Ambrosio's father Trifulcio is released from jail. Ambrosio has become a professional driver and is moving to the capital, hoping that Cayo will help him find a better job. Trifulcio is hired by senator Emilio Arevalo, Popeye's father. Before parting ways, Trifulcio chats with his son and asks for money. When Ambrosio reaches the capital, his old friend Cayo hires him as chaffeur. The sinister security police torture Trinidad until he loses consciousness. Cayo and Fermin have a drink together. Cayo has no children and inquires about Fermin's three children. Fermin tells Cayo that his younger son Santiago is a top student, whereas the elder, Sparky, has been kicked out by the navy and is doing nothing. I-8. Santiago eventually loses interest in politics but it's too late: he gets arrested for his communist activities. He's chatting in the present with his friend Carlitos when he narrates this episode from his college. I-9. A typical chapter with multiple interlocked actions taking place at different times: Emilio Arevalo is holding a political rally during the elections, helped by Trifulcio; Trinidad is tortured to death by Hipolito and Ludovico; Ambrosio (in the present) tells Santiago that his father loved him and Santiago confesses that he unconsciously hated him; senators including Santiago's father Fermin discuss the fact that Cayo imprisoned the opposition leader Montagne, bypassing his superior Espina, just before the elections; then Fermin and fellow senators gossip about Cayo's lover Hortensia, a lesbian nightclub singer known as the Muse and considered a high-flying prostitute; Ambrosio mentions that Cayo betrayed Fermin too; Cayo releases Montagne from prison to appease the foreign observers who want fair elections; Queta reproaches Ambrosio for having hidden Amalia in Hortensia's place; Trifulcio is accused of stealing Arevalo's wallet at the rally and starts crying, but later admits to his friends that he did it; Cayo invites Fermin to dinner and they openly discuss Cayo's mistress and Cayo's fortune in politics; etc. Mixed with all the asynchronous dialogues are two important sentences by Fermin: someone killed a woman for him, pretending to silence a woman who was blackmailing Fermin, but in reality taking revenge on the woman for having written an anonymous letter to Fermin about the killer's affair with another woman; and this killer is crying and Fermin is consoling him. That someone is not mentioned, but it appears to be Ambrosio. I.10. The students are arrested by Cayo's men. Santiago, however, is released immediately because Fermin in person pressures Cayo. Cayo tells Fermin what Santiago was up to. Santiago tries to deny but his father slaps him in the face: he heard recordings of his conversations with the communists. Santiago thus understands that the cell has been caught because he, Santiago, was stupid enough to discuss their plans on a telephone that was wiretapped. Santiago looks even more naive when Fermin explains why their telephone was wiretapped: Fermin and others are plotting to overthrow the dictator Odria. Far from being a trusted Odria lackey, Fermin is trying to get rid of him, and Santiago just screwed up his plans. Santiago decides to cut all ties with the communists and drop out of college, but also to leave his father's house and look for a job. That's how he landed at the newspaper where he works with Carlitos (to whom he has been telling all of this). II.1-2 Cayo becomes a feared director of security. Espina himself finds a man placed in front of his house. Amalia has moved in with his mistress Hortensia/Muse and witnesses their love affair. The only friend that Hortensia has is Queta who comes to visit occasionally. Ambrosio started working for him. He joins Ludovico in missions to terrorize the population so they will rally for the dictator. Meanwhile, Santiago has become his humble career as a journalist thanks to his uncle Clodomiro and has severed all ties with his family, clearly uncomfortable with his aristocratic heritage. II.3 Amalia finds Hortensia and Queta naked in bed together and realizes that they are lesbians. Cayo terrorizes the owner of a news agency, Tallio. He has become one of the most powerful and feared men in the country by ruthlessly crushing all political dissent. Santiago and Carlitos drink and chat a few weeks after Santiago started working at the new spaper. Carlitos is a drunk and a drug addict. II.4 Ambrosio drives Cayo and Fermin to Hortensia's house and tells Amalia to hide, lest Hortensia learns that she was kicked out of Fermin's house and that she quit her jobs at Fermin's laboratory, which could result in Hortensia firing her. Amalia was betrayed by Ambrosio in Fermin's house and hasn't forgiven him, but Ambrosio seems to be sincerely in love with her and she accepts to go out with him. Ambrosio is working both as a chaffeur and as a thug for Cayo. He joins Ludovico and the psychotic Hipolito in missions to beat up dissidents. Cayo discusses his former mentor Espina with major Paredes, who is in charge of surveillance. Paredes is convinced that the retired Espina is harmless, but Cayo senses that the ex general has powerful friends and could become a problem. Paredes, instead, doesn't trust Fermin, who has been spotted meeting with dissidents. Cayo, however, feels certain that Fermin is simply a businessman. II.5-9 Norwin tells Santiago that Espina and others have attempted a coup against the dictator Odria. Santiago has not visited his family since leaving the house and joining the newspaper. His brother Sparky finally finds him and tells him that their father Fermin went into hiding: he is one of the conspirators who tried to overthrow Odria. They are not communists: they are more right-wing than the dictator. They just hate Cayo. Cayo has taken his revenge on Fermin by targeting his business and the family is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Carlitos tells Santiago that Cayo has been fired and Odria is finished. Meanwhile, Ambrosio is courting Amalia, but she is still resentful of his betrayal years earlier in Fermin's house. Amalia eventually accepts Ambrosio. Cayo is dismissed and flees to Brazil. III.1 The police alert the reporters of La Cronica that an old whore has been found dead, and Santiago is sent to investigate. It is Hortensia, the Muse, the former mistress of Cayo, who is now living in exile. Odria has been replaced by a new president and the press can print this fact. Cayo abandoned her and Hortensia started drinking and doing drugs. She became a cheap whore whom nobody wanted, living in utter poverty. They find her old lover Queta in the town's best brothel. Queta is convinced that Ambrosio killed her and that the order came from Fermin. Hortensia was blackmailing Fermin, threatening to reveal his homosexual relationship with Ambrosio. Hortensia wanted money to leave town and start a new life somewhere else. Ambrosio denies that he even knew Hortensia, denies that she was Cayo's mistress. Santiago is devastated. The whole town always knew and he was the only one not to know that his own father was a homosexual involved with the chaffeur. Santiago decides to see his father again, after years of separation. He wants to warn him that the news is about to go public in the newspaper. His father, who never stopped a second to worry for his favorite son, is happy to see him, and seems indifferent to the consequences of the murder. Ambrosio, meanwhile, has left. Fermin doesn't understand why Santiago wants to live and work in mediocrity, as a journalist of a little newspaper. Santiago promises to visit the family more often but still refuses to move back in with them. Santiago is indeed unhappy with his mediocre life, but seems unable to escape it. III.2 A flashback shows the night of attempted coup. Cayo masterminds the countercoup, ordering the arrest of his former mentor Espina, threatening Fermin who has been financing the insurrection, and closing the case with no blood spilled. More importantly, Cayo wants to make sure that the media don't report the attempted coup to avoid panic. A proud and wealthy senator, however, refuses to compromise and spreads the word abroad. Cayo has to intervene again and convince him to reconcile with the dictator in exchange for releasing all the ones who have been arrested. The cherry on the pie of Cayo's cynicism is how it deals with the sexy and aristocratic wife of his "friend" Ferro, who has also been arrested. She demands his release and wants to leave the country with him, and Cayo understands that it is not about the failed coup but about a failed business deal. He (a mulatto) demands sex from her (a pure breed) and takes her to Hortensia's place. Ferro's wife insults him but seems ready to pay the price when Hortensia walks in and talks about a whore named Lucy who is the secret lover of... Ferro. This way Cayo humiliates the haughty lady and then let her go. III.3 After Cayo disappears, the downfall of Hortensia is rapid and merciless. The other servants leave her and Amalia is the only one left to keep the house. Queta is the only friend who still visits Hortensia. The bills pile up and Hortensia falls into debts. Meanwhile, Ambrosio is working again for Fermin and saving money, sincerely planning to marry Amalia and buy a house. But Ambrosio hates Hortensia and relishes her misery. Amalia doesn't understand the hatred. Ambrosio tells her that Hortensia has been blackmailing Fermin and is taking advantage of Fermin's generosity. Ambrosio also insists that Amalia keeps their relationship secret for fear that Fermin learns of it, and Amalia can't explain why all the secret. When Hortensia tries to kill herself after her lover Lucas runs away with her money, Fermin pays the hospital bill. Evicted by her landlord (who is the same Paredes who used to be Cayo's right-hand man), Hortensia moves to a smaller place with Amalia and finds a job as a singer. But it doesn't last long. Hortensia is soon penniless again, jobless and no man wants her anymore. She tries to kill herself again. She is arrested for a crime she committed and Fermin has to save her from prison. Meanwhile, Amalia finds out she's pregnant and Ambrosio doesn't take the news well. One day she confesses to Hortensia and Hortensia laughs out loud hearing that the father is Ambrosio, as if this were highly unlikely. Hortensia, however, promises to take care of Amalia. Hortensia sells her furniture and they move to Queta's old apartment, which is smaller and uglier. Ambrosio rarely talks about the pregnancy but seems willing to take care of the baby. Hortensia is still delusional: she is still in love with Lucas and still gives him the little money she has. One day Amalia overhears a big argument between Hortensia and Fermin. Then Amalia realizes she's about to give birth. Hortensia and Queta take her to the hospital and promise to come back. Amalia almost dies giving birth to a girl. She's unconscious for three days. When she wakes up again, they show her the baby and tell her that nobody has come to see her: she is hurt that Hortensia and Queta abandoned her. When she has regained her strength, Amalia goes to visit Hortensia and learns the news: Hortensia was murdered. Amalia is even the main suspect, since she disppeared just when the murder was committed. Now Amalia is terrified that she will be arrested. One day Ambrosio reappears: he claims that he has been looking for her but had no wait to find her. He tells her that she has to go into hiding and he has decided to live with her in a jungle town. The following day they take the bus together to start a new life. III.4 A flashback shows us what happened at the rally organized by the coalition. Cayo is betrayed by his allies, notably by Emilio Arevalo, who in theory works for the dictator Odria like Cayo but in practice wants to get rid of Cayo. Cayo's men Ludovico and Hipolito are supposed to be joined by other thugs sent by Arevalo, notably Trifulcio, to stop the Coalition's rally, but instead Arevalo makes sure that very few thugs show up so that Cayo's plan fails. Fermin learns of the plan from Arevalo in person. Ludovico and Trifulcio are left alone and beaten by the Coalition crowd, as Ludovico tells Ambrosio later. Ludovico gets away alive but Trifulcio is killed in the riot. Ludovico basically tells Ambrosio that his father died but doesn't know the name. Cayo is frantically on the phone with his men all the time during the riot. He tries to convince the general of the army to send the troops but Arevalo plays against him. The riot is spreading and the army is reluctant to kill a lot of people. Arevalo delivers the message that the Coalition will call off the demonstrations if Cayo resigns (which is precisely what Arevalo wants). Slowly but inevitably the coup against Cayo unfolds and eventually Cayo is presented with only one option: resign and flee the country. The new minister of public order is his loyal major Paredes. The conversations are interlocked so we hear the version of the facts from the viewpoint of the political intrigue and the version from the viewpoint of the thugs on the ground. When Ludovico has done telling Ambrosio how the revolution unfolded, Ambrosio tells Ludovico that he killed Hortensia, and that it was his idea, not Fermin's order: he wanted to stop the blackmail that was ruining Fermin. Ludovico, who has been promoter to full-fime police officer, helps him flee the city and move to a remote town in the jungle with Amalia and their daughter, and even finds him a job there. IV Eventually, Fermin dies of a heart attack. Santiago continues to write for the newspaper, a modest and mediocre job that requires very little effort. Fermin tried in vain to convince him to join his business. His brother Sparky runs it after Fermin's first heart attack. It would make Fermin very happy if Santiago quit his job at the newspaper and joined the family's business. The most that Santiago is willing to do is to promise that he will start studying at the university again: he never finished his degree. Fermin's biggest disappointment in life is how Santiago seems unable to escape the mediocrity of his life. Now Santiago tells Ambrosio how he met his wife Ana: the journalists were driving on a dangerous road and the driver lost control of the car. Santiago ended up at the hospital and the nurse was the mulatto Ana. Ambrosio instead tells Santiago how Queta met Hortensia: one day Cayo went to pick up the most beautiful mulatto prostitute, Queta, who recognized Hortensia as the famous singer, and then Cayo paid Queta to make love with Hortensia and watch them in a room full of mirrors. We also hear the story of how Ambrosio tried to start a business selling coffins for dead children in the remote jungle town, teaming up with Ludovico's rich uncle Hilario and investing all the money that Fermin gave him to get out of town. The months go by and the business doesn't pick up. Hilario even asks Ambrosio to invest more of his own money to cover the losses. Eventually Ambrosio decides to start a new business with his friend Pantaleon. By then Amalia got pregnant again and they decide that they will keep the baby even if there is some danger for Amalia. While Ambrosio is telling Santiago the story of his misadventures in the jungle, Santiago is telling him the story of how he got married. Ana moves to another town and Santiago keeps visiting her, even if the trips consume all his salary. When Ana gets pregnant, Santiago arranges for her abortion, but then receives a letter from Ana. It's a farewell letter: she realized that he doesn't love her, and has arranged an abortion in her own town. That's when Santiago realizes that he loves her. They get married and move in together in a tiny apartment that they can barely afford with their meager salaries. Now he is even poorer and married to a mulatto, a complete social collapse for the son of a rich businessman like Santiago. When he brings Ana to meet his family, only Tete and her fiance Popeye treat Ana with decency. Santiago's mother insults her, ashamed of her son marrying a mulatto who could be his servant. Sparky takes their mother's side, and Fermin is humiliated but silent after his first heart attack. In parallel, Ambrosio also tells the story of when he slept with Queta and told her how he became Fermin's lover. Fermin first noticed Cayo's chaffeur at a party and Cayo asked Ambrosio to take Fermin home. Fermin, the rich white man, instead asks Ambrosio, the poor black man, to drive him somewhere else and starts touching him. Cayo may have set them up. The book ends with the three stories told in parallel: Santiago's marriage with Ana, Ambrosio's marriage with Amalia after leaving town, and Ambrosio's relationship with Fermin when he had become his chaffeur after being Cayo's chaffeur. Santiago and Ana struggle to find an apartment and pay for it. Tete and Popeye get married and want them to attend the wedding, swearing that Santiago's mother will behave, and Ana is ready to accept, but Santiago doesn't want to take the chance of another scene. Ambrosio is cheated of his money by Hilario and has to take humble job. Amalia wants him to sue Hilario but Ambrosio cannot go to the police: he reminds Amalia that she is still wanted by the police (she is suspected of the murder that we know what actually committed by Ambrosio). Amalia's pregnancy ends in tragedy: the baby dies and she dies. In the third narrative, set just before he left with Amalia, Ambrosio tells Queta that Fermin is a kind man. Hortensia is going mad, she wants to reunite with her lover Lucas, and keeps blackmailing Fermin for more and more money. She writes a letter to Fermin's wife to tell her that Fermin has a homosexual relationship with his chaffeur. Ambrosio tells Queta that this is an unspeakable evil act: Fermin is the only man who has been kind to Hortensia, and Hortensia repays him by humiliating him in front of his own family. Fermin gives her more money and this breaks Ambrosio's heart. Ambrosio truly loves Fermin at the same time that he is dating Amalia. Hortensia also tells Fermin about Ambrosio and Amalia. This is done again to hurt Fermin. But Fermin does not get jealous or mad at Ambrosio: he gives him his blessing to start a family with Amalia. Sparky, who now runs the family business, gets married just a few weeks before Fermin has his final heart attack. Sparky wants to divide the family's assets but Santiago refuses any share of his father‘s inheritance. Ana is not proud of him, though: they are very poor and the inheritance would have solved all their problems. Ambrosio concludes the tale of his life: out of desperation, he left the jungle and moved back to the city, where he found the job at the dogpoung. Pantaleon y Las Visitadoras (1973) Pantaleon, un ufficiale modello dell'esercito Peruviano, un giorno viene incaricato dagli alti vertici militari di istituire un bordello nella giungla, per evitare che i soldati violentino le donne locali. Pantaleon, con l'aiuto dei pittoreschi professionisti del caso (protettori e prostitute incalliti) e del comprensivo tenente Bacacorzo, l'unico a conoscenza della sua vera identita`, si dedica anima e corpo all'iniziativa, riscuotendo un grande successo e la riconoscenza dei corpi militari, ma scatenando anche le ire dei benpensanti, sobillati dall'ipocrita giornalista radiofonico Sinchi (in realta` interessato soltanto a ricattarlo) e dai seguaci del predicatore Fratello Francisco, i quali hanno preso a crocifiggere persone come sacrifici propiziatori e sono diventati un altro cruccio delle autorita`. L'attivita` aumenta vertiginosamente: Panta deve arruolare sempre piu` prostitute, ampliare la sua piccola flotta privata per il trasporto delle stesse, studiare piani sempre piu` ambiziosi di penetrazione e diffusione del servizio nella giungla. Panta si tuffa alla missione con dedizione quasi maniacale. I superiori nella capitale sono divisi, alcuni entusiasti altri disgustati, ma tutti accettano "Pantalandia" come il male minore. Sinchi, debitamente remunerato, adesso ne parla persino bene. I guai cominciano quando la moglie Ponchita, che gia` mal sopportava l'incognito, scopre la vera missione del marito e scopre anche che lo stesso se la fa con una delle prostitute. E tutto cio` dopo che e` appena nato la loro prima figlia (frutto anche quello dell'aria della giungla). Ponchita lo abbandona portandosi via la figlia. La madre Leonor rimane, ma e` diventata una delle seguaci di Francisco, un'altra delle ragioni per Ponchita di andarsene (ha paura che facciano alla sua bambina cio` che hanno fatto a un altro bambino: crocifiggerla). La prostituta viene crocefissa dai bigotti e lui tiene un discorso funebre in uniforme, scatenando le ire dei suoi superiori, che gli avevano intimato di tener nascosto il suo vero grado. Francisco si fa a sua volta crocifiggere dai suoi stessi seguaci per evitare l'arresto. Il servizio delle "visitatrici" viene sospeso e Pantaleon riprende la sua carriera militare nella capitale fra le amorose braccia della moglie. Il romanzo e` strutturato per comunicati e rapporti, che trasformano la vicenda comica in una serie di atti burocratici. Kafka e Buzzati. La Tua Julia y el Escribidor (1977) La Guerra del Fin Del Mundo/ The War of the End of the World (1981) + Historia de Mayta (1984) |
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