Customer Reviews

Captain Pantoja and the Special Service

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sometimes, the most serious and deep messages are hidden in the form of light and funny literature (one book that jumps to mind is "Gulliver's Travels"). In this simply genial novel, the Peruvian military has a problem: the garrisons of the Amazonic regions are very short of women and feeling extremely sexual, so rapes are mounting. This, of course, is bad PR for the Army and a real problem for the chiefs. They decide to create the "Special Service", a well-oredered and efficient ring of disciplined prostitutes who will satisfy the soldiers' needs and erradicate the problem of rapes. Who is the perfect man to be in charge of the Service?: Captain Pantaleon Pantoja, a model solider, who lives with his lovely wife and his mother-in-law. Pantaleon is a sober and righteous guy, enemy of prostitutes, bars and fights. He is also the most efficient manager of the Army. He is dismayed at the task but, always disciplined, puts all his intelligence and efficiency to it. The learning process proves problematic for his marriage: since Pantaleon knows nothing about the night life, he has to learn it by visiting sordid brothels and buying drinks to informants. Of course, when he starts arriving home in the morning, extremely drunk, his wife gets very disappointed. But he convinces her of the importance and required sacrifices of his new mission. Eventually, the Special Service becomes the most efficient branch of the military, and it gets famous. The very funniest parts of the book are the official reports where Pantaleon informs to his superiors of the successes and problems he has in his job. The official language describing absurd and outrageous situations is just great. Of course, things get out of control, with dramatic but funny consequences.

The plot is rapidly developed, with the surfacing of a sect of fanatics as its counterpoint. These sect crucifies people and animals, and the story includes a harsh criticism of the Church as parallel to the Army. The reader wonders: why is it that Vargas Llosa decided to intertwine a satire of military discipline with another one of religious fanatism? And the conclusion is that it is an extremely smart and witty novel, hilarious and troubling at the same time. The characters are really, really great, including Panta, his wife, his mother-in-law, some of the prostitutes, and some of the officers. Great book by a great contemporary author.

This is by far the best book Llosa has written. It is a hillarious parady of the millitary technocrats attempt to control and regulate sex through a strict hierarchical structure, military communications, documents in triplicate, etc. At times I laughed so hard that I was afraid my sides would split. Enjoy: I wish I could read it again for the first time

If you want to obtain a flavor of Peru this is a must-read. You could summarize this book by saying that it is a sex-related excellent comedy. However, I think this book is much more than this. Vargas Llosa provides a wonderful profile of our idiosincracy, values, and fears. In addition the style is agile. Vargas Llosa tells the story using military communications, radio programs, and personal letters from different characters so that you get everybodies' point of view. I strongly recommend it.

Captain Pantoja and the Special Service is a cover to cover romp through the exploits of a carreer army officer in Peru who is forced to confront the sexual appetites of the common soldiery.<P>It is beautifully written translation that flows in that exquisite way common to South American writers such as Garcia Marquez and Amado.<P>You won't be able to put this book down!<P>Michael Crane (mcrane@prodigy.com)

Received the book in a timely matter and it was in great shape. It was also in English. Kept finding the book in Spanish but not in English. Amazon had it both ways. It is a very entertaining book. Written sort of like some tv shows a movies as a mock documentary. very fun.

This is a story of a army captain in Peru who has been entrusted to open up a service house (read whore house) to provide sexual gratification to soldiers and officers. Peruvian army is taking this step to reduce sexual relief for soldiers who overwise rape the local girl. Pantaleon (in short Panta) has been choosen for this job since his career record is spotless.
The greatest part of the book are the letters written by Panta during his course of action to army headquarters and describing various statitistics of fornication.
In the middle there is his mother, wife (Pocha), a religious leader, a radio talk show host (kind of like Rush), Chuchupe the queen of the house and so many unforgetable other characters. From the first page to the last page you will be reminded that this is the south American life and so colour ful in every possible way.
This is not Llosa's best but still very entertaining.

One of Mario Vargas Llosa's weaker efforts, Captain Pantoja is a heavy-handed satire about corruption and fanaticism. Intertwined stories deal respectively with Captain Pantoja's efficient command of a military prostitution unit and an outlaw religious sect with a crucifixion fetish.

Readers expecting the sort of thematic depth of "The Storyteller" will be disappointed. Here, the two tales fail to synergise into a more profound revelation about human character. The book is an amusing parable, too straightforward to be instructive but funny enough to enjoy.