Conversacion en la catedral/ Conversation in the Cathedral (Narrativa (Punto de Lectura)) (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Mario Vargas Llosa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2007 | Series: Narrativa (Punto de Lectura) (Book 46)

A conversation is held in the Cathedral during the Manuel A. Odría dictatorship in Peru; over beers and a sea of freely spoken words, the conversation describes the degradation and the frustration of a town. Through a complicated web of private lives, the author analyzes the mental and moral mechanisms that govern power and the people behind it. Conversación en la Catedral is more than a point of reference; it is a landmark in the history of present Literature.

Spanish Description:
Zavalita y el zambo Ambrosio conversan en La Catedral. Estamos en Peru, durante el ochenio dictatorial del general Manuel A. Odria. Unas cuantas cervezas y un rio de palabras en libertad para responder a la palabra amordazada por la dictadura.Los personajes, las historias que estos cuentan, los fragmentos que van encajando, conforman la descripcion minuciosa de un envilecimiento colectivo, el repaso de todos los caminos que hacen desembocar a un pueblo entero en la frustracion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Punto de Lectura; 1st. edition (April 30, 2007)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 8466319158
• ISBN-13: 978-8466319157
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,739 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peru's classic, December 3, 2010

By 

Marcos E. Milla "Kirfa" (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Conversacion en la catedral/ Conversation in the Cathedral (Narrativa (Punto de Lectura)) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

This is arguably Vargas Llosa's biggest accomplishment to date, his opus magnum, and one of Peru's fundamental novels. Usually reviewed as a political novel presenting a masterful portrait of an archetypical Latin American regime of the fifties (corrupt, manipulative of media, ruthless in its oppression), Conversacion en La Catedral has a deeper layer that is more compelling: the destruction of the father image. Zavalita's dad lives a double life, one as a model citizen and family man in public, and another as a key member of the brutal regime and a closet homosexual (what could possibly be worst to peg on a male Latino from the fifties?). Even before finding out dad's dark secrets, Zavalita chooses the life of an outcast, rejecting his family's -his class- definition of success. In placing him in that role, Vargas Llosa brilliantly establishes a vehicle to expose traditional Peruvian perceptions on respectability, achievement in life and morality. Vargas Llosa's true accomplishment is that he lets the reader arrive to conclusions without any intent to introduce his own opinions or ideology, a chronic problem with Peruvian writers chosing politics as inspiration: Jose Maria Arguedas, Ciro Alegria, Manuel Scorza, many others. I do not think Vargas Llosa ever came close to this one again, it is a soul-baring novel of great intensity, impossible to put down. Entirely worthy of a Nobel Prize, a must read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Conversacion en la catedral, August 29, 2011

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Rebeca Illescas (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conversacion en la catedral/ Conversation in the Cathedral (Narrativa (Punto de Lectura)) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

The book arrived on time, as the vendor promised and it was in good shape also. Thank you for being honest.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great novel, August 22, 2011

By 

gloma - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conversacion en la catedral/ Conversation in the Cathedral (Narrativa (Punto de Lectura)) (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Definitely Vargas Llosa master piece. Two intertwined stories, one in the past and one in the present, about politics, family ties and more that will captive you. If you have an intermediate level of Spanish, this book might challenge you.