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Reasons of State

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This is one of Alejo Carpentier's last novels, written when he was in his 70s, and to this reviewer one of his best. It begins early in 1914, a few months before the outbreak of World War I, and it ends (probably) in the mid-1920s--exactly when isn't clear. It tells the story of the rise and ultimate fall of the dictator of an unnamed South American country.

The dictator is never named. Throughout the book he is referred to as the Head of State, or, occasionally, as the Dictator. When the novel begins, the dictator has been in power for about 20 years, and he is on an extended vacation is Paris. He is living a somewhat debauched life of luxury, living in a luxurious house replete with a cadre of servants and frequent upscale brothels where his fantasies are attended to. He is accorded all the respect and deference that a head of state might expect, and he has entree into all the salons of Paris society. His stature as head of state is apparently assisted by his considerable charm. World War I breaks out, and around the same time he receives word that there has been an uprising and coup attempt at home. Although the rebels have succeeded in winning over much of the country, some parts of the country are still loyal to him. He returns home and suppresses the rebellion with extreme brutality. Feeling secure in his position, he returns to Paris to continue his debauchery. However, he finds that he is now being shunned by the very Paris society that had previously accepted him; doors that were previously open are now closed. Why? Because, unknown to him, pictures of the slaughter that accompanied his suppression have been widely published in the Paris press. While he is bemoaning his ostracism by the Paris elite, he learns that another rebellion is taking place, this time being led by the very general who had helped suppress the first rebellion. He returns home and successfully suppresses this rebellion as well, although with much less brutality than the previous time. After putting down the second rebellion, he wisely decides that he had better stay at home and tend to running his country.

This book is a very caustic satirical account of the history of a Latin American dictatorship, and I think it is Carpentier's intent for the viewer to regard this dictatorship as somewhat prototypical of Latin American dictatorships, or perhaps dictatorships everywhere. Carpentier has sometimes been classified--erroneously, in my opinion--with the Magical Realism school of authors. The reason I think this is incorrect is that, rather than depict things, as Garcia Marquez does, for example, that we know cannot happen in reality, Carpentier depicts events that can and do happen but that are so bizarre as to seem surreal and magical. Carpentier seems to be saying that the history of Latin America is so bizarre, so down right weird, as to seem unreal. For example, in this book the dictator, at one point, in an attempt to suppress Communism and any other left-wing movements, bans all books with a "red" influence. This leads to the suppression of, in addition to some genuine revolutionary literature, "the Red and the Black" by Stendhal and "The Scarlet Letter" by Hawthorne. When a bookseller sarcastically asks if he should stop selling "Little Red Riding Hood" as well, he is immediately arrested. This may seem surreal until we realize that during the McCarthy era there were many to wanted to ban Robin Hood stories as exhibiting a Communist influence. At another point in the book during World War I, the dictator has his government declare war against Germany solely to give him the chance to seize several German ships, and more importantly their cargo, that had been docked in the harbor.

I do not want to spoil the book for those who might want to read it by telling any more. Suffice it to say that the dictator is eventually toppled, but he manages to escape with his life and return to his beloved Paris, where he is forced to live a life totally different from the one he lived before. Carpentier is surprisingly compassionate, in spite of his previous caustic depictions of the dictator, in depicting the dictator's last days.

"Reasons of State" appears to be out of print. This is surprising, because I found it easier to read than the other books I have read by Carpentier. His writing style here is less ornate and baroque than elsewhere, and the narrative flows more easily and naturally. Carpentier's immense erudition is, as usual, on display here, as is Carpentier's usual annoying habit of presenting us with some untranslated French. However, the book is a remarkable read and a distinguished addition to the remarkable body of modern Latin American literature.

My review refers to an ex-library edition, the first English translation of 1976 or 1977, by Frances Partridge (not spelled 'Francis'). _Reasons of State_, seems to be a fictionalization of the last years of Porfirio Diaz, who preferred Paris, France, to Mexico.

I can't imagine a better translator for _Reasons of State_, than Frances Partridge. She seems to have registered every nuance of the original Spanish. Apparently, Partridge was the last living member of the Bloomsbury group, the very same that included Virginia Woolf. This novel should be put back in print but not with a new translation. In no way do I feel that this novel was watered down so that I could "get it."

It's difficult to say what this novel is "about," so, I hope that the reader is not looking for something simple to understand. There's no action-packed adventure, just a complex tour inside our own devious minds--and that of the "Head of State" who doesn't like his authority to be challenged. Overall, _Reasons of State_ is a tour-de-force of literary narrative strategy, of 1930's pop-culture and classical high-culture, i.e., film, art and music, knowledge of modern media and of how meaning is created through manipulation. The Head of State in Carpentier's novel is more insidious than the dictator in Roa Basto's _Yo, El Supremo_; in other words, Carpentier's dictator is extremely difficult to isolate and remove, perhaps because his love of art and language gives his character a sense of play, of mobility, which is lacking in the completely terrifying dictator in Yo, El Supremo. But the warning in both novels is that tyrants who love classical art and who are conversant about literature and the "beautiful" things of life are the most dangerous.

After reading Carpentier's novel _Reasons of State_, I conclude that with _Yo, El Supremo_, and _The Death of Artemio Cruz_, these three novels are the best tours inside the thought processes of a dictator-tyrant's mind. Carpentier's novel (set in the 1930s and originally published in 1974 as El Recurso del Metodo) convinces me that a reader's education (anyone's, for that matter) is incomplete without this investigative fiction. Carpentier paints a complete canvas: A novelist's work should be masterful storytelling, but he must know his topic; he must encompass the substance of the matter by being surgeon and sociologist, photographer and dramatist. Carpentier does all that. He masterfully created the so called "minor" characters who are foils and mirrors for the dictator. A dictator needs his personal staff who feel their job is to protect him and serve him--sometimes vex him. There's General Hoffman and Doctor Peralta, the Cholo Mendoza, and the Head of State's housekeeper, Mayorala Elmira--and, not to forget the tyrant's daughter. Also, one feels and sees the army that follows the orders of the Head of State to do violence to those who oppose his regime.

The key to showing in literature how a dictator thinks is to see how his opposition confronts him. Eventually, they get organized, and this dictator must flee the country--but to his beloved, Paris. For me, the most intense scenes are when "The Student" visits the dictator in his home; the conversation is terrifying in that The Student must find his voice and say something substantial, then get out of the dictator's residence without being killed on the spot or imprisoned. Very exciting scene, and a thorough discussion of the progressive ideals of a student and the domination tactics of a dictator.

This extraordinary novel should be a must-read for anyone studying (or just willin to know more) current Latin-American history.