Terra Nostra (Mexican Literature Series) [Paperback]

Carlos Fuentes (Author), Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator), Jorge Volpi (Introduction), Milan Kundera (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003 | Series: Mexican Literature Series

"Terra Nostra is the spreading out of the novel, the exploration of its possibilities, the voyage to the edge of what only a novelist can see and say."—Milan Kundera

One of the great masterpieces of modern Latin American fiction, Terra Nostra is concerned with nothing less than the history of Spain and of South America, with the Indian Gods and with Christianity, with the birth, the passion, and the death of civilizations. Fuentes skillfully blends a wide range of literary forms, stories within stories, Mexican and Spanish myth, and famous literary characters in this novel that is both a historical epic and an apocalyptic vision of modern times. Terra Nostra is that most ambitious and rare of creations—a total work of art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beyond any doubt‚ one of the great monuments of the Spanish language novel." -- Juan Goytisolo

"Not without reason has this book been likened to a vast and intricate tapestry." -- Robert Coover‚ New York Times

"Terra Nostra is the spreading out of the novel‚ the exploration of its possibilities." -- Milan Kundera

"Written with a fervor that is both fierce and compassionate‚ this is a complex‚ powerful novel of huge scope." -- Kirkus Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 786 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; 1 edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564782875
• ISBN-13: 978-1564782878
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.6 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Funetes' opus first published in 1976 October 8, 2003

By jaython

Format:Paperback

Excerpts from Robert Coover's original review published in the New York Times November 7, 1976:

"Terra Nostra" is a colossal 350,000-word opus, a kind of panoramic Hispano-American creation myth, spanning 20 centuries (more, if you count the Greek and Egyptian mythologies that help to feed it) and embracing virtually the whole of European and American (especially Mexican) culture and civilization.

If "Terra Nostra" is a failure, it is a magnificent failure. Its conception is truly grand, its perceptions often unique, its energy compelling and the inventiveness and audacity of some of its narrative maneuvers absolutely breathtaking; the animated paintings, the talking mirrors, the time machines and metamorphosing mummies, the fusion of history, myth and fiction, the variations on themes and dreams, the interweaving or rich, violent, beautiful, grotesque, mysterious, even magical images--not without reason has this book been likened to a vast and intricate tapestry.

Achieved or not, there are too few writers around even willing to risk the impossible, and none I know of who so intimately activates the otherwise dead space between page and reader.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A STUNNING, DIZZYING CREATION October 10, 2002

By Larry L. Looney

Format:Paperback

TERRA NOSTRA stands as Carlos Fuentes' most incredible achievement -- and as one of the great books of the 20th Century. The depths and heights of Man's history swirl around the reader as a controlled maelstrom -- grab a handle and hang on for dear life. In this masterpiece, Fuentes attempts nothing less than to transfer the last 500 years or so of the New World -- including its origins in the Old -- into words. Alternately achingly real and mind-bendingly surreal, the story unfolds almost as a jigsaw puzzle falling into place before the reader's eyes.

As cliched as it might sound, this is truly a work that MUST be experienced by any reader who recognizes the awesome power of language in the hands of a master craftsman -- there is nothing else like it in Western literature.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Faulkner... February 26, 2001

By Suzanne Tolbert

Format:Hardcover

...Terra Nostra" is divided into three sections, translated in English as "The Old World" "The New World" and "The Next World." The first part is set in pre-Colombian Europe and describes the degenerate king of a dying Spanish Empire and his court. This section is loaded with as much intrigue and back stabbing as "I Claudius".

The second section, "The New World", is my favorite and can be read on its own. It has some of the most beautiful prose I have ever encountered. In it, the author describes the pilgrim's journey to the New World and his meetings with its people. The narrative has an immediacy that makes one feel that one has just stumbled upon a new world, with all of its dangers and mysteries.

In the last section, the pilgrim tells his story to the Spanish King, and the rest, as they say, is history.

If you like the magical realism genre so popular among South American novelists, you will love this book. If you are looking for plausible historical fiction, look elsewhere.