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Tirano Banderas: Novela de Tierra Caliente (Spanish Edition)

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With this novel published in 1926, Valle-Inclan inaugurated a sub-genre that has persisted to this day, with the publication in 1999 of "The Feast of the Goat" by Mario Vargas Llosa: the dicator novel, brilliantly excercised by Garcia-Marquez, Roa Bastos and Asturias.

In this great tale, the author creates a fictional Latin American country, which really sums up the basic representative traits of these lands: a dictator, the ruling elite, the revolutionaries, the foreign diplomats, etc. It's all color, fiesta, cruelty, corruption, cowardice and exploitiation.

The plot is simple: surrounded by revolutionary forces, the despotic dictator makes a big mistake whcih prompts his compadre Colonel de la Gándara to flee and join the rebels. This event unties a chain of investigations, betrayals, prosecutions and war, all in the midst of the annual festivities of the country.

Several characters are memorable: the dictator himself, Colonel de la Gándara, Nachito Veguillas and, above all, the corrupt, decadent, drug-addict, homosexual and transvestite Ambassador of Spain.

Written in an extremely baroque but nonetheless readable language, Tirano Banderas is a great Spanish novel which can be read and enjoyed today. Hint: don't miss the final two chapters, they're great.