The Way to Paradise: A Novel (Paperback)

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From Publishers Weekly
Postimpressionist painter Paul Gauguin's dramatic life inspired Somerset Maugham's classic The Moon and Sixpence; now Vargas Llosa takes his turn re-imagining the artist's story in an intricately detailed novel that also chronicles the life of Gauguin's feminist-socialist grandmother, Flora Trist n. Splitting the narrative between Trist n's tour of France in 1844, which she made to recruit support for her Workers Union, and Gauguin's life after landing in Tahiti in 1891, Vargas Llosa shows how each sought something-be it social reform or artistic truth-greater than themselves. The illegitimate child of a Peruvian man and a French woman, Trist n flees her villainous husband and makes her way to Peru, where she hopes to claim her inheritance from her late father's Peruvian relatives. When she fails, she returns to Europe and throws herself into radical politics. Gauguin's story is better known-the abdication of bourgeois existence for art; the brief, conflicted cohabitation with Van Gogh; the voyage to Tahiti; the sexual escapades there, and the ravages of syphilis; the final voyage to the Marquesas Islands-and Vargas Llosa tells it carefully. His twin tales achieve force and momentum through the sheer accumulation of detail and the relentlessly chronicled physical decline of both protagonists. But though usually a master of rhetoric and tone, Vargas Llosa loses his footing here, syncopating his account with second-person remarks that condescend to his characters ("Alas, Florita! It was all for the best that it hadn't happened, wasn't it?"; "[Y]ou weren't dreaming of anything so foolish, were you, Paul?"). Flora Trist n deserves to be better known, and this novel should accomplish that goal. But despite Wimmer's excellent translation, Vargas Llosa's latest too often feels like a weighty, unwieldy account of two exciting lives, which does neither its subjects nor its author's past artistry a service.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
The great Peruvian man of letters is truly at home in the world at large. He knows the world as only a true cosmopolite does, writing knowledgeably about places far from his native Andean land. Following the staggering historical novel Feast of the Goat (2001), about dictator Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, Vargas Llosa now offers another prodigious novel rather in the same vein. It is also a fictional biography--a dual fictional biography, in this case--of the early-nineteenth-century French-Peruvian workers'-rights activist Flora Tristan and her grandson, famous painter Paul Gauguin. In alternating chapters, the author meticulously fashions portraits of these two vibrant individuals as he follows Flora in touring France to carry out her campaign to promote labor organization and equality in marriage, and Paul in awakening to his innate sexuality, to say nothing of tapping into his formidable artistic talent, by abandoning France for the South Pacific. The necessity of personal freedom to express oneself and accomplish one's life's work is at the heart of this novel, which is ripe with detail but never sinks under the plentitude. His avid readership will stand even firmer in their conviction that the truth of Vargas Llosa's genius lies in his ability to deliver vastly intelligent novels that nevertheless pulse with sensuality. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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First Sentence:
She opened her eyes at four in the morning and thought, Today you begin to change the world, Florita. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
taata vahine, unspeakable illness, public coach, pornographic photographs Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
House of Pleasure, Don Mariano, Hiva Oa, Pierre Levergos, Ben Varney, Pastor Vernier, Gustave Arosa, Daniel de Monfreid, Aline Gauguin, General Nieto, Mette Gad, The Vision After the Sermon, Yellow House, Camille Pissarro, Charles Laval, Prosper Enfantin, South Seas, Charles Fourier, King's Counsel, Titi Little-Tits, Ambroise Vollard, Bay of Traitors, Bishop Martin, Clemente Althaus, Madame Victoire New!
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13 Reviews 5 star:  (5) 4 star:  (4) 3 star:  (4) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.1 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   13 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars A false paradise, August 6, 2004 By  Eric J. Lyman (Roma, Lazio Italy) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       This review is from: The Way to Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover) At first glance, The Way To Paradise is a classic example of Mario Vargas Llosa's style: interesting and unusual characters, colorful settings, poetic prose. The book even uses Mr. Vargas Llosa's preferred device of switching between narratives in alternating chapters as he did with such great success in Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter and The Feast of the Goat, among others. But in the end, I think, the story falls well short of those other two wonderful books, for a variety of reasons that left me puzzled. First, I'll add my name to the chorus of reviewers who were left confused by Mr. Vargas Llosa's decision to pepper his narrative with second-hand comments from the book's two main characters (especially with Flora Tristán, who seems to ask herself at least once every page something like "but you could not have known that, could you, Flora?"). More importantly, the style of alternating chapters between the story of Ms. Tristán, a 19th century social reformer, and her grandson Paul Gauguin, the painter, doesn't work nearly as well here as it does elsewhere. That is mostly because the two stories have very little to do with each other. Ms. Tristán and Mr. Gauguin were related -- though they never met each other -- but aside from a few passing and insignificant comments by Mr. Gauguin about his grandmother, one story line never crossed. Are you interested in the story of Ms. Tristán's epic battle to mobilize workers in France in the 1840s? Then read the odd-numbered chapters. Do you prefer the story of the famous painter of Tahiti and Tahitians around the turn of the 20th Century? Then skip the odd and read only the even-numbered installments. The one common thread between the two narratives is hinted at in the title: in their own way, both Ms. Tristán and Mr. Gauguin spend their lives trying to reach a certain kind of paradise. In the case of the former, it's through trying to create a kind of workers' paradise in which women and laborers are protagonists. In the case of the latter, it is through fleeing the closed art world of Paris in the 1880s for the paradise of Tahiti, where Mr. Gauguin felt the savage and pure soul of mankind was still bare to see. But in the end, all both characters find is frustration and, of course, death. Days after finishing the book, it is both characters' deaths that stick with me the most. Mr. Vargas Llosa describes their physical declines with horrible consistency. The biting and consuming gut pains that crippled Ms. Tristán upset my own stomach. And the periodic descriptions of the insects attracted to the foul-smelling puss dripping from Mr. Gauguin's syphilis sores more than once left a bitter scowl on my face. Mr. Vargas Llosa does deserve kudos for the way he brings two distant and distinct historical characters to life, his second consecutive historical novel in which mounds of research make the actual history seem at once central and effortless. If you are a fan of Mr. Vargas Llosa's work, you'll no doubt find plenty to enjoy in The Way To Paradise. But to everyone else, I'd recommend one of the author's real top-shelf efforts. There are plenty to pick from. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   10 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars The Struggle to Paradise, November 6, 2003 By  Candace "thepageturner" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    This review is from: The Way to Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover) If Mario Vargas Llosa had not lost the election to Alberto Fujimori in the late 1980s and had become president of Peru, it's interesting to imagine how that country would be faring today. What we do know is that the literary world would have missed this writer of intelligent, politically-influenced fiction. With "Feast of the Goat" and now with "The Way to Paradise," Vargas Llosa turns his astute gaze to Europe and the Pacific, and demonstrates that he can write masterfully about cultures and countries other than his own. In the new book he traces the life of painter Paul Gauguin and his grandmother, the socialist feminist Flora Tristan. Set in France and the South Pacific with a brief sojourn in Peru, he charts the courses of two related people who never knew each other, and whose lives were similar in that they found the conventions of their times impossible to live with. Flora Tristan grew up in poverty as the illegitimate daughter of a French mother and a Peruvian father. Her marriage was abusive and she escaped her husband to reinvent herself as a popular writer and campaigner for workers' rights. Despite failing health, she tours the small towns of France recruiting members for her Workers' Union. Her grandson Paul abandons his large family and friendship with other painters to escape to Tahiti to paint. Riddled with syphilis, his health is failing as well. Natasha Wimmer's translation is excellent. There are scenes that glow with the golden light of Arles or sting with the scent of the sea. Where "Paradise" misses the mark is through an irritating literary device where rhetorical questions or comments are made of the characters in the second person: "Was it because of the woman in Panama that your vision was weakened, your heart was failing, and your legs were covered with pustules?" or: "You would later remember those two hours of absurd debate, Florita." You get the idea. It adds nothing to the narrative and is a jarringly false step from such a sure-footed writer. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Vargas Llosa shows "The Way to Paradise", November 23, 2003 By A Customer This review is from: The Way to Paradise: A Novel (Hardcover) I had waited to read this book since hearing about it. I was not disappointed. Vargas Llosa is most masterful in describing the life of Flora Tristan, the little known early 19th century century women's and worker's rights activits. I hope this book will help renew interest in this fascinating woman. While the prose style of moving back and forth between Tristan and her grandson the painter Gauguin may appear difficult at first, it is materful in execution. Vargas Llosa has a brilliant manner in covering time, allowing for flashbacks to many important events in his main characters lives. Flora Tristan and Paul Gauguin each found "The Way to Paradise" in a unique way. I felt much more sympathy for Tristan, who faced numerous injustices and fought for a cause. Gauguin, while a brilliant artist, comes across as a bit crazed at the end. One does leave this work wondering more about Flora's daughter (and Gauguin's mother) Aline -- the one interconnecting person between these two. Reviews have not highlighted the fact that Vargas Llosa, who was born in Arequipa, Peru, is, as I understand, a descendant of one of Flora's Tristan uncles, though not the Uncle Pio, who played a crucial role in disinheriting Flora. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the personalities of these fascinating individuals. However, it is written as fiction, and I felt fortunate to have previously read portions of David Sweetman's brilliant biography "Paul Gauguin, A Complete Life", since it presented a factual context for both Flora and Gauguin's lives. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 13 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Two engrossing stories 'El Paraíso en La Otra Esquina' is Mario Vargas Llosa's fictionalized, dual biography of the painter Paul Gauguin and of Flora Tristán, a political reformer and writer who was his... Read more Published 8 months ago by Bert vanC Bailey 4.0 out of 5 stars Eventually rewarding I rarely read novels more than once. There are some I have read several times, but the list might just run to double figures. Read more Published 12 months ago by Philip Spires 4.0 out of 5 stars One Goal You probably already read some of the previous (great) reviews. I do agree with most of what was written so I will not be repeating that information. Read more Published on November 13, 2005 by Anibal Madeira 3.0 out of 5 stars Paradise A book in the genre of "Agony and Ecstasy" and "Lust for Life", this part-fact and part-fiction story (or novel? Read more Published on September 30, 2004 by Anurag Chatrath 5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime Excellent book, following the narrative style of "La fiesta del Chivo" but with a totally different topic, Vargas Llosa beautifully describes the thoughts and lives of two... Read more Published on August 24, 2004 by T. Jolles 5.0 out of 5 stars One of Vargas Llosa's Best I am great fan of Vargas Llosa, having read all his novels. While others have criticized his style, I find it works exceptionally well in this particular novel. Read more Published on August 16, 2004 by A. Cohn 5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Two Impossible Paradises Where Vargas Llosa simply shines, again, is in the very telling of these lives, his writing continues to mature becoming so much its own and, at the same time, achieving such... Read more Published on July 4, 2004 by Juan Mobili 3.0 out of 5 stars TRULY DISAPPOINTING I love the works of Gauguin and was curious about his "workers rights" grandmother when reading a review of this book. Read more Published on May 30, 2004 3.0 out of 5 stars Detail-Rich Rendering of Gauguin and His Grandmother After having been impressed with many new aspects of Gauguin's art in the beautifully curated new show now at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, I decided it would be interesting to... Read more Published on April 5, 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell 5.0 out of 5 stars Will The Real Gauguin Please Stand Up ... I remember as a young man reading The Moon and The Six Pence by Somerset Maugham and being intriged by the persona of Gauguin , and now Mario Vargas Llosa took me to another level... Read more Published on March 6, 2004 by Gerardo Martinez Casas Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 13 customer reviews...

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