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Mario Vargas Llosa has died

nytimes.com

61–70 of 84 posts

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#61
post #28
post #23

I realized last night that I’ve never read anything by him in translation (there was one book in English— A Writer’s Reality —which was in English, but that book was based on lectures given in English and there is no Spanish original. As my ex-wife often says, “No good reason to read the translation if you can read the original.” La Fiesta de la Chivo influenced the form of the novel I’m currently querying (which, de…

> The biggest challenge I found reading Vargas Llosa is that section and chapter breaks tend to be infrequent giving fewer opportunities to pause while reading. I don't mean to be snarky, but, seriously, can't you just pause whenever you want? I understand that the lack of breaks mean that the book doesn't define natural points to pause, but it still seems that one can impose such breaks oneself.

I prefer to pause reading at chapter breaks or, if necessary section breaks. Of course, with some authors you may be looking for paragraph breaks (and in the case of Proust, even those might be dozens of pages apart). Natural breaks in the narrative just make the most sense for stopping off and resuming a read.

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#62
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where were they from? As a South American I'm having difficult figuring out which country is socialist in this continent. Venezuela?

Most (all?) the terrorist groups of Latin America were self-declared marxist/communist, like "Shining Part" in Peru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Path

That's true. Which just prove the government of those countries were never marxist/communist.

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#63
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where were they from? As a South American I'm having difficult figuring out which country is socialist in this continent. Venezuela?

Most (all?) the terrorist groups of Latin America were self-declared marxist/communist, like "Shining Part" in Peru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Path

Not even close. For example:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_paramilitarism_in...

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#64
post #13

Recent article on him in the London Review of Books, exploring his rightward turn as he grew older: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n05/tony-wood/why-did-he...

That's pretty much the least interesting thing you could possibly say about the author.

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#65
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many prominent figures in Latin America and Spain turned away from socialist and communist positions after experiencing their effects: Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Octavio Paz (also Nobel Prize), Fernando Savater, Jorge Edwards, Jorge Luis Borges, Teodoro Petkoff...

Jorge Luis Borges neither started from a socialist position nor ever experienced the effects of socialism, so I don't know what he's doing on this list.

[flagged]

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#66
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if someone is democratically elected they can’t have en extreme ideology?

Extreme relative to what? The left-right framework is purely arbitrary and relative. I would argue the center should be set at the political views of the average voter. If 50% of voters elect a politician, I would then argue the candidate is quite close to the “center”.

Since most presidential elections are basically 50/50, every president and their opposition are all basically in the center, I guess.

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#67
post #64
post #13

Recent article on him in the London Review of Books, exploring his rightward turn as he grew older: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n05/tony-wood/why-did-he...

That's pretty much the least interesting thing you could possibly say about the author.

What are a few of the most interesting things you could possibly say?

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#69
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where were they from? As a South American I'm having difficult figuring out which country is socialist in this continent. Venezuela?

Most (all?) the terrorist groups of Latin America were self-declared marxist/communist, like "Shining Part" in Peru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_Path

This is much more revealing of how western media reports on Latin America than anything.

Re: Mario Vargas Llosa has died

#70
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many prominent figures in Latin America and Spain turned away from socialist and communist positions after experiencing their effects: Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Octavio Paz (also Nobel Prize), Fernando Savater, Jorge Edwards, Jorge Luis Borges, Teodoro Petkoff...

Savater has not experienced socialism, Spain has never been socialist, Savater has been always someone in great need of attention and joins anyone who gives him that. And the Spain's fascism has give him that. I've seen it since He was teaching in University In San Sebastian and was easier to find him in certain bars and in the horse races than at his work.

> Spain has never been socialist

This seems like a no true scotsman argument, Spain has been mostly governed by a socialist party since it became a democracy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Socialist_Workers%27_P...

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