The Time of the Hero
About the book
Cadets at a military academy in Lima live within a system of violence, secrets and enforced loyalty.
Original title: La ciudad y los perros
Americas · A READING GUIDE
Peru
In the Andean novels of José María Arguedas and Ciro Alegría, land, community and language drive the conflict. Mario Vargas Llosa explores both institutional violence and the comic world of radio storytelling. Ribeyro and Bryce Echenique lead into a Lima divided by class and thwarted aspirations. Vallejo’s poetry and the prose of Claudia Salazar Jiménez and Gabriela Wiener offer further routes through linguistic experiment, memories of violence and colonial inheritance.
WHERE TO START
- The Time of the HeroMario Vargas Llosa
- Deep RiversJosé María Arguedas
- Broad and Alien Is the WorldCiro Alegría
Books to begin with
An editorial selection · not rankedNo matches. Try another language or search term.
Deep Rivers
About the book
A boy at an Andean school encounters tensions between Quechua culture, Spanish language and authority.
Original title: Los ríos profundos
EnglishTranslation
Deep Rivers
Waveland Press
Translated by Frances Horning Barraclough
Edition source ↗PolishTranslation
Głębokie rzeki
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy
Translated by Helena Czajka
Edition source ↗Broad and Alien Is the World
About the book
An Andean community struggles for land and survival against powerful landowners.
Original title: El mundo es ancho y ajeno
PolishTranslation
Świat jest szeroki i obcy
Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy
Translated by Helena Adamowicz
Edition source ↗
The Complete Poetry
About the book
This collected poetry connects linguistic experiment with bodily suffering and political violence.
EnglishTranslation
The Complete Poetry
University of California Press
Translated by Clayton Eshleman
Edition source ↗
The Word of the Speechless
About the book
These stories reveal the frustrations and thwarted ambitions of people on the margins of Lima.
EnglishTranslation
The Word of the Speechless
NYRB Classics
Translated by Katherine Silver
Edition source ↗
A World for Julius
About the book
A boy grows up in a wealthy Lima family and gradually perceives the class gulf separating it from its servants.
Original title: Un mundo para Julius
EnglishTranslation
A World for Julius
University of Wisconsin Press
Translated by Dick Gerdes
Edition source ↗
Red April
About the book
A prosecutor investigates a brutal murder in Peru scarred by Shining Path and state violence.
Original title: Abril rojo
Blood of the Dawn
About the book
The lives of three women intersect during the conflict involving Shining Path.
Original title: La sangre de la aurora
Undiscovered
About the book
An autofictional narrative untangles a family legacy of colonialism, ancestry and intimate relationships.
Original title: Huaco retrato
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
About the book
A young radio worker’s romance with Aunt Julia alternates with his colleague’s increasingly unruly radio serials.
Original title: La tía Julia y el escribidor
Conversation in the Cathedral
About the book
A conversation in a Lima bar opens onto a panorama of private and public life under military dictatorship.
The Feast of the Goat
About the book
A novel of Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic and the marks tyranny leaves on individual lives.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
- Mario Vargas Llosa — wydawca / publisher ↗
- José María Arguedas — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Ciro Alegría — wydawca / katalog ↗
- César Vallejo — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Julio Ramón Ribeyro — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Alfredo Bryce Echenique — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Santiago Roncagliolo — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Claudia Salazar Jiménez — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Gabriela Wiener — wydawca / katalog ↗
- Mario Vargas Llosa — wydawca / katalog ↗
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