Have You Read Any Mario Vargas Llosa? ..

[cmeisenzahl]

I'm not much of a fiction reader and am new to Mr. Llosa. What one or two titles of his would you recommend to get started?

Thanks very much in advance,
Chris

 

[Huntsman]

I read In Praise of the Stepmother, which is, more or less, about a young boy who seduces his stepmother, but I think is really about the sensuousness of moments (witness, if you read it, the depth of Don Rigoberto's morning ablutions). ~ H

 

[clockwise]

Yes, not long ago I read The Bad Girl which I found fascinating. A both hilarious and sentimental read. Someone has called it a modern Madame Bovary. Definitely recommended! Heavier going as I remember it from 20 years or more ago was The War of the End of the World. It it is maybe his "masterpiece" and I may have to re-read to fully appreciate. I have The Feast of the Goat waiting for me since a year or so, bought after I finished The Bad Girl but other stuff caught my attention at the time. It should be a very good read from what I am hearing.

 

[life_interrupts]

+1 for In Praise of the Stepmother. I read it some 20 years ago and remember liking the tie-in to Renaissance-era art. And it was really naughty.

 

[cmeisenzahl]

Thanks, all!