The Vision of Elena Silves

by Nicholas Shakespeare

Seemingly doomed to failure, the romance between Elena Silves, who received a vision of the Virgin Mary, and Gabriel Lung, a leader of the Peruvian terrorist group, the Shining Path, endures for over twenty years

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Nicholas William Richmond Shakespeare is a English novelist and biographer.

Born to a diplomat, Nicholas Shakespeare grew up in the Far East and in South America. He was educated at the Dragon School preparatory school in Oxford, then at Winchester College and at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He worked as a journalist for BBC television and then on The Times as assistant arts and literary editor. From 1988 to 1991 he was literary editor of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Since 2000, Shakespeare has been Patron of the Anita Goulden Trust, helping children in the Peruvian city of Piura. The UK-based charity was set up following an article that Shakespeare wrote for the Daily Telegraph magazine, which raised more than £350,000.

He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He is married with two small boys and currently lives in Oxford.

Reviews

[Luís · Rating 2 out of 5]

The vision of Elena Silves has, unfortunately, also aged. A reader today, unaware of the revolutionary movements of South America, will not necessarily understand all the allusions to the Shining Path nor the exact context in which the novel unfolds. The author does not explain what seems obvious at the time (he wrote the text in 1989), but today, a young reader will not have the keys to understanding the plot. The fantasy of the beautiful and the guerrilla thus gives way to a love story that seems less exotic today if it is not bland in its course.

[Tjibbe Wubbels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had this book laying around the house for ages. For some reason I never got around to reading it. I finally started reading last week and was pleasantly surprised. Other reviews here mention that it's difficult to read and hard to follow at times. I don't share that opinion at all. Agreed, the time line jumps from here to there but only in a way that adds to the power of the storytelling. And there are a lot of references to Latin-American history and culture but never to such an extent that it interfered with the story itself.

I only gave it three stars, though, because I never got excited about the story. The pace is too slow for my taste and just when things were starting to get interesting, the book was over.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate this book. It took me years, a whole five years in fact if I'm not mistaken, to finish reading it. Not because the pages are too long nor the story is simply boring. I just found it very difficult to absorb almost every paragraph and along the way my interest just faded away. Luckily, I'm a type of person who is obsessed to finish whatever she has started no matter how long it will take and reading this book is an extreme example of how persistent I can be.

The problem lies in Nicholas Shakespeare's stubborness in not shedding any light of many things he wrote in this novel, he helps his unworldly readers such as me almost absolutely nothing to comprehend the latin american culture he presents in this book. Critics say that he's at the same league with Salman Rushdie but I oppose this. Though Rushdie also introduces readers to a different if not new culture to english speaking readers - Indian culture in his case - and here and there his novels mention unfamiliar things without much ado or explanation, several pages or chapters later readers will notice that he actually makes efforts - with surprising details adding a joy to reading his books - to help his readers comprehend what he's saying and they love him for that. Shakespeare, on the contrary, is busy proving to himself that The Vision of Elena Silves is a work of art, his masterpiece, each paragraph are poemlike and full of exotic unknown words, ignoring one of the most important facts that novels are made for readers.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I found you may need to read some of the chapters twice to get the story of it. The author surrounds you with much imagery and unless you are familiar with Brazilian culture and language you may find some of the chapters hard to follow. Nevertheless it is a rewarding novel but one in which you may need your wits about you to follow.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it very enjoyable which is not surprising given its similarities to a number of Vargas Llosa novels. It reminded me the most of The Green House. Look forward to reading The Dancer Upstairs

[Laurie]

Magic realism from an Englishman who has lived a lot in Peru, so it is gives us an idea of Peruvian food (ceviche), music ("Ojos azules," one of my favorites), and drink (masato, a yucca-based drink rather than the Andean chicha). Since it was written before the capture of Presidente Gonzalo (Presidente Ezequiel in the novel) it perhaps lacks the perspective provided by the later The Dancer Upstairs by the same author. There is a little too much magic realism, and politics is reduced to sex, which would make Freud happy but does not entirely please me. It's interesting to view the Sendero Luminoso movement through the Amazonian rubber-baron region rather than the Andes. A quick read, full of sex and violence and religion.

[jaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit of a tricky read, i found it hard to piece together what was going on at points, but i did really enjoy it and i thought it was an absolutely gorgeous read.

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nu știu cum Viziunea... a putut lua vreun premiu, dac-ar fi fost după mine, i-aș fi dat locul doi din doi, la mare concurență cu cartea de telefoane, ediția din 1958 toamna.
Nu numai CĂ CĂrțulia de față este extrem de proastă, dar are și "marele merit" de a se parcurge extrem de greu, cele trei sute și ceva de pagini fiind un adevărat chin pentru un cititor mediu, așa cum mă consider.
Cum, de obicei, avem mai multe de comentat atunci când NU ne place ceva, o să enumer câteva dintre motivele pentru care The Vision... candidează, cu reale șanse, la titlul de Porcăria Anului.
Așa-numitul curent literar realism magic permite autorului tot felul de licențe, cu monștri, monstruleți, întâmplări supranaturale, lecuiri miraculoase, broaște care vorbesc, instrumente care nu sunt la îndemâna unui autor cât de cât serios.
Apoi, e îndeobște cunoscut că din doi sud-americani trei sunt revoluționari, tot continentul e sărac, vai de mama lui, forțele opresive sunt de-o cruzime înfiorătoare (de, servesc regimuri totalitare), femeile sunt sfinte sau curve (aici depinde și dacă se culcă cu personajul principal sau nu), se mănâncă pe sponci, se bea la greu, de obicei porcării. Nimic nou. Nimic interesant.
Adăugați o acțiune lălăită, cu sute de ocoluri temporale, un protagonist tâmpițel, o cucoană cu viziuni, trei moși care n-au ce face, un final de tot r...l, și ați obținut mizeria de față...