The Prosecutor

Trilogía sobre el monoteísmo del poder #3

by Augusto Roa Bastos

The Prosecutor is the third novel of a trilogy written by the internationally famous Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos. It was preceded by the novels Son of Man and I The Supreme. Together these three works contemplate what the author has termed "the monotheism of power." The Prosecutor explores the atrocities of the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship in Paraguay, which lasted from 1954 to 1989. Through connections with important Paraguayan historical figures, such as Francisco Solano López, the novel links the protagonist to Paraguay's past as he struggles to give meaning to his life by assassinating the dictator and freeing the Paraguayan people. Combining autobiography, detective fiction, historical novel and philosophy, the novel examines the question of whether one man has the right to judge another. A provocative introduction and comprehensive notes by Helene Carol Weldt-Basson illuminate this translation of one of Roa Bastos's most important works.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Novels

304 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Augusto José Antonio Roa Bastos was a noted Paraguayan novelist and short story writer, and one of the most important Latin American writers of the 20th century. As a teenager he fought in the Chaco War between Paraguay and Bolivia, and he later worked as a journalist, screenwriter and professor. He is best known for his complex novel Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme) and for his reception of the Premio Miguel de Cervantes in 1989, Spanish literature's most prestigious prize. Yo el Supremo is one of the foremost Latin American novels to tackle the topic of the dictator. It explores the dictations and inner thoughts of Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, who ruled Paraguay with an iron fist and no little eccentricity from 1814 until his death in 1840.

Roa Bastos' life and writing were marked by experience with dictatorial military regimes. In 1947 he was forced into exile in Argentina, and in 1976 he fled Buenos Aires for France in similar political circumstances. Most of Roa Bastos' work was written in exile, but this did not deter him from fiercely tackling Paraguayan social and historical issues in his work. Writing in a Spanish that was at times heavily augmented by Guaraní words (the major Paraguayan indigenous language), Roa Bastos incorporated Paraguayan myths and symbols into a Baroque style known as magic realism. He is considered a late-comer to the Latin American Boom literary movement. Roa Bastos' personal canon includes the novels Hijo de hombre (1960; Son of Man) and El fiscal (1993; The Prosecutor), as well as numerous other novels, short stories, poems, and screenplays.

Roa Bastos was an exponent of the Neobaroque style that brought Latin American literature to the fore internationally in the mid-20th century. Among others, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is also associated with this school of writing. The style uses a complex system of metaphors that are often very closely tied to the land, flora and culture of the particular writer, especially in the case of Roa Bastos. Magic realism is a Neobaroque concept that applies such systems of metaphor to otherwise realistic settings (Yo, el Supremo being a notable example of the form). The Neobaroque style was used by many Paraguayan writers in exile after 1947 and until the 1980s. At the core of much of the work from this group are ideas of political freedom and the emancipation of their homeland.[33]

Roa Bastos started out writing poetry in the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque traditions. Later he took on "a new sensibility" in response to the poetry of Valle-Inclán, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and García Lorca. However, it is as a prose-fiction writer Roa Bastos has built his considerable reputation, through his novels and numerous short stories. Roa Bastos' novels blend the present and past by creating scenes with myths from pre-colonial times and Christian legends, developing a special kind of Magic Realism, although there are significant stylistic variations between his major novels.

Reviews

[Nikos79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once, three friends, who happen to be major authors of Latin America, Alejo Carpentier, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Augusto Roa Bastos, made a deal, writing each of them a book about dictatorships. Carpentier wrote "Reasons of state"(which I 'm planning to buy soon), Marquez wrote "The autumn of patriarch"(which I already have, unread yet) and Roa Bastos wrote "I the supreme". The latter unfortunately isn't translated yet in my language, so I decided to try him through another book of him which is available, "El fiscal". Anyway this one is about regime as well, it's fine.

The main hero of the book is Felix Moral an exiled man from Paraguay living in France due to his political antithesis to his country's leader and dictator Alfredo Stroessner. This man having a new name and a new face as well after a previous plastic surgery is living now peacefully in his new country as a professor of Latin American Literature but what is always in his mind is one day to get back to his country. So when one day a friend informs him that he can provide him a special ticket for a cultural/social/scientific congress in Asuncion organized by the state with the presence of the dictator, he finds the chance of his life to get back and take revenge. The same time a big part of the book is a reference to the war of Paraguay called as "The big war" in my pages, a conflict took place from from 1864 to 1870 between Paraguay and the triple alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

Quite demanding reading, not really easy and relaxing to spent your time, not one of these books you can easily recommend to others, but a nice choice for those who like reading books with political and historical background. I have to admit that some parts were a bit tiring to me or not so interesting, but after all I learned a lot of stuff I was ignoring. Also the connection of the two stories I think was not that strong or even so clear if you like, but still the whole thing was really good and I 'm glad I finally read it. Roa Bastos received the Cervantes Prize after all and I can see reasons for that, his language and his prose is really good.

[Kyriakos Sorokkou]

χρόνος ανάγνωσης κριτικής: 1 λεπτό και 35 δευτερόλεπτα

Το 2021, πάλι μήνα Αύγουστο, ξεκίνησα να διαβάζω το Ο κύριος Πρόεδρος
του νομπελίστα (1967) από την Γουατεμάλα Μιγκέλ Άνχελ Αστούριας.

Το βιβλίο υπήρξε ο πρόδρομος ενός λογοτεχνικού είδους που ονομάζεται
"Dictator Novel"
Η ιστορία σε ένα Dictator Novel έχει έντονα πολιτικά θέματα,
εξετάζει τη δύναμη που κατέχει ένας δικτάτορας, και γενικά προβληματίζει
τον αναγνώστη σχετικά με την φύση του αυταρχισμού.

Εκτός από το συγκεκριμένο άλλα παραδείγματα τέτοιου είδους
μυθιστορήματος είναι τα εξής:

Εγώ ο Υπέρτατος του Παραγουανού συγγραφέα Αουγκούστο Ρόα Μπάστος

Η γιορτή του τράγου του επίσης βραβευμένου με Νόμπελ Μάριο Βάργκας Γιόσα

και τέλος Το φθινόπωρο του πατριάρχη του επίσης βραβευμένου με Νόμπελ
Κολομβιανού συγγραφέα Γκαμπριέλ Γκαρσία Μάρκες. 


Και τότε ήταν που ξεκίνησα το κυνήγι για το βιβλίο του Ρόα Μπάστος
αφού τους άλλους 2 τους είχα διαβάσει.
Φυσικά το Εγώ ο Υπέρτατος δεν μεταφράστηκε ακόμα στα ελληνικά
και δεν σκόπευα να δώσω €20 για την αγγλική μετάφραση που κλασικά
(όπως πάντα πλέον) τα αγγλικά paperbacks έχουν χαρτί εφημερίδας, και τιμή Μίδας.
Βρήκα τον Κατήγορο που είναι το τρίτο αυτής της τριλογίας.
Δεν ξέρω πώς μου ξέφυγε το πρώτο της τριλογίας Ο γιος του ανθρώπου
επίσης μεταφρασμένο στα ελληνικά.

Φυσικά όταν λέμε τριλογία, εδώ εννοούμε θεματική.
Δεν υπάρχει κοινή ιστορία, πλοκή, και κοινοί ήρωες, αλλά κοινό θέμα.

Αυτά τα τρία έργα εξετάζουν αυτό που ο συγγραφέας έχει ονομάσει
«μονοθεϊσμό της εξουσίας».
Ο ίδιος ο συγγραφέας λέει ότι: «Δεν πιστεύω πως, ως προς τη μορφή,
τα έργα της τριλογίας έχουν κάποια σύνδεση μεταξύ τους.
Ωστόσο υπάρχον ισχυρές εσωτερικές γραμμές επικοινωνίας ανάμεσα
στα τρία μυθιστορήματα από πλευράς δομής, αλλά κι ως προς το θέμα,
γιατί τραβάω στα άκρα τη συλλογιστική ότι είναι αδύνατο
να υπερισχύσει η απόλυτη εξουσία».

Ο Κατήγορος εξερευνά τις φρικαλεότητες της δικτατορίας του Αλφρέδο Στρέσνερ
στην Παραγουάη, η οποία διήρκεσε από το 1954 έως το 1989 όπως επίσης
και την αδυναμία να κρίνουμε και να δικάσουμε τον άλλον για τις πράξεις του.
Ένας προβληματισμός σχετικά με την παράδοση του αυταρχισμού στην Παραγουάη.
Το μυθιστόρημα είναι περισσότερο ένας συνδυασμός αυτοβιογραφίας,
αστυνομική λογοτεχνίας, ιστορικού μυθιστορήματος και φιλοσοφίας,
παρά αμιγές Dictator Novel όπως είναι το Εγώ ο Υπέρτατος.


Δυστυχώς όμως δεν με κέρδισε για να θέλω να συνεχίσω
και με τα άλλα 2 του συγγραφέα.
Η πολυλογία, οι εμμονές, οι σκέψεις, και η μονομανία του αφηγητή, μαζί με τους
ακατάσχετους πλατειασμούς άσχετου (τουλάχιστον στην επιφάνεια) θέματος.
Μακροσκελείς παρεκκλίσεις που εκτείνονταν συνήθως σε 10-15 σελίδες
και ξέφευγαν από τη σκηνή και το κύριο θέμα με κούρασαν αρκετά.

Διάβασα όμως κάτι από Παραγουάη, έμαθα αρκετά για την ιστορία της
που αγνοούσα παντελώς, και μου λύθηκε η απορία για την γραφή του Ρόα Μπάστος
Αλλά τώρα πάμε γι' άλλα.

[Antonio Sacin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fascinating to me the lack of knowledge about the longest dictatorship in South America, that of Alfredo Stroessner. This novel is set around a paraguayan expat and oppositor to the regime. Contains plenty of references also to the paraguayan great War on the XIX century that serve as underlying theme. Overall a great work of literature and a mind exploration into paraguayan history through modern day fiction.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es mi primera obra larga que leo de Roa Bastos. Me costó UN AÑO terminar de leer este libro, pEEERO la razón principal por la cual hice un gran parón fue que de todas las cosas que me podía imaginar que podrían pasar no me esperaba para nada el momento de Leda con Félix. El final es el reflejo crudo de la dictadura de Alfredo Stroessner.

[Hugo Mendieta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Según el propio autor el final de su trilogía sobre el abuso del poder. Pero lastimosamente debo decir que no veo nada de eso. Solo veo un relato bastante egoísta basado en un odio caprichoso hacia una figura dictatorial

[Alonso Cassalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 en realidad

[Virginie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading the world in books: Paraguay