Are you a fan of Latin American literature? Do you love the works of Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa? Looking to know more about "el boom de la literatura hispanoamericana"? This may be your book.
I started reading books by Gabo and MVLL many years ago and recently have crossed into some of the "El boom" writers such as Cortázar, Fuentes, Goytisolo and Carpentier. Then I came across this book by Ángel Esteban and Ana Gallego, professors at the University of Granada.
They are obviously big fans but more importantly well versed in research. In fact most of the book comes in the form of letters now held at the Firestone Library at Princeton. They construct the story of the two namesake authors, in a chronological order and tell the "el boom" in a rapid fire, chatty, gossipy way using the letters to explain, tell different points of view and unfold the history of "el boom." Many of these stories are simply marvelous.
The premise is simple. In the 1960s, when there was social upheaval happening with the Vietnam War, Woodstock, the Beatles, the revolution, the "South" wanted in. That South consisted of a group of Latin American writers who had left their own countries to make a mark with their stories. Vargas Llosa left Peru for Paris; Gabo left Colombia for Mexico. Both their first books were publishing successes.
"La ciudad y los perros" won the Premio Biblioteca in 1962 and Vargas Llosa would first meet Gabo in Venezuela to receive his prize. He wrote his thesis on Gabo, calling it "García Márquez. Historia de un deicidio" (History of a God Killer) formenting the younger writer's views on his approach to literature and his strong view on the elder writer (there is nine years difference). Their friendship was sealed and after "Cien años de soledad" was published in 1967, Vargas Llosa invited the García Márquez family to join his family in Barcelona.
Ah, Barcelona. City of the sea, Gaudi, the beautiful buildings, parks and in those years a Catalan publisher Carlos Barral and a literary agent, Carmen Balcells. Both had a great eye for young talent. And there were several expatriot writers who wanted to publish great stories. During this time Latin America (and Spain) was going through changes, with a lot of dictators taking power. Things were so ripe for literature. Enter "el boom."
Things went well; things fell apart. There was the Cuban Padilla incident that both formented the group, then tore it apart. Then there is the fame and the politics. And of course, that one slug that caused a thirty year rift. In typical fashion, being on the left or the right made things "interesting". The writers do spend a great deal of time on the Cuban incident (Esteban is a Cuban) and at times even I was getting lost but it was integral to the timeframe. To find out more you have to read the book.
What I learned is this. Latin America produced two Nobel prize winning writers who through their friendships and connections produced "the boom" in Latin America via Spain. There stories were diverse, powerful, moving and mesmerizing. Gabo died in 2014 and this year, Vargas Llosa celebrates his 80th. One can say "el boom" still continues today with such fine writers as Marías, Vasquez, Roncagliolo, Restrepo, Cerca, Luiselli, Zambra, Abad, and on and on. And I am happy for this.
read in Spanish.