A Writer's Reality

Zusatztext

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE 'Fascinating.' Isabel Allende In this book, Vargas Llosa invites readers to enter into his confidence as he unravels six of his own novels and two other works of fundamental importance to him. Vargas Llosa's native Peru, the setting and character of much of his fiction, is at the centre of his piece on "The Chronicles of the Birth of Peru" - the powerful account of the discovery and conquest of Peru by the Spaniards - which Vargas Llosa describes as "novels disguised as history". In other chapters, Vargas Llosa tells how his method of writing has evolved, discusses his attraction to Sartre's work and his days at military school, describes what it was like at nine to see the ocean for the first time, and explains the process of changing the dead language of "soap operas" (as in his own "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter") into the living language of serious art. He also relates why "The War of the End of the World" is his personal favourite among his novels. Throughout A Writer's Reality, Vargas Llosa focuses on what he sees as a central metaphor for the writer's task - to transform lies into truth.

Autorenportrait

Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010. He also won the Cervantes Prize, the most distinguished literary honour in the Spanish-speaking world. His many works include The Feast of the Goat, The Bad Girl and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter as well as several collections of essays, journalism and plays. He died in April 2025.

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