Have you read any Mario Vargas Llosa? ...

[speedmaster]

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

 

[Peder]

These are the titles I have come across since he won the Prize. The first two are from the shelves in bookstores; the last three are on order.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

The Bad Girl

The Green Room

Conversation in the Cathedral

The War of the End of the World

According to reviews on amazon, they seem to range from lighthearted and hilarious to quite serious. The last three have been well recommended elsewhere. I suggest you take a look at amazon descriptions (or wikipedia) and choose whichever sounds appealing, unless of course, someone else responds here.

 

[speedmaster]

I'll check those out, thanks!

These are the titles I have come across since he won the Prize. The first two are from the shelves in bookstores; the last three are on order.

Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

The Bad Girl

The Green Room

Conversation in the Cathedral

The War of the End of the World

According to reviews on amazon, they seem to range from lighthearted and hilarious to quite serious. The last three have been well recommended elsewhere. I suggest you take a look at amazon descriptions (or wikipedia) and choose whichever sounds appealing, unless of course, someone else responds here.

 

[alexandra1304]

I'm a big fan of Vargas Llosa

I have read The Bad girl, In Praise of the Stepmother, and The war of the end of the world. My favourite is The Bad girl.

Happy I've found this site.

Alexandra

 

[Dahlia]

I highly recommend The Feast of the Goat .

A superb read .

 

[JackTres]

The Feast of the Goat is decent, though at points I sensed the author struggling to supply sufficient historical background/exposition and still move the fiction forward. Those in the market for linguistic fireworks won't find any here (at least not in the translated version), but to my mind, Vargas Llosa's biggest accomplishment here is allowing the reader to inhabit the consciousnesses of a wide array of very different characters. Also, it's at points thrilling and funny. He does a good job of showcasing the brutal childishness of dictators and their fussy little egos.