The Death of Artemio Cruz

Начало книги

Carlos Fuentes is one of Latin America's most distinguished novelists and a one-man international cultural and political force. Few Latin American writers have such an intimate knowledge of Americans or see the American/Latin American cultural dynamic with the great depth of vision that Fuentes possesses. He is intimately in touch with both the gringo and Latino souls and he speaks with a particularly international voice. Again and again, Fuentes has shown himself to be a pioneer of the "magical realism" style that has captivated readers and critics on both sides of the Rio Grande.

The novel opens with Cruz on his deathbed, and plunges us into his thoughts as he segues from the past to his increasingly disoriented present. Drawn as a tragic figure, Cruz fights bravely during the Mexican Revolution but in the process loses his idealism-and the only woman who ever loved him. He marries the daughter of a hacienda owner and, in the opportunistic, postwar climate, he uses her family connections and money to amass an ever-larger fortune. Cocky, audacious, corrupt, Cruz, on another level, represents the paradoxes of recent Mexican history. This novel, with its freewheeling experimental prose and psychological exploration, anticipates many of the author's later themes.

Читать дальше →