The War of the End of the World

"The War of the End of the World" ( _es. La guerra del fin del mundo) is a 1981 novel written by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa.

Plot Summary

The book is a novelisation of real events in 19th Century Brazil. In the midst of the economic decline - following draught and the end of slavery - in the province of Bahia in North Eastern Brazil the poor of the backlands are attracted by the charismatic figure and simple religious teachings of Antonio Conselheiro "the counselor" who preaches that the end of the world is imminent and that the political chaos that surrounds the collapse of the Empire of Brazil and its replacement by a republic is the work of the devil. Seizing a hacienda in an area blighted by economic decline at Canudos the Counselor's followers build a large town and defeat repeated and ever larger military expeditions designed to remove them. As the state's violence against them increases they too turn increasingly violent, even seizing the modern weapons deployed against them. In an epic final clash a whole army is sent to extirpate Canudos and instigates a terrible and brutal battle with the poor while politicians of the old order see their world destroyed in the conflagration.

Analysis

It is generally believed that Vargas Llosa's three milestone novels are: "La Ciudad y Los Perros" (The Time of the Hero), "La Casa Verde" ("The Green House") and "Conversación en la Catedral" (Conversation in the Cathedral), though many critics agee that The War of the End of the World should also be included among these three. The author is famously known for considering this his most accomplished novel, opinion shared by the American critic Harold Bloom, whom even includes the novel in what he calls the author's "occidental canon". The opinion is also shared by the Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño.Fact|date=March 2008

As he did later on with "La Fiesta Del Chivo" (The Feast of the Goat), Vargas Llosa tackles an infinite number of characters and stories caught during a time of strife, interweaving these in way that he gives us a picture of what it was to live in those times, in a religious aspect, political aspect, and social aspect.Fact|date=March 2008

Characters

* Antonio Conselheiro
* The Lion of Natuba
* Joao Abade
* The Dwarf
* Father Joaquim
* Barón de CañaBrava
* Pajeú
* Rufino
* Galileo Gall
* María Quadrado
* Moreira César
* Jurema
* The Short-Sighted Journalist
* Joao Grande
* Pires Ferreira
* Antonio Vilanova