Conversation in the Cathedral

Conversation in the Cathedral
1st Spanish edition
Author(s)	Mario Vargas Llosa
Original title	Conversación en La Catedral
Country	Peru
Language	Spanish
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Seix Barral, Barcelona
Publication date	1969
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	368 & 308

Conversation in the Cathedral is a 1969 novel by Peruvian writer and essayist Mario Vargas Llosa, recognized as one of his major works. It is a portrayal of Peru under the dictatorship of Manuel A. Odría in the 1950s, and deals with the lives of characters from different social strata.^[1] The ambitious narrative is built around the stories of Santiago Zavala and Ambrosio respectively; one the son of a minister, the other his chauffeur.^[2] A random meeting at a dog pound leads to a riveting conversation between the two at a nearby bar known as the Cathedral (hence the title).^[3] During the encounter Zavala tries to find the truth about his father's role in the murder of a notorious Peruvian underworld figure, shedding light on the workings of a dictatorship along the way.

The quatricentenary National University of San Marcos, where the protagonist Santiago Zavala studies.

The protagonist of the novel Santiago Zavala, is a student of the National University of San Marcos in Lima and an activist with the group Cahuide against the dictatorship of the government of Peru; Santiago is based on some real life experiences of Vargas Llosa, during his first years at University of San Marcos and as a member of the activist group Cahuide. In the novel, the protagonist Santiago Zavala depicts a pessimistic view of Peruvian society during the 1950s, at the same time he is embracing the mediocrity. More generally, the novel is an examination of the deep roots of corruption and failure in Peruvian politics and government during the 1950s. The second sentence of the English translation of the novel poses the question "At what precise moment had Peru fucked itself up?"^[4]

See also

Novels portal

• Mario Vargas Llosa
• National University of San Marcos
• Cahuide
• Manuel A. Odría

Notes

1. ^ Kristal 1998, p. 56
2. ^ Kristal 1998, p. 61
3. ^ Castro-Klarén 1990, p. 80
4. ^ Vargas Llosa, Mario. "Conversations in the Cathedral." Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York: Harper & Row, 1974

References

• Castro-Klarén, Sara (1990), Understanding Mario Vargas Llosa, Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, ISBN 0-87249-668-6 .
• Kristal, Efraín (1998), Temptation of the Word: The Novels of Mario Vargas Llosa, Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, ISBN 0-8265-1301-8 .