Set during the first half of the 20th century both in a town near the desert and in different places all over the jungle of Northern Peru, Vargas Llosa interweaves the lives of a native woman, who was raised in a convent, a musician, who builds the brothel called the Green House, a heartless and brutal criminal, who cares only about himself, and four friends, who are always up to no good.
First of all, reading this book is hard work. You have to give it your full attention all the time, because everything is told non-chronologically and you hop from one character and from one timeline to another constantly. Since the story takes place over a timespan of approximately forty years this becomes confusing rather quickly. There are also parts in which two people discuss a past event and whatever they are talking about is narrated in flashbacks while they are talking without there being any indication when a flashback starts or stops, while some passages are just conversations between people without any punctuation marks. Sometimes Vargas Llosa refers to a character in one subplot by a moniker or a rank and in another by their name and it takes you until these storylines intersect to notice that this is one and the same person.
Although I tried my best to take it all in, there were still some passages that I could not place on the timeline, but I wonder if that was not planned like this by the author. Especially in the beginning it’s hard to stick with it, but in the end I’m glad that I did, because seeing how it all comes together is still worth it. The story is just beautifully crafted, and the way Vargas Llosa describes this world makes you really feel like you are there in the dirt and humidity of the jungle with its millions of insects and animals and the rivers that run through it like lifelines, and in the dust and heat of the desert, where sometimes sand falls down like rain. However, what was missing for me was the connection to his characters. They are mostly terrible people behaving terribly seemingly all the time, especially the men. Of course, all of it is very realistic, the treatment of women, the attitude and racism towards native people, the corruption and brutality of the officials, and the problematic influence of religion, but it hindered me from being invested in the character’s fates.
So in summary, this book is a work of art, objectively even a masterpiece, and I admire it for its extraordinary structure and craftsmanship, but I do not necessarily like it, because it is so difficult to get into and left me somewhat cold emotionally. Still highly recommended, but only if you like a challenging read.
