The War of the End of the World

Oct 07, 2010 brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

that's what happens when the world's most overrated living author (GGM) gets punched in the face by a far superior one (MVL). the fight occurred in a mexican moviehouse in 1976 and neither of 'em have ever discussed said incident. whatever went down (a woman? politics?), i wish i was there to give the chubby bastard a kick in the ribs when he was on the ground.

the war of the end of the world deserves the place in the pantheon occupied by marquez's silly epics. here we have a 20th century histor...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Patrizia O rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: premi-nobel, romanzi-storici, autori-autrici-perù

Ma tu la conosci Canudos?

Se la risposta è no, si può subito rimediare leggendo il bellissimo libro di Mario Vargas Llosa. Non fatevi spaventare né dalla mole né, soprattutto, dai caratteri minuscoli dell’Edizione Einaudi. Una volta immersi nella lettura le pagine, dense e corpose, volano e noi con loro nello spazio e nel tempo per raggiungere questo angolo del Nordest del Brasile, diverso dall’iconografia stereotipata di mare, sole e divertimento. Ci ritroviamo alla fine del XIX secolo in un p

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Ma tu la conosci Canudos?

Se la risposta è no, si può subito rimediare leggendo il bellissimo libro di Mario Vargas Llosa. Non fatevi spaventare né dalla mole né, soprattutto, dai caratteri minuscoli dell’Edizione Einaudi. Una volta immersi nella lettura le pagine, dense e corpose, volano e noi con loro nello spazio e nel tempo per raggiungere questo angolo del Nordest del Brasile, diverso dall’iconografia stereotipata di mare, sole e divertimento. Ci ritroviamo alla fine del XIX secolo in un paesaggio aspro e poco ospitale, dove il caldo, la siccità e la vegetazione creano condizioni difficili per gli uomini e rendono ancora più evidente (e stonato) il divario tra coloro che sono ricchi e potenti e quelli che, praticamente proprietà dei primi (anche se ufficialmente la schiavitù è stata abolita), vivono in condizioni di estrema povertà.

Se, invece, vi chiedete “Perché dobbiamo conoscere Canudos?”, allora vi rispondo dicendo che si tratta di un classico, nell’accezione di opera che tratta temi universali che prescindono dal tempo e dallo spazio. Leggendo “” mi è sembrato di rivivere molte vicende della politica nostrana e internazionale degli ultimi vent’anni: conflitti di interessi, tentativi di “esportare la democrazia”, inciuci politici e collusione con il crimine (a dimostrazione di quanto sia difficile imparare dalla storia, aggiungo io!).

La storia in sé è molto semplice. La Repubblica in Brasile è stata proclamata da circa dieci anni; nell’arena politica si scontrano i Repubblicani duri e puri, fautori di un maggior intervento del governo centrale negli affari dello stato di Bahia, e gli Autonomisti (latifondisti, monarchici nostalgici detentori del potere locale) che invece cercano di contrastare le ingerenze centraliste. In realtà, dietro queste etichette, si nascondono opportunismi e particolarismi, che non esitano ad accordarsi tra loro (a scapito dei principi e della propaganda elettorale) pur di mantenere i loro privilegi (Vi ricorda qualcosa?). I principali rappresentanti politici di questi due schieramenti, Epaminondas Gonçalves (a capo del Partito Repubblicano Progressista) e il barone di Canabrava (leader del Partito Autonomista Bahiano) sono entrambi possessori di mezzi di comunicazione (quotidiani) che utilizzano per manipolare l’opinione pubblica anche con fatti inventati, anzi se necessario creano ad hoc i fatti (alleandosi magari con potenziali terroristi) per poi imporre le loro soluzioni politiche o, ancora, colludono con i malviventi per non avere guai personali e mantenere l’ordine pubblico (no, non vi preoccupate non state leggendo la cronaca politica italiana degli ultimi decenni).
La maggioranza della popolazione vive in condizioni di povertà estrema, alla mercé dei latifondisti da un lato e dei cangaceiros (banditi) dall’altro. L’unica speranza di una vita migliore, di un premio alle loro fatiche viene dalle parole di “Antonio il Consigliere”, un uomo che percorre in lungo e in largo il Sertão (in portoghese “grande deserto”) predicando le parole del Padre, dando un significato alla vita misera di uomini e donne che non hanno né diritti umani né futuro, almeno non su questa terra. Antonio il Consigliere è un asceta che raccoglie intorno a sé contadini, commercianti, banditi. Grazie alla fede nelle parole del loro profeta, tutti rinascono a una nuova vita che ha come unica missione fare la volontà del Padre e sconfiggere il male, ovunque si annidi. Per una serie di ragioni (istituzione del matrimonio civile, imposizione fiscale obbligatoria, raccolta dei dati a fini censuari), Antonio il Consigliere afferma che il Cane (cioè Satana) si è incarnato nella Repubblica: insieme ai suoi seguaci si ritira quindi in un’enclave, Canudos appunto, dove non vige la legge diabolica della Repubblica ma quella santa della defunta monarchia. La propaganda politica, la demagogia, l’abisso culturale che separa i governanti dai loro stessi connazionali di Canudos, innesca una serie di reazioni per cui Antonio il Consigliere viene dipinto come un nemico della stabilità politica e come tale deve essere annientato.
“La guerra della fine del mondo” narra proprio di questo scontro di civiltà, dove non ci sono buoni o cattivi ma uomini strenuamente attaccati alle loro posizioni, che fanno dell’altro, del diverso un nemico, sempre e comunque.
A me sembra, che attraverso i personaggi di Galileo Gall (anarchico sostenitore della "rivoluzione" di Canudos) e del giornalista che segue da vicino gli eventi della guerra, l’autore voglia suggerci che la ragione non è la strada maestra per giungere alla comprensione profonda dell’altro, superando pregiudizi e stereotipi. Galileo Gall, che segue la via tracciata dalla razionalità, non riesce a comprendere realmente quello che accade a Canudos. Il giornalista, invece, scopre che la prossimità fisica (il condividere) e l’umiltà rispetto ai propri convincimenti consentono di andare oltre se stessi e aprirsi agli altri, accettando verità scomode e dolorose che però sono proprio le fondamenta su cui costruire un sistema sociale in cui è riconosciuta la dignità di tutti gli uomini.
La Repubblica, incarnata nei suoi ideali estremi dal colonnello Moreira César (fautore della Repubblica dittatoriale), cerca di riportare la legge a Canudos con l’esercito, distruggendo e uccidendo. La finalità è nobile (per il nostro eroe repubblicano): spazzare l’oscurantismo di Antonio il Consigliere e imporre a tutti i brasiliani valori moderni, quali il laicismo e l’uguaglianza. Insomma (passatemi l’espressione), il buon colonnello intende “esportare la democrazia” con le armi (già sentito? Ma no, è solo una vostra impressione) .
Gli Eletti del Buon Gesù non vogliono imporre niente a nessuno (non ne hanno neanche bisogno, visto il numero crescente di persone che si trasferiscono nel piccolo villaggio, rigettando la repubblica e abbracciando la legge del Padre), ma devono combattere il Cane (cioè l’esercito della Repubblica) che cerca di far sprofondare all’inferno tutti loro. Organizzano quindi una guerriglia che per tre volte sconfigge l’esercito. Il fanatismo religioso aiuta quegli uomini, quelle donne e quei bambini a sopportare la fame, la sete, il dolore, la paura. Ma ottunde la ragione: non c’è più libero arbitrio! Meglio andare tutti insieme tra le braccia del Padre che essere preda del male, meglio l’estremo sacrificio, del resto “quando sei eletto sai che finirai in cielo. Che cosa importa la morte, dopo questo?”
Non so a voi, ma a me ricorda gli estremismi religiosi che tanti problemi hanno creato in questo scorcio di secolo.

Nonostante la recensione sia già troppo lunga, non posso trascurare la bravura stilistica di Vargas Llosa: se gli hanno dato il premio nobel, un motivo ci sarà!
Tutti i personaggi, anche quelli che per semplicità definisco “minori” (perché occupano poche pagine, non perché siano irrilevanti), sono descritti nella loro complessità: bastano poche righe e già entrano a pieno diritto nel cuore e nella mente del lettore. La guerra della fine del mondo non sarebbe la stessa storia senza il Gitano, il medico Teotônio Leal Cavalcanti, il generale Oscar, il soldato Queluz, il colonnello Geraldo Macedo. A ciascuno di loro Vargas Llosa fa raccontare una parte della vicenda. L’intero libro è un intreccio dei punti di vista di tutti i personaggi: non c’è mai la voce personale dell’autore. Non sappiamo da che parte stia Vargas Llosa e questo fa sì che ogni chiave di lettura sia legittima: a tutti i personaggi è data la possibilità di raccontare come sono andati i fatti. A tutti tranne che ad Antonio il Consigliere. Di lui sappiamo soltanto quello che gli altri ci dicono: un santo, un profeta, un mistificatore, un pazzo, un cospiratore, un manipolatore. Incrociando le diverse visioni del mondo, riusciamo a costruirci la nostra versione dei fatti, quella del lettore che, seguendo il percorso tracciato dallo scrittore, cerca di sondare le più profonde motivazioni dell’agire umano.

Ho finito, ma non prima di suggerire anche la lettura dell’interessante introduzione di Angelo Morino (ed. Einaudi), alla fine del libro però, per rendere meno duro il distacco da Canudos.

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Feb 01, 2011 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

Good God, this book is amazing. It has the massive cast and sprawl of War & Peace, and an apocalyptic feel that reminded me of - oh shut up - The Stand. It´s longer than it looks; Llosa has a terse style, so things happen at a rapid clip. It took me longer to read than I thought it would. But not like I was bored! This was one of those cases where I felt anxious as the end of the book neared, bummed out that it was going to be over soon.

It taught me that I need to pick books based on more th...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Mikela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-list, 1900s, books-read-in-2012, historical-fiction, peruvian-literature

I find it very difficult to put into words my thoughts on this book. This is a historical novel based on the peasant revolt that took place in Brazil in the late 19th century when a renegade priest and his followers took over an abandoned estate in Canudos and established a community that refused to recognize the authority of the newly established republic, the old catholic church or civil marriages. Money was outlawed. There could be no taxation, census taking, marriage or ownership of property...more I find it very difficult to put into words my thoughts on this book. This is a historical novel based on the peasant revolt that took place in Brazil in the late 19th century when a renegade priest and his followers took over an abandoned estate in Canudos and established a community that refused to recognize the authority of the newly established republic, the old catholic church or civil marriages. Money was outlawed. There could be no taxation, census taking, marriage or ownership of property in this new community. With the exception of former tax collectors, Freemasons or men who had worn the uniform of the republic all were welcomed, given a plot of land for their home and to farm. Thousands of former bandits, slaves, prostitutes, beggars and misfits of society flocked to Canudos where they were not only welcomed but made to feel human for the first time in many of their lives. This priest who they called The Counselor, talked to all with dignity and in the eyes of the peasants became a saint that they loved, protected and followed as he led.

This was a time when the new republic was still on shaky footing with the large landowners, who were mostly Monarchists, still in opposition to the new government. Agents for the new government see Canudos as the perfect rallying cry for the country and accuse them of being agents of a foreign power in league with the Monarchists. As can be readily imagined, the government of the republic decided to wipe this community out before this type of revolt took root in other parts of Brazil and seriously undermined their central control. What followed was an epic battle where tens of thousands of republic soldiers fought the renegades of Canudos, losing thousands of their soldiers to a ragtag group of defenders of Canudos before finally prevailing.

The story is told from the perspective of several points of view, residents of Canudos, believers and people with nothing making the pilgrimage to this haven, the landowners who were seeing their rich haciendas burned down and their workers leaving for Canudos, newspaper writers who followed the soldiers, government leaders and various other voices. We hear the resident of Canudos talk of their plans to defend themselves, to waylay supplies on their way to the republic soldiers, the co-operation of all and the love and respect they exhibited to one another. We hear from the soldiers about the humiliation of losing so many, the mutilations performed on the soldiers and the despair in the souls of the soldiers.

This was an enormous undertaking and the writer to his credit wrote an epic masterpiece that left me in awe and wanting to find out more from this period of Brazil’s history. This is not a book for everyone, many will give up within the first 100 pages, but if you stay with it you’ll be rewarded richly. I highly recommend.
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Apr 30, 2008 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another tale of mayhem, history and the macabre from Vargas Llosa. Whereas Death in the Andes was compared to a Diane Arbus styled portrait the visual artists this book evokes is Heiryonmous Bosch or Breughal. A medieval meets the wild west landscape(turn of the century Brazil) of prophets, bandits, water witches, droughts, a storytelling dwarf, flagellants, miracle healers, madmen, plagues, vultures, rats, a revolutionary phrenologist, pariah dogs, Barons whose time has past, circus freaks, a u...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Marco Tamborrino rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Perché chiamarlo capolavoro è, dopotutto, un insulto bello e buono.

Non so, mi ritrovo qui con questo mattone in mano e continuo a pensarci, ho ancora tutto l'animo scosso e non posso fare a meno di essere, con la mente, a Canudos. Ci sono stato per un mese, con qualche interruzione e qualche giorno in cui volevo starci di meno, ma ci sono stato. E questo alla fine è quello che conta. Anche io ero là. Devo ancora decidere se con tutti o solo con alcuni, devo ancora decidere cosa mi ha lasciato di...more Perché chiamarlo capolavoro è, dopotutto, un insulto bello e buono.

Non so, mi ritrovo qui con questo mattone in mano e continuo a pensarci, ho ancora tutto l'animo scosso e non posso fare a meno di essere, con la mente, a Canudos. Ci sono stato per un mese, con qualche interruzione e qualche giorno in cui volevo starci di meno, ma ci sono stato. E questo alla fine è quello che conta. Anche io ero là. Devo ancora decidere se con tutti o solo con alcuni, devo ancora decidere cosa mi ha lasciato di vero questo libro. Perché qualcosa lascia, è inevitabile. Che sia in negativo o in positivo, ti segna, ti traccia dentro una linea, una ferita, e non ne esci più. Sto scrivendo questa recensione ascoltando "you're so far around the bend" dei The National, una canzone legata a un film che mi ha devastato, proprio come questo libro. Di quel film mi basta riguardare il trailer per piangere. Ogni volta mi dico che non piangerò, ma non è vero, ci casco sempre. Ho pianto durante la lettura di questo libro? No, non ho pianto, ma mi ha fatto qualcos'altro, che forse non si può manifestare con le lacrime. Credo semplicemente che alcune ferite diventino insanabili, e più passa del tempo, più ci facciamo l'abitudine, diventano parte di noi, le sentiamo parlare.
Forse è il caso che smetta di discorrere delle mie turbe psichiche e mi impegni a scrivere due righe su questo libro. All'inizio pensavo di riportarvi dei passi, ma poi, sfogliandolo, mi sono accorto che ne ho sottolineati a decine, e non saprei quale prendere. Anche perché riguardano personaggi molto diversi tra loro. Alcuni hanno ricevuto più sottolineature, altri meno. Ma non importa. Niente importa dopo la lettura di questo libro. Niente.

Finché Luana non ci ha detto che avrebbe fatto un club su questo libro, io di Canudos non sapevo nemmeno l'esistenza. Non ne sapevo la storia. Ora mi chiedo come abbia fatto ad andare a scuola a studiare storia senza infuriarmi perché Canudos non è nei libri, non è a fianco degli altri importanti eventi storici di fine '800. Anche il Vietnam spesso viene dimenticato. Le guerre più stupide scompaiono sempre per magia dai libri di storia. Guai farci sapere perché sono scoppiate. Diventerebbe chiaro immediatamente che l'essere umano non è dotato di intelletto, di ragione. Solo l'irrazionalità ha portato alla nascita e alla scomparsa di Canudos, nient'altro. Irrazionalità da parte di tutti. Irrazionalità delle idee. In principio pensavo fosse una lotta di idee, invece è solo la morte degli ideali. Se guardiamo indietro, le persone si sono ammazzate tra di loro o in nome di Dio o in nome degli ideali. Eppure continuamo a dire, ancora oggi, che sono tra le cose più importanti della vita. Non impariamo mai. Mai. E questo libro è qui che urla, urla e urla che siamo degli ignoranti. Tutti.
Ora la canzone è cambiata: sto ascoltando "Run", degli Snow Patrol. Altra canzone legata a quel film. E ora è legata anche a questo libro.

Mi sembra davvero che trovare le parole per parlare di questo libro - e continuerò a chiamarlo libro non perché il titolo è assai lungo, ma perché di nominarlo, adesso, non me la sento ancora - sia un'impresa titanica, impossibile. Come era un'impresa difendere una sola città dall'intero esercito del Brasile. È stata forse colpa dei soldati, allora? No, non credo. Non è stata colpa di nessuno ma allo stesso tempo è stata colpa di tutti. Inizio a chiedermi se i caratteri disponibili basteranno per dire tutto quello che devo dire. Il libro parla già di per sé, ma tutti sentiamo il bisogno di comunicare una ferita agli altri. Ed è quello che sto facendo io. Perdonatemi.

Si potrebbe vedere la storia di quest'opera come una lotta tra uomini di idee diverse. Eppure mi sto sforzando di capire, e mi sembra che la verità sia lontanissima, irraggiungibile. Da una parte provavo pena e tenerezza per il Consigliere e i suoi seguaci, da un'altra parte li odiavo. In fin dei conti è stato tutto un malinteso, un errore, un comprendere nel modo sbagliato un messaggio positivo. Se la Repubblica rappresentava per il Brasile un passo avanti verso l'uguaglianza, il progresso, cosa se non un malinteso avrebbe potuto scatenare l'ira di migliaia di analfabeti che si gettano a combattere insultando la Repubblica e chiamandola "L'Anticristo?". Cosa se non quella superiorità tipica dei fanatici religiosi li avrebbe spinti a sentirsi gli unici vicini a Dio in tutto il mondo, ormai occupato dal Demonio? Ma non è questo il punto. Il punto è che sbagliavano tutti. Sbagliavano i monarchici, i giacobini, i fanatici religiosi. E migliaia di persone sono morte per questi fraintendimenti di ideali. Dio non è la strada per la fratellanza, avrei voluto urlare loro. Uccidere chi si ribella a un'offesa inesistente non è la via più giusta. Far comprendere, istruire, quello andava fatto. Ma, ripeto ancora una volta, è stato tutto uno grandissimo sbaglio, dall'inizio alla fine. E come dice il barone di Canabrava, è meglio dimenticare, stenderci sopra un velo, una cortina. Quando il giornalista gli risponde che avrebbe scritto un libro per rendere immortale quell'episodio tanto triste, io quasi non ero d'accordo con lui. Perché l'unica cosa certa che Canudos avesse fatto, era stata di sconvolgere la vita a tantissime persone. E difficilmente l'aveva sconvolta in bene.

Alla fine ci ritroviamo in mano un amalgama di elementi che cozzano tra di loro, si scontrano e non si uniscono. Abbiamo di fronte un personaggio buono e dolce come il Leone di Natuba e dall'altra parte il serio e glaciale colonnello Moreira César che in fondo in fondo - ma neanche tanto in fondo - è tanto buono quanto il Beatino, e lo dimostra con un episodio significativo, quando fa il saluto riservato ai superiori a tre abitanti di un paesino abbandonato, tre persone poverissime e ridotte in stracci, di cui lui si prende cura. E lo fa perché ama la gente del Brasile. Tuttavia rimane un idealista. Crede così fermamente nelle sue idee che è sordo persino alla verità. Ma non solo lui, tutti si comportano così. E lo fanno incosapevolmente, come guidati da un destino inesorabile e contorto, malvagio e depravato. Un destino che sembra ammiccare eloquente alle vite di tutti questi persoanggi, intrecciate indissolubilmente, ognuna un piccolo universo che a guardarci dentro vengono i brividi. Io avrei paura di scrivere un capitolo di un libro di storia su Canudos. Perché è un episodio così sciagurato e triste, triste e ancora triste, che insegnarlo, raccontarlo, non gli può rendere giustizia. Va capito, riletto. Non si può prendere Canudos per una guerra, una carneficina, un massacro. Canudos è un insieme di vite spezzate tragicamente. Non c'è stata gloria in quella guerra, solo un retrogusto amaro che ti paralizza il pensiero tanto quanto il corpo.

E io sono ancora qui, davanti a queste righe appena scritte, che mi chiedo: cosa ho imparato, io, da Canudos? Cosa possiamo imparare, noi tutti, da Canudos?(less)

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Aug 18, 2012 Asma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spanish-americas, 52-2012

Setting: Bahia, northeastern Brazil. Genre: historical fiction. Theme: an itinerant Bahian prophet Antônio Conseilhero attracts a growing following, settling and expanding the hardly known Canudos. His followers are redeemed satanic bandits and backlands people, who form a popular, cooperative, conservative, religious commune to resurrect a once child-king Sebastian, to have good lives, and to oppose new government intrusions. The Brazilian government elections is creating a political mess. The...more

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Mar 18, 2008 Capitu rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: my friend Bob

Shelves: historical, latin-american, 2008

This is the first book by Mario Vargas Llosa that I read, and I am ashamed that I never attempted to read any of his books before. Of course, as a Brazilian, I may be biased about this book, but I felt totally mesmerized by it. It is an epic telling the story of a peasant revolt on the backlands of Brazil on the late 1900’s. But, against the historical background of factual military maneuvers, political machinations and religious fundamentalism, the characters – both fictional and historical - a...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Paul Gleason rated it 4 of 5 stars

Vargas Llosa's The War at the End of the World reminds me of the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in its majestic beauty, depth, solemnity, and sense of imposing doom. It's a relentless book - one that's meant to be savored and learned from.

Vargas Llosa's inspiration was the Brazilian government's military campaign to obliterate Canudos, a modern-day utopia. The text is really about the conflict between secularism and religion that developed in Brazil in the nineteenth century. Th...more Vargas Llosa's The War at the End of the World reminds me of the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in its majestic beauty, depth, solemnity, and sense of imposing doom. It's a relentless book - one that's meant to be savored and learned from.

Vargas Llosa's inspiration was the Brazilian government's military campaign to obliterate Canudos, a modern-day utopia. The text is really about the conflict between secularism and religion that developed in Brazil in the nineteenth century. This struggle also has political overtones: the founders of the village at Canudos have nothing, while the military and pro-military folk have everything, including most of the country's land. At first, the military thinks that the village is harmless, but then its leaders reach the slow realization that something of a revolution is at foot - and the revolution must be stopped.

I'm not going to spoil what happens in the book, but you've probably already guessed which side wins.

Most critics argue - and I agree - that Vargas Llosa's true triumph in the book is his postmodern employment of disparate literary styles to create his characters and their inner lives. These styles include the eighteenth-century picaresque to describe the "rational" inner life of a particular character, as well as modernist interior monologue - or whatever it is that Faulkner is really up to.

Side note: It's totally amazing to me still that Faulkner has such a pervasive influence on the Latin American novel and García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, and Bolano, the three greatest LA novelists.

The book also owes a lot to the Greeks. A myopic journalist who loses his glasses becomes a Tiresias of sorts. He's not a prophet, but a gatherer of information - the only character in the novel who has a shot of making sense of the economic, class, religious, and violent events that populate Vargas Llosa's text. Through him we have a fleeting glimpse of what actually happens - or will happen - at the war at the end of the world.

Vargas Llosa, in conclusion, is himself a prophet. The journalist could be a stand-in for him. Both the novelist's and character's conclusions seem only too appropriate for our time.(less)

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Sep 24, 2011 [P] rated it 4 of 5 stars

Epic in scope, horrific in content. Like a Latin American War & Peace as imagined by Bosch or Goya. With extra freaks. I would have rated this five stars had it not been for a scene towards the end when one of the characters blesses himself with the prophet's watery waste. There is no place for that kind of thing in literature, Mario. Shame on you.

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May 17, 2012 Mosca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Mosca by: I stole this book from JSou

Shelves: favorites

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This book is not for everyone. If you are easily offended, or your stomach is weak; you will not like this book.

But, having said that, I can only describe this book as a masterpiece--that is not easily described.

The War of the End of the World is a work of historical fiction, set among particular events that occurred in the very late nineteenth century in northeastern Brazil. Wikipedia provides a simplified background Here. This background is sketchy. But I have fou...more -----------------------------

This book is not for everyone. If you are easily offended, or your stomach is weak; you will not like this book.

But, having said that, I can only describe this book as a masterpiece--that is not easily described.

The War of the End of the World is a work of historical fiction, set among particular events that occurred in the very late nineteenth century in northeastern Brazil. Wikipedia provides a simplified background Here. This background is sketchy. But I have found it very, very difficult to get related and historically-informative background in English. (This is a result of a cultural, self-inflicted, arrogant disability infecting us gringos, IMHO.) This information fog has made it difficult for me to separate the actual historical events from those fictionalized by the author. So I am assuming that the larger-scale contextual events are actual; while many of the more immediate characters and character traits are fictionalized.

The War of the End of the World is an unflinching and very painful retelling of an immense historical tragedy. The fictionalized and historical experiences of the important historical characters, and the fictional characters, are very immediate--and frequently amoral. But these characterizations are so well conceived and described that I, at least, found myself sympathizing with many people whose actions I would later find appalling.

These characters are numerous, frequently grotesque, sometimes despicable, sometimes tragic, sometimes heroic, and always flesh-and-blood human. The reader finds these characters within a sprawling narrative that transports us across the landscapes and cityscapes of nineteenth century Bahia, Brazil. The historical context that they all share irreversibly drives them, and the reader, towards the inevitable cataclysm.

For me, the importance of the actual historical story, the tenaciously powerful narrative style, and the countless tragically-flawed characters are what makes this experience in re-created history so emotionally moving and so devastating.

Mario Vargas Llosa does not flinch once describing both with loving intimacy or in blunt horror all of the necessary elements of this unforgettable story. This is the first book of his that I have read. It will not be the last.(less)

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Oct 19, 2011 David Grimaud rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow! This book is on the order of a Rushdie novel: a complex story about a burgeoning nation, well developed characters, a long read, but leaves you with a feeling that you were part of the country's history.

The War of the End of the World is a ficition about two factions struggling for control of the country in its early history: the Republicans vs. the Monarchists. As the struggle looms, the Counselor, a saviour in the guise of rogue Catholic priest emerges to win over the peasant population,...more

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Sep 21, 2008 Tattered Cover Book Store added it · review of another edition

Shelves: chris-c-recommends, staff-recommends

Just reissued in a striking new (and slightly cheaper!) paperback edition, this novel took me utterly by surprise. It grabbed me and pushed me down and walked all over me. It gave me a deeper appreciation of what a truly great novelist really is, what he or she can do with any subject or theme he or she happens to choose to write about. It may be the first book about which I thought, with real clarity and certainty, "That was perfect."

As for the plot: an increasingly large group of religious fan...more

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Sep 16, 2008 Xio rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished

This is a book I ought to have picked up way back when I was a teen-ager and could stomach these excessively long-winded South American novels. Don't get me wrong...I found the book sort of fascinating until about the last 150 pages. And then I realized it was just going to go on in the same circles until it ran out of steam. And then, folks, I skipped to the final five pages and read those. The last paragraph is worth it. Those 145 pages I skipped, I find it difficult to believe I've missed any...more

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Feb 07, 2007 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of cormac mccarthy and magical realism; anyone interested in latin american history

this book was a total surprise; i picked it up on the street and was blown away. it is a fictionalized narrative of a war that occurred in southern brazil in the late 19th century. an itinerant preacher espousing his own brand of christian faith wanders southern brazil, eventually gathering thousands of followers from the poorest ranks of brazilian society. they settle in a town called canudos, and are branded traitors by a government in conflict looking for scapegoats. this band of starving fan...more

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May 07, 2012 Abdullah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

ملحمة يوسا التي لا أدري لماذا تأخرت ترجمتها العربية حتى هذا العام!
إذا كانت " مئة عام من العزلة " هي مفخرة ماركيز فلا بد أن تكون هذه الرواية هي ما يتباهى بها يوسا. الرواية على مستوى سردي عظيم و محترف لأبعد درجةو ذلك لأن ال 700 صفحة مليئة بالأحداث التي لم تختل في أي فصل و من غير ملل و تمضي الرواية من فم إلى آخر في تقاطع هندسي فظيع. الرواية وضع فيها يوسا كل مخاوفه و فلسفته و خبراته فالرواية بشكل عام تتحدث عن كاهن خارج على الكنيسة يحظى بكثير من الأتباع من كل الفئات الاجتماعية و بما أن الملكية قد غا...more

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Apr 04, 2008 Ferris rated it 5 of 5 stars

What an epic piece of literature! I enjoy a tough read and this was one in the sense of density of language. At times it moved slowly, yet overall it reminded me of the experince of reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I felt it was an accomplishment when I finished.

I learned about a small piece of Brazilian history via a well-told story with memorable characters. The primary themes included: good v. evil, monarchy v. a republic, God v. Satan, violence in humanity...more

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Mar 28, 2009 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

a well-managed war epic. it has problems (the most interesting character dies halfway through, and other structural issues forced on it by its historical accuracy) but it's a lot of fun to read and will last you until approximately the end of time. v-l kept me in it with his intellectual engagement with the question of why poor people would rise up to defend a conservative set of institutions (the monarchy and the catholic church) that had oppressed and in some cases enslaved them. this question...more

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Jan 05, 2009 Stop added it

Shelves: reviewed

Read the STOP SMILING review of The War of the End of the World:

The Counselor, a deathly thin saint-in-the-making, shuffles through the drought-wrought backlands of northern Brazil in the twilight of the 19th century. He accumulates a following of the wretched, the morally despicable, and the blindly pious. The size of his troupe swells to his magnetic aura, and he decides to settle them at an abandoned ranch on the property of a monarchist baron. God’s laws govern the settlement, called Canudos...more

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Dec 28, 2012 muhammad lafi rated it 3 of 5 stars

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استفزني عنوان كتابه الأخير، أقر أني من المعجبين بكتابات "ماريو بوسا فرغاس" التي قرأتها حتى هذا الكتاب، أعترف ان أحكامي عليه مسبقة وأني إلى حد بعيد كنت غير معني في تقديم قراءات لكتبه لاعتقادي بأن ذلك سيكون اسهاما –مهما بدا صغيرا- للترويج لنظرياته السياسية والثقافية المخبوءة بين دفات نصوصه، لكن "حرب نهاية العالم" التي كانت من مشاهير الكاتب المشجعة على منحه حائزة نوبل -الموجهة، جاءت لتفرد خيوطا قد تكون ملتبسة على كثرة ما يمكن أن تواجهه من آراء، فهل هي محض نص روائي مبني على الخطوط المتوازية الت...more
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استفزني عنوان كتابه الأخير، أقر أني من المعجبين بكتابات "ماريو بوسا فرغاس" التي قرأتها حتى هذا الكتاب، أعترف ان أحكامي عليه مسبقة وأني إلى حد بعيد كنت غير معني في تقديم قراءات لكتبه لاعتقادي بأن ذلك سيكون اسهاما –مهما بدا صغيرا- للترويج لنظرياته السياسية والثقافية المخبوءة بين دفات نصوصه، لكن "حرب نهاية العالم" التي كانت من مشاهير الكاتب المشجعة على منحه حائزة نوبل -الموجهة، جاءت لتفرد خيوطا قد تكون ملتبسة على كثرة ما يمكن أن تواجهه من آراء، فهل هي محض نص روائي مبني على الخطوط المتوازية التي تتلاقى قبيل النهاية؛ تاركة للقارئ خياره في تحديد الفضائل والشرور في أي منها؟ أم هي طريقة لتحطيم طرف على حساب آخر معنويا؟ أم تراها تبشير سوداوي بانتصار غير مرغوب؟ أم هل هي شيء آخر! ترويج لطرف لم يتواجد جسديا في النصوص لكنه كان الحاضر الدائم في ذهنية السواد الأعظم من مواطني الدول حول العالم!!

كيف ينظر روائي مسيس إلى نهاية العالم، ليس هو السؤال. لنتخيل سؤالا أقل إثارة ومجازا وأشد واقعية وإيعازا، من مبدع بيروفي كان يساريا راديكاليا، يؤمن بوحدة وحرية واشتراكية أمريكا اللاتينية، تمكن بطريقة ما –لن نجزم بأنها تعبير عن شخصية انتهازية موهوبة- من عقد أواصر الصداقة مع النخب المناضلة في قارته، قبل أن يمسي في تحول "قيامي" مثالا يمينيا مطورا للنظريات، فألقى بكل بساطة ببديهيات التنافر بين الليبرالية والمحافظة، عاقدا قرانا أكثر منه حلف بين تيارين غرائبيين في طروحاتهما وحلولهما، متوحدين في لا أخلاقيتهما، و"بوسا" هذا غدا متدينا نجيبا في هذا الزواج التطبيعي، القادر على استيعاب أي من الخلايا التدميرية بصيغ التحالف أو الابتلاع، فأعلن بدياثة لا يتقنها إلا من هو مثل الدون ريغوبيرتو - يشاهد زوجته تحتك بقضبان الرجال منشغلا في براعة محاكاتها للوحات تشيلي أو أوسكار بيريرا أو فرناندو بيتيرو- أنه يؤيد ما يسمى "السوق الحرة" في أمريكا اللاتينية وهي السوق التي كلفت أمريكا اللاتينية منذ البدء من الضحايا المباشرين "في القمع السياسي للمحتجين وغير المباشرين "ضحايا الإفلاس والجوع ورفع مسؤولية الدولة الصحية والتعليمية والاجتماعية" ملايين تعجز الاحصاءات الدقيقة عن حصرها، ثم أيد بإسراف في الولاء لا يمكنك ان تفرقه عن عماء ماريا حاملة الصليب -الذي اغتصبت تحته أربع مرات في سبيل المرشد للخلاص- غزو العراق متناغما بين أبويه في التبني- الوعد الإلهي في الحرب الصليبية الجديدة وبين نشر قيم الديمقراطية المدنية، او ما علينا لو سميناه الثيوقراطية الاستعمارية الحديثة!

تلك ربما تكون حرب نهاية العالم التي قصدها السيد بوسا في روايته! هل يحاول أن يسخر من روايته السابقة "قصة مايتا"؟ هل كان يتخيل هنا وهناك مواقفه؟ أليس لنا الحق بالعودة إلى أول فقرات المقالة بأن الكاتب يكتب نفسه بطريقة أو بأخرى!

لقد أرادها "بوسا" حربا، أو لنقل أنه يراها حربا بين التطرف الديني العمائي وبين الراديكالية اليسارية الثورية، انهما لن يجدا بدا من التزاوج لتدمير هذا العالم الذي نعرفه- هل كان بوسا يحس بنفسه بطريقة معكوسة يليقي بالإثم فيها عن كاهله على الآخرين؟ أم هل يريد لنا أن نرى –من حيث لا يدري- أمثلته تتكرر باطراد عجيب في تحالف اليسار والتدين في توائم شيوعية ورجعية ولنطلق عليها أسماء عربية كأمثلة تشبه ما يمكن ان تجده في كتب المناهج الدراسية في الحساب والعربي "برهان وعدنان"، "جورج ومعاذ"، "محمود وخالد" !
لن ينجح في ذلك اذا امتلكنا الحساسية النقدية في قراءة رواية جميلة مثل "حرب نهاية العالم" وحينها لن نضطر للاسهاب والتفصيل كثيرا، لأننا سنجد أن الاسكتلندي الثوري الذي يجوب العالم بحثا عن ثورة لم يمثل هزيمة للفكرة الثورية الانسانية بتحرير العبد وتحطيم أغلال الرأسمال والدوس على يرقانات الفردية والذاتي لأنه انهزم أخيرا أمام امرأة

لا بد أن "بوسا" أراد ان يكون مشهد الاغتصاب دراما تحويلية حاسمة في مصير بطله "غاليليو غال" – ولعل في اختياره للاسم دلالة عن علاقة براغماتية بين القناعة والقدرة على تبرير خياناتها باسقاطها على غاليليو الذي لم يجد ضيرا من التخلي عن اعتقاد ثوري في زمانه مقابل المحافظة على حظوته الكنسية! فكان أن اشبعنا بالغرور في نكران الذات، وفراسة في سبر أغوار البشر، وعنادا في نضال لا تكسره الهزائم الكبرى، وتبتلا شبه مسيحي في رفض ملذات الدنيا في سبيل الفكرة الثورية حتى على الأفكار الثورية ذاتها، إلى حد أن بت اعتقد أنه إنما يقدم أنموذجا تروتوسكيا عبر عنه بإيمانه في إمكانية عقد زواج ثوري وعلى الأقل تحالفا بين الإلحاد اليساري والتدين شديد التطرف، لمصلحة هدم أركان الدولة الحديثة التي قدمت –برأيه- نموذجا مشوها عن الجمهورية، الأمر الذي كان بديهيا أن يدخله في غمار مغامرة انتحارية لتزويد حصن الطائفة الدينية المتحصنة في "كانودوس" بالسلاح للدفاع في وجه الجمهورية "الكافرة" عن نظرية مرشدها الأعلى، الغريب ذي الأسمال الأرجوانية والعينين الناريتين، واللسان المتكلم الرهيب الذي لم يقوى على الصمود تحت ضرباته الوعظية حتى قاطع الطريق "جواو الشيطان" الذي أباد قرية انتقاما لأذن عاهرة كان يعتقد انها خليلته، و"أنتونيو" التاجر العصامي القادر على أن يحيل المصائب إلى مكاسب. لكن غاليليو وفي لحظة فشل أمام "صدف القدر" أو "خطط البشر" تنكفئ كل شعارته كرماد مسحوق في ريح رغبة عارمة، يفشل "الواحد للكل" كشعار للفرسان أمام حاجة الواحد البدائية، لا يستطيع مقاومة لحظات ضعف امرأة مرتعدة تبكي بين يديه، فتنتصب فحولته وتمزق عنها "طهارتها"..

"جوريما" المتدينة، كأي زوجة بدأت تقدم الهبات للصليب وتمثال العذراء أملا معلنا في النجاة من النار وخفيا لتسيير أمور حياتها اليومية، لا يمكن أن تؤمن بالجنون الذي في "كانودوس" لكنها ستحقد على كل من يرفض قصص معجزات القديسين أو يسخر من كراماتهم بمن فيهم زوجها وصديقه الجديد الاسكتلندي. أي مثال قدمته جوريما؟ ليس من الحكمة المبالغة في تأويل كل سطر، فليس هناك كمال في أي جريمة أو مؤامرة مهما بدت فذة، لذلك فإن أبسط شيء هو أن دورها القصير الذي جاء في عجالة من الرواية كان حاجة ملحة للكاتب ليقدم وليمة تستحق التحول. لن نسميها الخيانة بل التحول، فهل نحكم بإطلاق هذا الوصف كون "غال" خائنا للرجل الذي استضافه في بيته اذا اغتصب زوجته، ام أنه ثأر عن غير عمد من الرجل الذي خانه بمحاولة قتله وسرقته! وهل يمكن الانتقام من أنسان باغتصاب انسان آخر؟ إن "ماريو بوسا" يقول لنا ببساطة أن هذه المرأة- المرأة المجردة- هي من انتصرت على الجميع، على ثورة "غال" وعلى رغبة زوجها في التمادي في خيانته وعلى تطهرها الديني وعلى "كانودوس" البعيدة، فهي لم تنقذ "غال" من رصاصات زوجها، ولم تنقذ زوجها من قبضتي "غال"، ولم تهتم بإنقاذ الجمهورية من أسلحة الحصن الجنوني، لقد أنقذت شكل ورتابة حياتها الكلاسيكية وحسب

إذن! ها أنتم تتوقعون تقديم مشرحة أخرى تتحدث عن باقي الشخصيات الجدلية في الرواية.. الجريدة الجمهورية، اليوق الإعلامي، مسير حيوات التجار ومسهل أعمال السياسيين من كل طرف، المتقاطعة مصالحها بين المتنافسين الجمهوريين أنفسهم وبين الملكية المنهارة وبين "غال" و"كاندوس" بانتهازية ليست بغريبة عن أمثلتنا المعاصرة، أو شخصيات البلوريتاريا الرثة كما أسماها ماركس، كيف أصبحت عناصر مؤثرة في مجتمعها باتقانها الفظ للهدم، وربما تتوقعون اختصارا يقدم لكم شكل النهاية في "حرب نهاية العالم"، وهذا أمر أعتقد أنه سيجيبكم عليه الأباتي "دوم يواكيم" في بلدة "كومبي"، فأنا أجزم أن الكاتب نجح في تقديم شخصية نموذجية دون ان تكون مثالية في نهاية الحرب الروائية في شخص هذا الراعي. وأساسا لعلكم تتساءلون أكثر عن إمارة "كاندووس" ومرشدها الأعلى الذي اصطنع عبر ثلة من شذاذ الأفاق والمهمشين مملكة فاضلة خاضت حروبها بالمدي والقضبان ضد البنادق والرشاشات والمدافع وحققت انتصارات "إعجازية" "بطريقة ما"، وفي أمرها لا أظن أنكم ستجدون جديدا يضاف عن امثلة كثيرة، ستجدونها أكثر براعة وأكثر دخولا في تفاصيل الابداع والفخامة وأقرب من نواة المشكلة فيما نعاصره جميعا الآن من احداث تمتد على ثرى العرب، أو أني شخصيا لا أتمالك اغفال نص روائي آخر يشهد له في حبك مشهدية حروب نهايات العوالم مثلما فعل في "إسم الوردة" لأمبرتو إيكو الذي يقدم لنا صراعا آخرويا لم ينتهي وإن تجدد بنفس الحماقات التعصبية، وعلى خطاه كانت ألموت لفلاديمير بارتول ساردا لنا أطوار نمو الابتسامة على شفاه الانتحاريين وكيف يمكن للكرامة أن تبدو من جثثهم المفعمة بانتصابات خلدتها كآثار على الجسد خيالات ما قبل الموت، ولن انتهي من قائمة قد تطول دون أن انصحكم بالولوج في الكتاب البحثي "الهوس القيامي" الذي ترجمه وقدم له –يا للصدفة- "الشيوعي" ميشيل كيلو

الترجمة
نهاية القول لا خلاصته. مرة أخرى نكتشف كم أن الترجمة عمل مؤذ، اذ يتوجب عليها أن تكون عملية نحت دقيقة لآلاف الكلمات على صخرة لغة أخرى، تتوجب أن تمتلك الدقة والحيطة والمسؤولية تجاه ما تقوم به، فما كان بينا يدينا "حرب نهاية العالم" كان بمثابة غصة لا تحتاج لمتكلم باللغتين ليشعر بها، وان كنت لا أجرؤ على اطلاق النعوت السيئة تجاه الترجمة فإني أقول بكل ضمير مرتاح أنها لا يمكن أن توصف بالجيدة، ودعنا نتجاوز بعض الجمل التي تعسر الفهم على القارئ بأخطاء واضحة، لنجد أن الاستهتار وصل بالناشرين إلى حد تجاوز الأخطاء الإملائية والنحوية وربما إسقاط كلمات من النصوص بأعداد قادرة على إزعاج أي صبور، ليضيف إليها المترجم إبداعه بمقدمة لا نظن أنها تقدم تعريفا يليق بأكثر من مسلسل مكسيكي على نشرة دعائية لمطعم بيتزا!(less)

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Jan 25, 2012 Jan-Maat added it

Shelves: 20th-century, fiction, historical-fiction, latin-america, read-in-translation

At the end of the nineteenth century a rebellion broke out in the backlands of Bahia.

The rebels, poor people, alienated from the new Republic, inspired by the hope that Dom Sebastian the portuguese King who had died in Morocco in the sixteenth century would like a King Arthur return to rule over them, were eventually utterly crushed after years of resistance.

The novel tracks the rebellion from its inception to its aftermath through a variety of point of view characters. One is a revolutionary an...more

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May 17, 2011 Cary Barney rated it 4 of 5 stars

Just finished reading this in Spanish, which took me months -- Vargas Llosa's vocabulary sent me to the dictionary several times per page. I'd never have made it if the novel weren't so fascinating, completely absorbing. It does what the best historical fiction should do: take on complex events from as many perspectives as possible, taking no sides, sparing no detail.

The War of Canudos took place 115 years ago and I'd never heard of it until I read this novel. The book puts you there, in the mid...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly rated it 5 of 5 stars

The two most prolific killers the world has ever known. No, not Hitler and Stalin. I refer to the twin scourge of mankind: RELIGION and POLITICS.

The RELIGION: a very charismatic, itinerant preacher named the Counselor managed to establish a large following among the poor, the unfortunate, the abnormal and the rejects of society in the 19th century Mexico. He mouths the name of Jesus Christ and preaches the message of hope, forgiveness and salvation for those who believe. They look at the governm...more The two most prolific killers the world has ever known. No, not Hitler and Stalin. I refer to the twin scourge of mankind: RELIGION and POLITICS.

The RELIGION: a very charismatic, itinerant preacher named the Counselor managed to establish a large following among the poor, the unfortunate, the abnormal and the rejects of society in the 19th century Mexico. He mouths the name of Jesus Christ and preaches the message of hope, forgiveness and salvation for those who believe. They look at the government (the Republic) as the Anti-Christ because it has laws which they find contrary to their beliefs (among which laws, the legalization of civil weddings and taxation). He and his followers put up a "city" (more like a commune) in a jungle but which land is owned by a rich landlord. There they live in peace but without recognizing the national government and ignoring its laws. To his followers, the Counselor is someone sent by God ("Blessed be Jesus the Counselor!") as he performs miraculous conversions of men: the most hardened criminals repent of their ways, the downtrodden get comfort, hope is received by those who knew nothing but scorn, fear, hatred, hunger and crimes all their lives.

The POLITICS: apparently, the Mexican Republic was still new then. Before, the system of government was monarchial. The Republicans still eye the Monarchists with suspicion. Indeed, as in all groups ousted from power, there was reason to believe that the latter may be planning a comeback.

Initially I thought that this was pure fiction (although I was already wondering, at the outset, why Mario Vargas Llosa--a Peruvian--would place the setting of his work not in Peru but in Mexico). Llosa, however, won the most recent Nobel prize for literature (long overdue, many say, except that Llosa--who once ran and lost the Peruvian presidential race--has had bad politics) and midway through this book I read in a newspaper article about him that this novel was based on a true historical event. There was really that place called Canudos where the Counselor and his followers established their own city.

The men of the Republic looked at Canudos and the Counselor with alarm. They suspected that they are being supported, secretly, by the Monarchists--the enemies of the Republic out to restore the Empire.

Inside this explosive brew of religion and politics Llosa weaves his stories, going from one character to another, not only within Canudos, but within the quarters of the Monarchists and Republicans as well. He TAKES you inside the pages of the book, clamps the book down, and prevents your escape from his merciless story-telling.

This morning, I was driving at around 7:00 a.m. and was blinded by the rising sun. I squinted at that orange orb rising from the horizon and I thought: this was the same hot sun which gave the Counselor's fighters--armed only with arrows, machetes, knives and a few guns stolen from the Republic's army--difficulties during the fourth and final assault of Canudos which finally brought them down. Estimated casualties: between 25,000 to 30,000 men, women and children dead. Only 7 from Canudos were captured alive. The Republic's army lost 823 men.

Has this been made into a movie?(less)

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Sep 29, 2012 Mashael Alamri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, latin-literature, translated

تتحدث الرواية عن ثورة الطبقات الدنيا من المجتمع البرازيلي على الجمهورية الحديثة التي قامت بعد انتهاء الملكيّة.
قديس ثائر على ما تقره الجمهورية الحديثة ويطلق عليها لقب "المسيح الدجال", يسافر ليصلي في الكنائس المتفرقة في البرازيل يتبعه في سفر و ترحال طويل أتباع من المنبوذين والمجرمين التائبين الذين يهيمون خلفه بعد سماع حديثه ومواعظه.
شيء ما في الرواية شدني في البداية أحسست بالملل بشكل كبير لكن بما اسم "ماريو بارغاس" على غلافها كان لابد من المواصلة حتى اندمجت مع أحداثها بشكل أستغربه حتى الآن.
لن أستط...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Mohbobeh Mousavi rated it 3 of 5 stars

کتاب تقدیم شده به
ائوکلیدس داکونیا
در آن دنیا
و در این دنیا
برای نلیدا پینیون

بر خلاف دیگر کارهای یوسا ،شروع کندی داردو با حوصله به معرفی شخصیت ها می پردازد. هنوز زیاد پیش نرفته ام اما لذت مطالعه ی این کار یوسا را از دست نخواهم داد. حالا بيشتر از يكسال ميشود كه كتاب را تمام كرده‌ام. و با اينكه داستان عميقي بود و پر از شخصيت، همچنان معتقدم كاتدرال، بهترين كار يوساست. كارهاي كم حجم ترش هم در ذهن ماندني‌اند. مثل چه كسي پالومينو مولرو را به قتل رساند يا ماجراي آلخاندرو مايتا.

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May 14, 2011 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

The most haunting yet often perfectly mundane high realism, the most accurate yet fictional portrait historical, the most perfect novel to sum up the Latin American hispanic colonial experience—only wait, it takes place in Brazil?! Mario Vargas Llosa is without a doubt one of the greatest writers of the late modern period. That he is Latino all the better, but even when he writes 100% a historical novel set in colonial Latin America, he's still going far and beyond regionalism and historicalism....more

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May 03, 2013 Gauss74 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: einaudi-scrittori

Alla fine dell'ottocento il Brasile che è appena diventato una repubblica lotta tra drammatiche trasformazioni per liberarsi dal feudalesimo e diventare una nazione moderna, in grado di affrontare i suoi problemi grandi come il suo sconfinato territorio.

Purtroppo e come sempre le grandi speranze della rivoluzione politica ed industriale non sono per la povera gente, il cui destino è la miseria comunque: sempre vivere da oggetti, servi della gleba o proletari che sia. Ma a Canudos, piccola fazen...more Alla fine dell'ottocento il Brasile che è appena diventato una repubblica lotta tra drammatiche trasformazioni per liberarsi dal feudalesimo e diventare una nazione moderna, in grado di affrontare i suoi problemi grandi come il suo sconfinato territorio.

Purtroppo e come sempre le grandi speranze della rivoluzione politica ed industriale non sono per la povera gente, il cui destino è la miseria comunque: sempre vivere da oggetti, servi della gleba o proletari che sia. Ma a Canudos, piccola fazenda del Sertao bahiano, in quella landa desolata e maligna, nasce una speranza: fatta del rifiuto di quella logica di possesso a tutti costi che li renderebbe comunque degli sconfitti, importata da ideologie che non capiscono.

Questo libro è la storia della nascita e della distruzione di quella speranza. Lo stato della Bahia è percorso in quegli anni da una figura di immenso carisma spirituale: Antonio il Consigliere. Egli vaga di villaggio in villaggio criticando aspramente i vizi della nuova epoca, i provvedimenti laici del nuovo stato repubblicano (peraltro tipici di quei tempi) e propugnando una vita misera ma semplice, una speranza che non viene dall'arricchimento ma dal fatto che nessuna miseria e nessun crimine annichilisce la dignità umana e la sua vocazione alla vita eterna. Questo cristianesimo ingenuo ma semplice e comprensibile è esattamente quello di cui quel popolo vinto da miseria, deformazione e violenza aveva bisogno: e infatti Antonio il Consigliere raccoglie in pochi anni un intero popolo di derelitti a cui decide di dare una casa nel villaggio di Canudos.

Il modo in cui con povertà ma con felicità un popolo fatto di deformi, prostitute, fenomeni da baraccone, morti di fame riesca a prosperare nel mezzo del Sertao ha del miracoloso, e nel frattempo si uniscono a questa pacifica rivoluzone che sembra essere in grado di dare una ripsosta ad ogni sofferenza anche i cangaceiros, "i più terribili barabba del Sertao", che dopo decenni di immonde scelleratezze trovano nel Consigliere qualcuno per cui battersi e morire. Le figure imponenti e drammatiche di Pajeù, Joao Grande, Joao Abade, Pedrao, Macambira (alcuni di loro realmente esistiti) fiammeggiano per tutto il romanzo con grande forza, ed il modo con cui si piegano al servizio dei deboli e degli ultimi dopo una vita di sanguinaria tirannia ha qualcosa di biblico. ("Il lupo è diventato agnello" dirà il prete che, sfidando la scomunica della chiesa, si è unito alla comunità).

Ma il tutto è destinato a finire in tragedia, perchè una simile rivoluzione non può essere accettata nè a livello politico (per la giovane repubblica il rifiuto della sua autorità da parte della provincia è una minaccia troppo grande) nè a livello economico (la rivoluzione industriale non tollera di essere frenata da idee che sono opposte alle sue e che drenano risorse preziose per la sua insaziabile fame), ed il governo invierà eserciti sempre più grandi a distruggere questo piccolo paese fino al dramma finale.

Il modo in cui i Cangaceiros respingono con armi primitive gli eserciti regolari, proteggendo a rischio della propria vita i deboli della comunità è esaltante, e mostra quanto può essere pericoloso un guerriero quando trova qualcuno per cui morire: davanti alla minaccia incombente questi opportunisti ladri di bestiame diventano belve feroci.

Allo stesso tempo non si riesce a dare agli eserciti che distruggono il sogno di questa povera gente una connotazione del tutto negativa. Il colonnello Cesar è sinceramente convinto che Canudos sia una follia che tiene la gente in miseria, il colonnello Macedo ha dato la caccia a Pajeù ed a Joao Abade per decenni considerandoli quei sanguinari assassini che in realtà davvero erano, non si può dargli torto, e questo porta ai due messaggi che questo capolavoro mi ha dato.

Il primo è che non ci può essere speranza di rivalsa per gli sconfitti dalla vita (i deboli, i deformi, ma anche i criminali inveterati) finchè quella speranza la cercano col linguaggio ed i pensieri dei vincitori. Quando si capisce questo, nessun riscatto è impossibile.

Il secondo è che la guerra nasce dalla ricerca di dominio e di privilegio, ma anche di ignoranza e di incomunicabilità. I repubblicani che lottano per il progresso del Brasile, i baroni feudali che cercano di mantenere un dominio che ha finzionato per secoli, i ribelli di Canudos che cercano una fuga da un terribile destino già segnato, sono tutti animati da intenzioni che prese di per se stesse sono nobili. Ma nessuno è disposto a prestare ascolto a vite diverse dalle proprie, ad aspirazioni diverse dalle proprie, a soluzioni diverse dalle proprie, di qui la tragedia.

Questo è sicuramente il più bel romanzo che io abbia letto negli ultimi dodici mesi.

Per il niente che vale la mia opinione, l premio Nobel di Vargas Llosa è meritato.

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Jan 15, 2011 Don rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A remarkable thought-provoking epic based on Brazil’s War of Canudos from 1893 to 1897 following the over throw of the monarchy in 1889. An itinerant preacher known as “The Counselor” and his followers founded a Catholic commune they called “Bello Monte” on a tract known as Canudos. Fears of local land owners led to a series of military attacks on the village, the first three of which the villagers defeated. The fourth expedition, however, successfully encircled the village and bombarded it rel...more A remarkable thought-provoking epic based on Brazil’s War of Canudos from 1893 to 1897 following the over throw of the monarchy in 1889. An itinerant preacher known as “The Counselor” and his followers founded a Catholic commune they called “Bello Monte” on a tract known as Canudos. Fears of local land owners led to a series of military attacks on the village, the first three of which the villagers defeated. The fourth expedition, however, successfully encircled the village and bombarded it relentlessly. Atrocities followed leaving anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 dead. The body of the Counselor, who died of sickness during the bombardment, was exhumed and his head cut off and taken away.
Despite its nearly 600 pages, the novel was a quick and compelling read. For the most part, the story is told straightforwardly with little of the jumping around of narrative voice and sequence one tends to expect in high-brow literature. The characters were all fully realized and psychologically rich. Vargas Llosa masterfully paints the full panoply of war scenes that seem to have become movie clichés in the 30 years since publication. We encounter the terror of new troops on the battlefield, the assault of the poorly armed against overwhelming force, unhinged valor, the tension of undergoing bombardment, troops finishing off their wounded officer, etc. It also had the fervid sex scenes that seem (at least in my limited experience) nearly obligatory for so many Latin American authors.
My guess is that Vargas Llosa intended this novel to be something of a Latin American Aeneid serving to link the struggles of today’s dispossessed with a heroic and tragic past. I’ve read that he wrote the novel in Portuguese, rather than his usual Spanish, to achieve more nuance. That all obviously went over the head of this low brow reader. Nevertheless, the novel was meaningful to me in three ways: (1)as a history lesson,(2)as a military campaign that can be usefully compared to others, and (3) as a moral question.
I was unaware of Canudos before reading this novel. Because of this I did a little reading up on comparable events to which I had not paid much attention. Out of the dispiritingly many such incidents, some of the ones about which I knew the least included the Cristiada in Mexico from 1926 to 1929 (90,000 dead). I’m somewhat astonished Hollywood hasn’t yet produced a picture of the 10,000 strong all-female rebel brigade formed in Zapopan. In Russia, one could make a career of studying the massacre of hundreds of thousands in the Russian Civil War alone, yet, this also gets little attention in popular culture. More recently, the village massacres in the Algerian Civil War from 1991-2002 (150-200,000 dead) did not seem to register at all while I lived through them. But the list of such incidents is very lengthy. Perhaps I am atypically ignorant, but I can’t help suspecting that awareness of massacres and genocides tends to be minimal unless they get a Hollywood movie made about them. Or,as in the case of the 2007 killings of possibly thousands of Buddhist monks,when it prompts an intense radio debate, whether its “Myanmar” or “Burma.”
On the military strategy front, I found myself wondering about the similarities and differences between Canudos and the Battle of Dien Bien Phu at which the Viet Nimh surrounded French forces at a remote location and subjected them to a months-long artillery bombardment before eventually overrunning them. I imagine the lesson to not get cut off from supply lines can’t be repeated enough. Also, never underestimate the importance of artillery. Vargas Llosa’s novel, if nothing else, would seem to offer some idea of what an ungodly nightmare the French must have endured. One also has to wonder how Vietnam and Brazil would have eventually turned out if the outcomes of either battle had gone the other way.
Resistance versus submission is a moral question going back at least as far Sophocle’s Antigone. On a weekend on which WPFW is intermittently playing Reverend King’s speeches on non-violence, it’s hard to maintain my usual skepticism about pacifism. As the massacres of Mennonites in Russia and Buddhist monks in Burma suggest, pacifism can be an invitation to tyranny. On the other hand, you have the atrocities visited upon the resisters at Canudos. As the gyre of hate in the United States ever widens (http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/10/...) the idea of withdrawing from the world and adopting a more ascetic lifestyle, ready to flee, grows increasingly attractive. So thank you Mario Vargas Llosa for the food for thought and a great book.
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Dec 02, 2010 Hamed Mohamadkhani rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

تا امروز (دهم آذر ماه 1389) دو اثر مهم يوسا را خوانده ام. گفتگو در کاتدرال و بعد از آن، جنگ آخر زمان. بايد اعترف کنم هر دو بسيار عالي بودند و دوست داشتني. در مورد گفتگو در کاتدرال که در جاي خود حرف خواهم زد، و اما پيرامون جنگ آخر زمان. در اين رمان شما در برابر سه گروه ايده آليست و متعصب قرار مي گيريد: ايده آليست هاي مذهبي (به نمايندگي مرشد)، ايده آليست هاي ايدئولوژيک (به نمايندگي گال) و ايده آليست هاي ميهني و وطن پرست (به نمايندگي سرهنگ سزار). در کنار اين ها، دن کانابراوا (به عنوان سياستمداري کا...more تا امروز (دهم آذر ماه 1389) دو اثر مهم يوسا را خوانده ام. گفتگو در کاتدرال و بعد از آن، جنگ آخر زمان. بايد اعترف کنم هر دو بسيار عالي بودند و دوست داشتني. در مورد گفتگو در کاتدرال که در جاي خود حرف خواهم زد، و اما پيرامون جنگ آخر زمان. در اين رمان شما در برابر سه گروه ايده آليست و متعصب قرار مي گيريد: ايده آليست هاي مذهبي (به نمايندگي مرشد)، ايده آليست هاي ايدئولوژيک (به نمايندگي گال) و ايده آليست هاي ميهني و وطن پرست (به نمايندگي سرهنگ سزار). در کنار اين ها، دن کانابراوا (به عنوان سياستمداري کارکشته که به شدت اهل تسامح و تساهل است و زماني در دوره امپراتوري در راس قدرت بوده است) و سياستمداران جمهوري خواه (که اصلا اهل تسامح نيستند و پس از براندازي نظام امپراتوري، در راس قدرت قرار گرفته اند). تقابل ميان اين انديشه هاي گوناگون و ديدگاه هاي مختلف سياسي - اجتماعي، نکته هاي درس آموز زيادي در بردارد. به عنوان نمونه، شگفت آور اين است که مرشد و پيروانش درست پس از روي کار آمدن نظام جمهوري دست به شورش عليه آن مي زنند، که جاي تحليل جامعه شناسانه دارد، زيرا اين نظام جمهوري است که با ادعاي حقوق برابر براي همه افراد جامعه و حذف اصالت سرمايه داري به دفاع از حقوق سطوح ضعيف جامعه (که غالب طرفداران مرشد را در بر مي گيرد) بر سر کار آمده است.
و مهمتر از همه، فکر مي کنم که اين کتاب مي تواند عرصه اي جدي براي محک زدن ايده ها و عقيده هاي شخصي خواننده آن باشد و اين فضا را به نحو مناسبي براي خواننده اهل تفکر ايجاد کند تا به دقت، به واکاوي اعتقادات سياسي - اجتماعي خود بپردازد.
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Jun 25, 2012 blake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature-modern

I sheepishly admit that upon seeing the title and the praise without reading anything about the description, I thought that this would be some sort of science fiction epic. I was understandably disappointed within the first few pages when I realized that it was not science but historical fiction. That said, the story was more engrossing than a lot of sci-fi I have read, with interesting characters and events. For various reasons, I couldn't put it down and finished all five hundred and some-odd...more

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