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Mario Vargas Llosa

Born

in Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru

March 28, 1936

Died

April 13, 2025

Website

http://www.mvargasllosa.com/

Genre

Literature & Fiction

Influences

Gustave Flaubert, Balzac, Faulkner, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Jean-Paul Sart ...more

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Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa, more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa, was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the Spanish language and Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a more substantial international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. In 2010, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".
Vargas Llosa rose to international fame in the 1960s with novels such as The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y l Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa, more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa, was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist, and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the Spanish language and Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists and one of the leading writers of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a more substantial international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. In 2010, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".
Vargas Llosa rose to international fame in the 1960s with novels such as The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y los perros, 1963/1966), The Green House (La casa verde, 1965/1968), and the monumental Conversation in The Cathedral (Conversación en La Catedral, 1969/1975). He wrote prolifically across various literary genres, including literary criticism and journalism. His novels include comedies, murder mysteries, historical novels, and political thrillers. He won the 1967 Rómulo Gallegos Prize and the 1986 Prince of Asturias Award. Several of his works have been adopted as feature films, such as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (1973/1978) and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977/1982). Vargas Llosa's perception of Peruvian society and his experiences as a native Peruvian influenced many of his works. Increasingly, he expanded his range and tackled themes from other parts of the world. In his essays, Vargas Llosa criticized nationalism in different parts of the world.
Like many Latin American writers, Vargas Llosa was politically active. While he initially supported the Cuban revolutionary government of Fidel Castro, Vargas Llosa later became disenchanted with its policies, particularly after the imprisonment of Cuban poet Heberto Padilla in 1971, and later identified as a liberal and held anti-left-wing ideas. He ran for the presidency of Peru in 1990 with the center-right Frente Democrático coalition, advocating for liberal reforms, but lost the election to Alberto Fujimori in a landslide.
Vargas Llosa continued his literary career while advocating for right-wing activists and candidates internationally following his exit from direct participation in Peruvian politics. He was awarded the 1994 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1995 Jerusalem Prize, the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, the 2012 Carlos Fuentes International Prize, and the 2018 Pablo Neruda Order of Artistic and Cultural Merit. In 2011, Vargas Llosa was made the Marquess of Vargas Llosa by Spanish king Juan Carlos I. In 2021, he was elected to the Académie française. ...more

36 posts
Mario Vargas Llosa's Blog

Mario Vargas Llosa isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but they do have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from their feed.

¿Regreso al Medioevo?

La peste ha sido a lo largo de la historia una de las peores pesadillas de la humanidad. El coronavirus será una pandemia pasajera. Lo que no pasará es el miedo a la muerte, que nos acompaña como una sombra

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Published on March 14, 2020 16:32

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Combine Editions
Mario Vargas Llosa’s books

Average rating: 4.0 · 339,165 ratings · 32,967 reviews · 581 distinct works • Similar authors

	Travesuras de la niña mala 4.14 avg rating — 52,526 ratings — published 2006	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman (Translator) 4.36 avg rating — 45,388 ratings — published 2000 — 48 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	La ciudad y los perros 4.18 avg rating — 30,203 ratings — published 1962 — 255 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa, Helen R. Lane (Translator) 3.96 avg rating — 24,678 ratings — published 1977 — 183 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The War of the End of the World 4.25 avg rating — 13,310 ratings — published 1981 — 187 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Conversation in the Cathedral 4.39 avg rating — 12,475 ratings — published 1969 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pantaleón y las visitadoras 3.97 avg rating — 13,666 ratings — published 1973 — 169 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El sueño del celta 3.86 avg rating — 10,666 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death in the Andes 3.72 avg rating — 10,012 ratings — published 1993 — 24 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tiempos recios 4.02 avg rating — 8,959 ratings — published 2019 — 63 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mario Vargas Llosa…

Quotes by Mario Vargas Llosa (?)

“Almost seventy years later I remember clearly how the magic of translating the words in books into images enriched my life, breaking the barriers of time and space...”
― Mario Vargas Llosa

1522 likes

“One can't fight with oneself, for this battle has only one loser.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter

tags: romance

1385 likes

“Memory is a snare, pure and simple; it alters, it subtly rearranges the past to fit the present.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa

814 likes

See all Mario Vargas Llosa's quotes »

Polls

Choose a work of fiction for us to read in January 2013...

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

9 votes, 16.7%

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

9 votes, 16.7%

Ashenden by W. Somerset Maugham

9 votes, 16.7%

The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield

6 votes, 11.1%

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

5 votes, 9.3%

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady by Anita Loos

4 votes, 7.4%

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

4 votes, 7.4%

the dream of the celt by Mario Vargas Llosa

3 votes, 5.6%

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd

3 votes, 5.6%

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

2 votes, 3.7%

Half of the Human Race by Anthony Quinn

0 votes, 0.0%

54 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: Transliterated authors	13	183	Aug 19, 2009 01:04PM
Challenge: 50 Books: Collections of Short Stories	15	612	Nov 25, 2009 11:35AM
The Seasonal Read...: FALL CHALLENGE 2009 COMPLETED TASKS	3942	2769	Nov 30, 2009 09:01PM
The Seasonal Read...: 20.9 (Luck Of The Draw - Rebecca - A Really Cheesy Task)	86	168	Mar 19, 2010 05:31PM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer 2010 Plans	152	789	Aug 31, 2010 05:30PM
The Seasonal Read...: 15.3 - Continental Divide	71	177	Oct 20, 2010 08:21AM
Boxall's 1001 Bo...: Mario Vargas Llosa	8	188	Oct 25, 2010 10:21AM
Art Lovers: Artist Biography	123	101	Nov 13, 2010 10:17PM

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Mario Vargas Llosa’s Followers (9,706)

Mario Vargas Llosa

36 postsMario Vargas Llosa's Blog

¿Regreso al Medioevo?

Combine EditionsMario Vargas Llosa’s books

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

36 posts
Mario Vargas Llosa's Blog

Combine Editions
Mario Vargas Llosa’s books