La gran aldea

by Lucio Vicente López

First published in 1884 "La gran aldea" is the author's attept at exposing and synthesizing the transformation process undertaken by Buenos Aires and its inhabitants during the thirty years that followed Rosas' overthrow. The novel was feverishly written as a serialized column, and from the same desk where he prepared his political articles, a situation that explains some style faults typical of haste writing. Lucio Vicente López, grandson of de Vicente López y Planes and son of Vicente Fidel López received, along a classical education, a political upbringing that allowed him to characterize the argentine society as "beotian", in the intuition that the pampa's feracity and easy richess would most probably determine political imperfections -as happened in Beotia- rather than a new Athens, as the economic push of the young country seemed to announce. Member of the '80's generation, columnist of "El Nacional", the newspaper directed by Domingo F. Sarmiento, and afterwards avid supporter of Juarez Celman, who was the paradigm of the optimism at those times, Lucio Vicente López's mental clarity gave him the necessary balance to understand the need of a regenerative civilian movement, that at the time seemed to be incarnated by the Unión Cívica of Leandro Alem. La gran aldea is a "clue novel" (roman a clef). In it some of the players of the argentine politics are easily discovered under loose Don Buenaventura is Bartolomé Mitre; Bonifacio de las Vueltas, Bernardo de Irigoyen; don Benito, Juan Carlos Gómez (the Uruguayan publicist of old liberal affiliation that polemized with Mitre on the Paraguay war issue), etc. The plot is romantic, and the intention edifying, following the trend at that time. Evil, be it paired up with revolting ugliness or seductive beauty is always punished at the end. This novel's value is set in the fresco drawn about the local customs, highlighting certain traits of the argentine society still aparent to the observant eye.

Genres: Latin American, 19th Century

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Also known as Lucio V. López, he was an argentine writer, journalist, lawyer and politician born in Uruguay, in his family exile during the regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas.
He died in Buenos Aires in 1894 of the wounds he sustained in a duel.
He was friend of the writers Enrique Rodríguez Larreta and Miguel Cané.

Reviews

[Adrian]

EXCELENT DESCRIPTION OF ARGENTINIAN SOCIETY DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
TRUE-TO-LIFE CHARACTERS THAT MAKE YOU REALIZE HOW LIFE WAS IN THOSE TIMES, WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT AND HOW THEY FELT ABOUT COMMON ISSUES.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AS IT IS ESSENTIAL TO HAVE AN OVERVIEW ON ARGENTINIAN HISTORY.

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta como refleja a la sociedad porteña a medida que pasaron las décadas.
El final del tío de Julio y de Blanca me parece interesante.

[calu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Un gaucho entre libros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante libro, narra la transformación de Buenos Aires después de la caída de Rosas y el camino de ésta a convertirse en una gran ciudad. El nacimiento de la burguesía porteña, la cual es mirada de forma crítica y a veces humorística por el protagonista, un testigo de estos nuevos cambios.

[joacoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

una de las novelas más graciosas de la gen.80, pero le falta la genialidad de la prosa de cambaceres y depende mucho de sus modelos europeos (con una afición desmedida a la cita)
en tanto construcción de la ciudad/país es interesante, y tiene varios puntos en común o continuidades con el Borges criollista