The War of the End of the World: A NovelThe Nobel Prize–winning author’s classic novel of civil war in nineteenth-century Brazil: “A modern tragedy on the grand scale . . . As dark as spilled blood” (Salman Rushdie, The New Republic). Deep within the remote backlands of Brazil lies Canudos, home to all the damned of the earth: prostitutes, bandits, beggars, and every kind of outcast. It is a place where history and civilization have been wiped away. There is no money, no taxation, no marriage, no census. Canudos is a cauldron for the revolutionary spirit in its purest form, a state with all the potential for a true, libertarian paradise—and one the Brazilian government is determined to crush at any cost. In perhaps his most ambitious and tragic novel, Mario Vargas Llosa offers his fictionalized vision of the story of Canudos, inhabiting characters on both sides of the massive, cataclysmic battle between the society and government troops. The resulting novel is a fable of Latin American revolutionary history, an unforgettable story of passion, violence, and the devastation that follows from fanaticism. |
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Abbot João amid answered Antônio Vilanova arms army asked attack backlands Bahia Baron de Canabrava Bearded Lady Belo Monte Big João Blessed Jesus body Brazil bullets caatinga caboclo Caifás Calumbi Campo Grande cangaceiro cangaço cannon Canudos Catholic Guard Church Colonel Moreira César Counselor Cumbe dark dead dogs Dwarf Epaminondas Gonçalves Estela everything eyes face Father Joaquim Favela feeling feet fighting fire Galileo Gall going ground Gumúcio hacienda hair hand happened head hear heard Honorable Deputy Honório jagunços Jornal de Notícias Jurema kill leave Lieutenant Lion of Natuba listening Little Blessed look Macambira Maria Quadrado Monte Santo mouth Murau murmured nearsighted journalist night nodded officers once Pajeú Pedrão Pires Ferreira Queimadas Queluz Regiment Republic rifles Rufino running Sanctuary Sardelinha says shooting shouts sleep soldiers suddenly talk Tamarindo Taramela tell Teotônio things thinks thought trenches turned voice walks woman women words wounded youngster