The War of the End of the World: A Novel

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Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Mar 4, 2011 - Fiction - 576 pages
21 Reviews

Deep within the remote backlands of nineteenth-century 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 tells his own version of the real 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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LibraryThing Review

User Review  - amerynth - LibraryThing

Mario Vargas Llosa's novel "The War of the End of the World" was certainly a challenging and slow read for me, but I found it mostly enjoyable and worthy of reputation. This is historical fiction that ... Read full review

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - tchelyzt - LibraryThing

It’s not entirely clear if the War on Terrorism is actually a war when the enemy has neither government nor army, but if it is, presumably it can give rise to war crimes. So what is a war crime? The ... Read full review

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Other editions - View all

The War of the End of the World
Mario Vargas Llosa
Limited preview - 2008
The War of the End of the World
Mario Vargas Llosa
Snippet view - 1985
The War of the End of the World
Mario Vargas Llosa
No preview available - 1984
View all »

Common terms and phrases

Abbot João able already amid answered Antônio appeared arms army arrived asked attack Bahia baron began beginning believe Big João Blessed Jesus body bullets caatinga called Canudos Church close Colonel coming Counselor dark dead death dogs door Dwarf everything explained eyes face fall Father feeling feet felt fighting fire followed Gall give going ground half hand happened head hear heard jagunços Joaquim Jurema keep kill later leave light Lion listening Little Blessed live look mind moment Moreira César mouth move Murau murmured nearsighted journalist never night officers once Pajeú perhaps reach rifles Rufino running Santo says seemed seen shooting side sleep soldiers speaking standing stopped street suddenly taken talk tell things thinks thought took town trying turned Vilanova voice waiting walks woman women wounded

About the author (2011)

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat." Peru's foremost writer, he has been awarded the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's most distinguished literary honor, and the Jerusalem Prize. His many works include The Feast of the Goat, The Bad Girl, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, The War of the End of the World, and The Storyteller. He lives in London.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The War of the End of the World
TitleThe War of the End of the World: A Novel
AuthorMario Vargas Llosa
Translated byHelen Lane
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011
ISBN1429921986, 9781429921985
Length576 pages
Subjects › 

Fiction / Literary
  
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