Cellophane: A NovelDon Victor Sobrevilla, a lovable, eccentric engineer, always dreamed of founding a paper factory in the heart of the Peruvian rain forest, and at the opening of this miraculous novel his dream has come true—until he discovers the recipe for cellophane. In a life already filled with signs and portents, the family dog suddenly begins to cough strangely. A wild little boy turns azurite blue. All at once Don Victor is overwhelmed by memories of his erotic past; his prim wife, Doña Mariana, reveals the shocking truth about her origins; the three Sobrevilla children turn their love lives upside down; the family priest blurts out a long-held secret.... A hilarious plague of truth has descended on the once well-behaved Sobrevillas, only the beginning of this brilliantly realized, generous-hearted novel. Marie Arana’s style, originality, and trenchant wit will establish her as one of the most audacious talents in fiction today and Cellophane as one of the most evocative and spirited novels of the year. |
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Page 21
... Pedro the gardener to move the poor animal out of the sun and into a cool place under the potted cherimoya tree. Pedro had grovm to love Basadre and wanted to make him more comfortable. but try as he might, he COLll(llT[ lift the poor ...
... Pedro the gardener to move the poor animal out of the sun and into a cool place under the potted cherimoya tree. Pedro had grovm to love Basadre and wanted to make him more comfortable. but try as he might, he COLll(llT[ lift the poor ...
Page 21
... Pedro the gar- dener to move the poor animal out of the sun and into a cool place under the potted cherimoya tree . Pedro had grown to love Basadre and wanted to make him more comfortable , but try as he might , he couldn't lift the ...
... Pedro the gar- dener to move the poor animal out of the sun and into a cool place under the potted cherimoya tree . Pedro had grown to love Basadre and wanted to make him more comfortable , but try as he might , he couldn't lift the ...
Page 32
... Pedro the gardener rolled him onto it tenderly and carried it out to where the casuarina bloomed by the roadside . There , in full view of the laborers hunched over their chicha at the rickety tables in Chincho's bar , he lifted the ...
... Pedro the gardener rolled him onto it tenderly and carried it out to where the casuarina bloomed by the roadside . There , in full view of the laborers hunched over their chicha at the rickety tables in Chincho's bar , he lifted the ...
Page 33
... Pedro sat as the gaslights went out one by one in the village . He sat as the drunken laborers made their way home to their shacks . When nothing was left of Basadre but a fine gray ash , it was almost dawn . Pedro's impulse was to cast ...
... Pedro sat as the gaslights went out one by one in the village . He sat as the drunken laborers made their way home to their shacks . When nothing was left of Basadre but a fine gray ash , it was almost dawn . Pedro's impulse was to cast ...
Page 34
... Pedro approached Boruba , touched the back of her head lightly , then squatted alongside to help his friend keep her sad vigil . It would take time for the boy's spirit to lift from his navel and ride its way to the stars . As the ...
... Pedro approached Boruba , touched the back of her head lightly , then squatted alongside to help his friend keep her sad vigil . It would take time for the boy's spirit to lift from his navel and ride its way to the stars . As the ...
Contents
Section 13 | 248 |
Section 14 | 276 |
Section 15 | 297 |
Section 16 | 315 |
Section 17 | 335 |
Section 18 | 359 |
Section 19 | 385 |
Section 20 | 410 |
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Common terms and phrases
Amazon arms army asked ayahuasca barge began Belén boat Boruba cellophane Chincho's church coca Copacabana curandero Don Victor Doña Mariana door dream dress Elsa Elsa's eyes face factory father felt fingers floor Floralinda girl Graciela hacienda hair hand head headshrinkers heard heart hemp Huitoto husband Ignacio imagined Iquitos Jaime Jaime's Jivaro jungle knew Leguía Lima listen looked López Louis Miller Marcela Márquez monkey morning mother Mwambr Nestor Sotomarino never night pacu Padre Bernardo paper patio Pedro priest Pucallpa pulled Quillabamba rain river seemed seen Señor shacks shapechanger Shipibo shoulders shouted skin smiled soldiers stood sumiruna Suraya teacher tell thing Tía Esther tiny told took trees Trujillo truth tsantsa turned Ucayali Virgin of Copacabana voice walked wall watched whispered wife window witchman woman words workers worry Yorumbo
Popular passages
Page 140 - States," while working to impose "totalitarian regimes" in hapless Third World countries. There it was — everything down to the T-word! When Stanchenko finished, it seemed as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. Hands rose rapidly. "What you are saying...
Page 267 - That is a great many years ago ; but I remember it as if it were yesterday...
Page 2 - For as long as he could remember, he had been fascinated by the...
Page 84 - Ignacio, as foreman, paced the rigged bamboo gallery that was suspended from the ceiling and ran the length of the mill, from the wet end to the dry finish.
Page 61 - By the time he was fourteen, he had decided that when he came of age he would put distance between himself and Trujillo.