The Storyteller

I picked up this book at a used bookstore, intrigued with what I thought would be an interesting storyline: a modern man goes through a stunning transformation into that of a savage, seen from the viewpoint of an old friend staring at his picture in Florence, trying to imagine the journey his friend had taken upon himself, alone, scarred, and in the dense jungle of magic. After the first few captivating pages (one of the best beginnings I have ever read), It became apparent that there was much more to this book than a story about a Peruvian academic and outsider becoming a Machiguenga. It is a story of a writer's obsession with his craft, and his seeking of a deeper meaning in stories, and his exhaustive search into these mysterious storytellers of the jungle, and how it will validate his own strange seeking in the world of words. It is the story of an outsider, now a central member of an exclusive and ancient order, of the determination and resolve, ("that of a lunatic or a saint"), that drove him onward. It blends the academic intelligence of Borges and the magic of Marquez, but better, and with a fervor and intelligence that betrays an intellect to be reckoned with.It is a masterpiece. Bravo Llosa.

This book has the most amazing sense of voice and character I have ever read. The storyteller recounts the Machiguengas' mythology, day to day life, and even a few familiar stories (Kafka's The Metamorphosis) with an achingly beautiful love for the subject matter combined with the bitter knowledge that all this might be lost. The writer in Firenze sounds like a writer, constantly making connections between actions and the larger, metaphorical picture. The book delves into more than just a tribe, but the human mind as well. I think I'll read it again, next time in Spanish.

I did not believe that I would enjoy this book, which I read for a grad-level English class. _The Storyteller_ is one of those books that you cannot even begin to appreciate until nearly its conclusion, as the "secrets" are unraveled and the threads become even more tightly wound. One can enjoy this text on many levels, and in many contexts: prejudice, community, hierarchy, trust, the perhaps mistaken trend towards complete globalization. Absolutely brilliant--too bad that, because of my own limitations, I had to read it in translation.

Dos Narraciones alternan, en El Hablador, para relatarnos el anverso y reverso de una historia singular. Por una parte, un narrador principal (que al igual que en la Tía Julia y el escribidor o Historia de Mayta, parecería identificarse con el autor) evoca sus recuerdos de un compñero de juventud limeño, apodado Mascarita, que siente fascinación por una pequeña cultura primitiva; por otra parte, un anónimo contador ambulante de historias - un hablador -, viviente memoria colectiva de los indios machiguengas de la Mazonía peruana, nos narra en un lenguaje de desusada poesía y de magia, su propia existencia y la historia y mitos de su pueblo. La confluencia final de los dos relatos, al revelar su secreta unidad, muestra las misteriosas relaciones de la ficción con las sociedaddes y con los individuos, su razón de ser, sus mecanismos y sus efectos en la vida. Por su dominio expresivo y la problemática abordada, El Hablador es una de las más significativas y originales aportaciones de la narrativa de Mario Vargas Llosa.