Yawar Fiesta

This novel has no main characters, but somehow it works. With his extraordinary ability to see across class and ethnic lines, Arguedas constructs a whole community as the hero of the story. Another translated novel by Arguedas, Deep Rivers, comes out so emotionally, it seems innocent of conscious craft and form. In Yawar Fiesta, however, Arguedas displays a more obvious mastery of the novel, pushing the genre and language into beautiful spaces of song and history. Arguedas's childlike way of observing, these incredible lyric passages that amp up the energy, expose worlds of injustice, resistance, joy, creativity, dialogue... I admire Frances Barraclough, the translator, for creating new hybrid spaces out of the wonderful mess Arguedas made of Spanish and Quechua. For anyone with an interest in the Andean highlands, Arguedas is really a must read. If you're a trekker on the Inca Trail, take this book along with you. It will make a pilgrimage of your tourism.