Louis de Bernières
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 4.11 | 3991 Users | 185 Reviews
Present Of Books Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy)
| Title | : | Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy) |
| Author | : | Louis de Bernières |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | March 3rd 1998 by Vintage (first published 1991) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Magical Realism |
Relation As Books Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy)
Livin' la Vivo Coca!This was my second reading of this rambunctious book. I pored over it quite a while back, not realising that it was just one part of a trilogy, duh!
(Kinda doesn't matter anyway).
Following in the footsteps of Gabriel García Márquez, de Bernières' delightful brand of magical realism is a joy to behold.
Set in a fictional South American country (imagine Colombia), the author introduces us to Señor Vivo, a philosophising intellectual who imagines he can take on murderous drug cartels by writing condemnatory letters to a national newspaper. This, of course, is a farcical endeavour, but such is the timbre of this outlandish story.
Hip, hip hooray, for de Bernières' luxuriant imagination, which he uses to great effect, creating a madcap tale of spellbinding exuberance and artistic lunacy.
Hold onto your asientos, for the author has organised a fiesta of assassinations, hallucinations and sweaty assignations. Thrown into the mix is an uproarious whorehouse brawl that Tarantino would dearly wish he had imagined first.
And there is genius in de Bernières' ability to create voluminous environs in our minds, using only a handful of words. He describes a shanty town where 'cats were not philosophical and elegant, but scabby and dishonest.' In my mind, such descriptive imagery is ¡maravilloso!
I once more declare my admiration for Louis de Bernières.
The man was born to write.
Define Books During Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy)
| Original Title: | Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord |
| ISBN: | 0375700145 (ISBN13: 9780375700149) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Latin American Trilogy |
| Setting: | South America |
| Literary Awards: | Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Book in South Asia and Europe (1992) |
Rating Of Books Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy)
Ratings: 4.11 From 3991 Users | 185 ReviewsCriticism Of Books Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Latin American Trilogy)
If they made a Hieronymous Bosch painting into a novel, and set it in South America, this might be the result. (Could be the polar opposite of Downton Abbey or Pride and Prejudice.)De Bernieres' signature 'combinatorial creativity' in his prose is present throughout this novel-- as is his reality-based satire. The characters are magical: Dionisio as the tragic hero figure who also happens to be a professor of 'secular philosophy'; Aurelio the indian, a master brujo who knows santeria andI can't praise de Bernières enough. Ever. Intelligent and brilliant writing as always. I should be used to laughing out loud one minute and feeling nauseated and shocked the next with his books but it still hits me hard when it happens. His writing is brilliant and hilarious, yet at times outrageous and shocking. The shocking part in this novel was rather graphic...I had to force myself through it and hope that I'd be laughing again in the next chapter. I was. I LOVE the magic realism in this
Philosophy, distilled: "I do not want you to believe any of this because it is all crap, but it is crap in which the piles of our pseudo-European culture are embedded, so you had better understand it because no one who does not understand the history and taxonomy of crap will ever come to know the difference between crap and pseudo-crap and non-crap..." (233).
I am definately in the minority in giving this a 2-star rating but I will stick to my guns. This book is mainly an exercise in intellectual mast**bation. I like to learn new words so I didn't mind having to reach for the dictionary every second page and even used online translation for some of the Spanish words.de Bernier's style is florid and overly self-indulgent, perhaps in an effort to mimic the storytelling style of overexcited Mexican housewives or boastful gauchos. I liked the way the
Enjoyed reading this. Great story, funny, surreal.Only negatives i can think of is that the title of chapter 7 completely spoiled it and it is a bit slow in places.
This book is hard to explain. On one hand, it's a genuinely passionate statement about how the cocaine trade has crippled South America and everyone is too afraid to go against the cartels; on the other hand, it's a magical realism story where human women can give birth to cats, gods posses people, and panthers can be domesticated. Amazingly, these two very different elements combine to make a fantastic story. It doesn't seem like it would work - how can an author make a statement about the
Livin' la Vivo Coca!This was my second reading of this rambunctious book. I pored over it quite a while back, not realising that it was just one part of a trilogy, duh!(Kinda doesn't matter anyway).Following in the footsteps of Gabriel García Márquez, de Bernières' delightful brand of magical realism is a joy to behold.Set in a fictional South American country (imagine Colombia), the author introduces us to Señor Vivo, a philosophising intellectual who imagines he can take on murderous drug
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