Mario Vargas LlosaAwards: Nobel Prize in Literature-2010
; Order of the Aztec Eagle - 2011
Born: 28/03/1936 in Arequipa which is on the
Southern part of Peru and is known as the Legal Capital of Peru
and also known as White City.
Citizen: Spain (Nationality-Peruvian)
Language: Spanish
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, in short Mario
Vergas Llosa was born in a middle class family and was the only child
of his parents. The parents had separated shortly before his birth and
his father remarried soon. Llosa and his mother moved to his maternal
grand father's house. Then they moved to Bolivia where his grand
father had some business and his childhood was spent there. He was
given the impression that his father had died. Things changed when in
1946, he came to Lima, capital of Peru, at the age of 10 to meet his
father and moved with him. He was not very comfortable with his father
as the later was very autocratic and young Llosa was very independent
minded. He was first admitted to a military academy so that he could
be disciplined. In stead, the young man quit the academy and at the
age of 16, was working as an amateur journalist for a local newspaper.
In1958, he completed his
graduation from University of San Marcos in Law and Literature and
then enrolled in Computense University of Madrid, Spain on a
scholarship. In 1960, he moved to Paris for further studies on an
expected scholarship but unfortunately the scholarship did not
materialize but he stayed back in Paris and started writing
prolifically. Some of his best works were produced in the sixties.
Llosa was a multifaceted talent who tried
his luck both as a writer, a journalist and also as a politician. He
unsuccessfully contested the 1990 Peruvian President election and lost
to Alberto Fujimori. In 1977, he was elected to Peruvian Academy of
Languages.
Llosa's novels had varied themes, starting
from murder mysteries to historical & political plots or straight
social narratives. He rose to prominence with his novel The Time of
the Hero. His second novel The Green House brought
him international acclaim and he was ranked along with other Latin
American giants such as Marquez and Juan Carlos Onetti. Some critics
comment that The Green House is one of the greatest novels to
have emerged from Latin America. His third novel Conversation in
the Cathedral is seen as a plot which hinges on fate and
hopelessness.
On political front, Llosa was a great
supporter of the Government of Fidel Castro initially but later was
disillusioned with him because of dictatorial nature of the regime.
Notable Works:
Los Jefes-The Cubs and Other Stories(1959/1979)
; La ciudad y los perros-The Time of the Hero(1963/1966),La
casa verde-The Green House(1966/1968);
Conversacion en-la catedral-Conversation
in the Cathedral(1969/1975) ;La tia Julia y el
escribidor-Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter(1977/1982)
; La guerra del fix del munda-The War of
the End of the World(1981/1984); Travesuras de la
nina mala-The Bad Girl(2006/2007);
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