“The Time of the Hero” by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)

Favourite Quote

Love’s the worst thing there is. You start acting like an idiot, you don’t look out for yourself. Everything seems different and you do the craziest things just on the spur of the moment. I mean men do. Women, they’re different, they’re smarter, they only fall in love when it suits them. If they figure their man isn’t right for them, they fall out again and look for another one. And it doesn’t bother them at all.

Synopsis

“The Time of the Hero” has been acclaimed by critics around the world as one of the outstanding Spanish novels of recent decades. In the author’s native Peru, this powerful social satire so outraged the authorities that a thousand copies were publicly burned.

The novel is set in Leoncio Prado Military Academy in Lima, where a group of cadets attempt to break out of the vicious round of sadistic ragging, military discipline, confinement and boredom. But their pranks set off a cycle of betrayal, murder and revenge which jeopardizes the entire military hierarchy.

Nicola’s Creative Reading Group reading list

Year 3 – “Americas (North, Central and South)” (Oct 2008 – Jun 2009)

“Larry’s Party” by Carol Shields (Canada)
“American Desert” by Percival Everett (U.S.)
“Swift as Desire” by Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
“The Weight of All Things” by Sandra Benitez (El Salvador)
“In Evil Hour” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)
“Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon” by Jorge Amado (Brazil)
“The Time of the Hero” by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
“Inés of My Soul” by Isabel Allende (Chile)
“The Invention of Morel” by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Argentina)