The War of the End of the World: A Novel

The master at his best. If you're a fan of "The Bad Girl" and "The Feast of the Goat" you'll love this book. Llosa introduces us to a myriad of characters, each of whom is compelling in their own right. What I found so fascinating about this book is that while there is no one character to identify with, I was completely drawn to the stories of all those involved in the Canudos story. Also of interest (or distress, I suppose) is that all those sides involved in this conflict -- the religious fanatics, the elite, progressives, the military, the church, even the radical revolutionary -- claim to want to improve the lot of the poor and downtrodden, yet each group ultimately betrays and exploits them. As always, Llosa's writing is spellbinding and artful, a work so enticing you'll have difficulty putting it down.

War of the End of the world is a brilliant novel that is quite long and almost never lags.I read it in the way you read a better mystery or horror novel, I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next.The difference being, WAR has alot more substance than the typical genre novel.The story is set in late 19th century Brazil.The monarchy has been overthrown and the country is now a republic.An itinerant Catholic preacher( not a priest) called the Counselor, turns against the republic for a variety of reasons and with his followers seizes control of Canudos, a hacienda owned by the Baron.The Counselor gathers around him a large following of the poor , the wretched and a number of former outlaws.He isn't preaching revolution and isn't trying to overthrow the government which he deems Satanic.If I understand things correctly, he's gathering in the righteous and waiting for the end of the world.The government can't accept this and decides to crush Canudos.The assumption is , it will be easy .It takes three military expeditions to do it, with much carnage.What makes the novel so compelling is that the author is deeply interested in how religion and politics intersected to create modern Latin America and to some degree the broader modern world.At the heart of the novel is a complex power game played by various elites.The old elite is on its last legs.It 's the conservative , Catholic aristocracy which is embodied in the character of the Baron.The Baron is horrified by what's happened at Canudos.He's lost some major property.Adding insult to injury,his main political rivals,the progressive republicans claim - dishonestly- that he and his ilk are actually in league with the Counselor.The Baron concludes it's time to change if anything is to remain the same and forms an alliance with the progressives to crush Canudos.The new bourgeois progressive ruling class is no more in touch with the "masses" then the old aristocrats ( arguably less so).It's also doubtful that their hold on power will be of long duration.Waiting in the wings is the military.There are two characters who coming from different perspectives see this as the charade that it to some degree is, the Baron and Galileo Gall , a British anarchist and phrenologist who is instinctively drawn to Canudos.The book goes in some strange directions near the end and it is a resolutely down beat novel.However, MVL show himself to be a master of narrative here and it's one of the most intellectually stimulating books I've read in ages.

Happiness is the end that all men seek, and that all men have sought, or so a wise monk has offered, and Llosa is offering in The War of the End of the World.It's a perfect integration of a universal historical theme into historical events that are used as a vehicle in this wonderful story, with a cast of characters that include: a Christ figure, replete with disciples, a mother Mary figure, and a Mary Magdalene character; authority figures of the civil state and military arrayed against the religious order that threatens the civil order (or so the authorities think); a cast of extras including magicians, revolutionaries, peasants, the wealthy, and, of course, the disenfranchised, oh, and a journalist to witness this war, not at the end of the world, of the end of the world.Even in conflict, they all are on the same quest for happiness, all chasing different illusions.Toward the end of this saga - and yes, it is a slog, but one well worth the journey - one of the main characters of the besieged planter class while seeking an existential answer to all the suffering recollects the words of a colleague:"The greatest thing in all this world, Baron, the one and only thing whereby man can discover a measure of happiness, can learn what the word happiness means."That search, and the disillusionment suffered along the way, is really what this book is about.In a pivotal moment, a military authority recognizes his failure:"This entire experience, which was to be the greatest one in his life, the crowning reward of his perilous race toward respectability, has turned out instead to be a series of disillusionments and vexations."More than any other, I think this summarizes the end of all the characters, from the highest to the lowest. Whatever "happiness" is gained is fleeting, and small recompense for the suffering anted up to win it.Well, maybe there is an exception. A withered, old woman asks the colonel quoted above if he knows the end of an abott close to the people. He asks if the woman saw the abott die, to which she answers in the negative: "Archangels took him up to heaven. I saw them."Final note: in defense of the slogginess of the novel, it is a slog, but this strikes me as part of the artistic quality of it. If I were teaching literature and I needed an example of how authors control time and Time in the universes they create, this would be one of the examples I would use to illustrate the point. The slog helps give the book its epic feel and helps the reader feel put through the ringer by the time the last page is reached, at least it did with me. The characters and action pull one through. All that said, I can see how readers in our digital age would feel put off.

Wonderful story teller. A Great writer of all time. An excuisite art of expression beyond imagination.

An utterly fascinating account of a forgotten tragedy that occurred in late 19th Century Brazil.It recounts the quixotic rebellion of a motley crew of former bandits & religious fanatics who reject the newly founded Republic & instead aim to set up their own commune.Llosa brings the story to life and resurrects a myriad of characters from obscurity.One of the best novels to come out of Latin America.

Cet ouvrage est certainement un des plus beaux et le plus importants dans l'ensemble de l'oeuvre de Vargas llosa. Il décrit un évènement historique qui s'est produit dans le nord-est du Brésil à la fin du 19e siècle. Ce récit poignant s'attache à décrire un mouvement populaire et messianique écrasé dans le sang par l'armée brésilienne. Fresque splendide, ce roman est une critique sociale et une vision humaniste profonde qui suit des personnages attachants, hauts en couleur, fascinants d'intensité et d'une présence inoubliable. Le souci du détail dans la peinture des batailles, comme dans le rendu des scènes quotidiennes, la finesse de l'analyse psychologique, une écriture magistrale qui marie réalisme et poésie, font de cet ouvrage une lecture dont on ne peut se détacher. A recommander à tous ceux qui s'intéressent à l'histoire sociale, à l'Amérique latine, à l'anarchisme, aux mouvements messianiques et à la littérature tout court.

Great Epic of modern time. Every shade of human nature, predicament is there. Rare multi narrator form. It is agreat experience.Amazon service is amazing.

Excellent book. I read it years ago and wanted to read it again which is why I got the kindle edition. My original copy is lost in the mists of time. Anything that's worth a second reading must have been good.