Libraries and democracy. Both good ideas.

The Neighborhood

Image: the cover of Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Neighborhood.

I can’t remember what prompted me to put Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Neighborhood on my reading list. An article, I think, about corruption and politics and human greed and bravery.

I just finished and it is all those things. I’m left curious about the translation (houses at the point of falling down, rather than the verge of falling down. why that choice?). And most in love with a minor character who is losing his memory, his orientation to the world. And also the sex. The casual and impersonal nature of it. A stand-in for power.

Other perspectives:

  1. Ben East in The Guardian
  2. Michael O'Loughlin in the Irish Times

Logistics: I checked the book out from the library, in digital format, and read it in Libby. Book 02 finished 2 January.

#read2022 #MarioVargasLlosa

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