The world of literature bids farewell to one of its most influential voices: Peruvian writer and Nobel Literature Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa died Monday in Lima at the age of 89, surrounded by his family, according to the Associated Press based on a statement from his loved ones.
Mario’s departure will sadden his family, friends and readers around the world, but we hope they will find comfort in knowing that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind an immense body of work that will outlive him.
expressed those close to him.
A life between books, politics and controversy
Vargas Llosa achieved fame in 1963 with his novel The City and the Dogs, based on his experience in a Peruvian military academy. The book caused a stir: it was criticized by the army and thousands of copies were burned by the authorities. Some generals called him a “fake” and accused him of being a communist.
This and his subsequent books consolidated Vargas Llosa as one of the pillars of the “Latin American Boom”, along with authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes. His texts dealt crudely with issues such as dictatorships, corruption and individual resistance in Latin America.
From revolutionary fervor to liberalism
Initially sympathetic to the Cuban revolution, Vargas Llosa distanced himself from socialism in the 1980s, declaring his disenchantment with the Castro model. Thereafter, his thinking turned towards economic liberalism, which earned him criticism from fellow writers and former followers.
In 2010 he received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his “mapping of power structures and his biting images of resistance, revolt and individual defeat.”
A continental farewell
Vargas Llosa was much more than a writer: he was a Latin American thinker who discomforted, inspired and debated with the continent. His literary legacy – ranging from Conversation in the Cathedral to The Feast of the Goat –will continue to accompany generations of readers.