Category Archives: LA Boom

Blow-Up and other Stories – Julio Cortazar

Posted on December 28, 2022 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“A tiger stalking the house a young girl is holidaying in; middle-aged siblings who experience an enforced segregation in their home; a young man who cannot stop vomiting baby rabbits; a disaffected and drug-addled jazz musician via the eyes of … Continue reading →

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Octavio Paz: Political thought

Posted on November 25, 2022 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“… Originally, Paz supported the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, but after learning of the murder of one of his friends by the Stalinist secret police, he became gradually disillusioned. While in Paris in the early 1950s, influenced by … Continue reading →

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“The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World” – Gabriel García Márquez (Gregory Rabassa, Translator)

Posted on November 17, 2022 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“The first children  who saw the dark and slinky bulge approaching through the sea let themselves think it was an enemy ship. Then they saw it had no flags or masts and they thought it was a whale. But when … Continue reading →

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Mario Vargas Llosa: Fiction and hyper-reality

Posted on July 27, 2022 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“When Mario Vargas Llosa, the precocious star of the 1960s ‘boom’ in Latin American fiction, ran for president in 1990 in his native Peru, many of his most avid readers prayed he would lose. As his friend, the Cuban writer … Continue reading →

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Jorge Amado’s Influence on Brazilian Culture

Posted on April 28, 2022 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“When Jorge Amado died in 2001, people were already talking about him as Brazil’s cultural ambassador to the world. His novels, translated into nearly 50 languages, made many in the West suddenly familiar with the largest Latin American nation. … … Continue reading →

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62: A Model Kit – Julio Cortázar (1968)

Posted on November 15, 2021 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“… 62: A Model Kit is an attempt to fulfill these novelistic intentions. It is (in this fine translation by Gregory Rabassa) a deeply touching, enjoyable novel, beautifully written and fascinatingly mysterious and intri cate in its designs. It realizes … Continue reading →

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10 of the best Latin American novels – that will take you there

Posted on July 4, 2021 by 1960s: Days of Rage

Plaza Fernández de Madrid (The Cartagena pictured in Gabriel García Márquez’s novel Love in the Time of Cholera “A sense of place often has a political edge in Latin American writing. Even magic realism – which takes fantastic liberties with … Continue reading →

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Mario Vargas Llosa – The Time of the Hero (1963)

Posted on June 13, 2021 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“Mario Vargas Llosa’s statement ‘literature is fire’ provides both an insight into his views regarding the potent weight he feels literature may carry and also the effect that words can exert over him and, although the Peruvian writer’s political beliefs … Continue reading →

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Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges

Posted on April 3, 2021 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“… On the occasion of the centenary of his birth Viking/Penguin published three fat volumes of Borges’ fiction, poetry, and non-fiction (collected, selected, and selected, respectively) — an admirable attempt that still falls far short of the comprehensive presentation of … Continue reading →

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Carlos Fuentes and the Latin American Boom

Posted on November 29, 2020 by 1960s: Days of Rage

“The son of a Mexican diplomat, Fuentes was born in Panama City, Panama in 1928, and spent much of his early adolescence accompanying his father on diplomatic duties in various cities across the continent, such as Buenos Aires and Washington … Continue reading →

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