Mario Vargas Llosa Peruvian novelist Date of Birth: 28.03.1936 Country: Peru

Biography of Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian novelist and one of the leading innovative writers in contemporary Latin American literature. He was born on March 28, 1936, in Arequipa, Peru. Vargas Llosa attended the Leoncio Prado Military Academy and later studied at the San Marcos University in Lima.

In 1958, he received a scholarship to study at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, which led him to spend an extended period in Europe and the United States. In 1967, Vargas Llosa was awarded the Rómulo Gallegos International Prize and delivered a famous speech emphasizing the close relationship between writers and society. He later ran for the presidency in Peru's 1990 elections but was unsuccessful.

Vargas Llosa's first novel, "The Time of the Hero" (La ciudad y los perros, 1963), caused a scandal in Lima, leading to the public burning of the book. The novel depicted the wild customs of the Leoncio Prado Military Academy in what was seen as a shameful portrayal of the entire Peruvian military. His novel "The Green House" (La casa verde, 1968) explores themes of violence and alienation through five intersecting narratives. The writer employs a sophisticated montage technique with rapid shifts in time, place, and multiple points of view.

In his short story "The Cubs" (Los cachorros, 1967), Vargas Llosa describes the story of a castrated young boy in a macho environment. "Conversation in the Cathedral" (Conversación en La Catedral, 1969) exposes the corruption within Peruvian society during the dictatorship of Manuel Odría (1948–1956). In the satirical novel "Captain Pantoja and the Special Service" (Pantaleón y las visitadoras, 1973), Vargas Llosa portrays the soldiers' desire to regulate even their subordinates' sexual lives.

In the detective novel "Who Killed Palomino Molero?" (Quien mató a Palomino Molero, 1986), the story of a young singer's murder becomes an exploration of the elusive boundaries of truth and justice. Vargas Llosa has also published novels such as "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter" (La tía Julia y el escribidor, 1977), "The War of the End of the World" (La guerra del fin del mundo, 1981), "The Story of Maita" (La historia de Maita, 1984), and an examination of Flaubert's work in "The Perpetual Orgy" (1975).