02-24-2009, 02:58 PM
In this historical novel, Mario presents the lives of two famous people.
One is Flora Tristan, a big-eyed beauty who turned her back on countless opportunities and ended a passionate relationship with another woman to devote herself entirely to social reform. She had at least two goals in mind. One was to give women equality with men; the other was to form a global worker's union to improve the horrible work conditions of common laborers. Flora had ample reason to be riled. There was her brute of a husband, whom she left, only to be punished by the courts for doing so. She lost custody of her two chiddren to him, even though he was a jobless drunkard. At one point he tracked her down and shot her in the chest. The bullet remained lodged in her chest for the rest of her life, too close to her heart to remove, causeing health problems. As one additional spiteful act, her husband -- who refused to give her a divorce -- raped their daughter Aline.
Aline grew up, got married, and gave birth to Paul Gauguin. Yes, Flora Tristan was Gauguin's grandmother. And Gauguin's later life makes up the other thread in this novel.
So essentially there is an interleaved counterpoint between Flora Tristan the social reformist and Paul Gauguin the savage of the art world. Both suffered greatly -- Flora in ill health but traveling endlessly to meet with idiots and the bourgeoisie to little gain; Gauguin trying to paint and live the life of a savage in Tahiti, but wracked with ever-worsening flare-ups of the "unspeakable disease" (syphilis) that eventually ended his life.
This is not Mario Vargas Llosa's best novel, nor even close. His best, in my opinion, is Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, a tour de force of storytelling and character development. The problem with this novel is that Flora's thread is less interesting and very repetitious. She goes to a new place, is treated like crap, gets ill, meets with ignoramuses and aloof businessmen, she lectures and tells people off, and the same thing happens all over again in her next chapter. Gauguin's thread is much more interesting, though painful to read because of the detailed descriptions of his illness.
But I'm glad I read the whole book. It makes me realize just how bad the worker's plight was just 140 years ago (absolutely appalling conditions and long hours). And I found inspiration in Gauguin's dogged, uncompromising and savage approach to art even as he was made miserable by his "unspeakable disease."
One is Flora Tristan, a big-eyed beauty who turned her back on countless opportunities and ended a passionate relationship with another woman to devote herself entirely to social reform. She had at least two goals in mind. One was to give women equality with men; the other was to form a global worker's union to improve the horrible work conditions of common laborers. Flora had ample reason to be riled. There was her brute of a husband, whom she left, only to be punished by the courts for doing so. She lost custody of her two chiddren to him, even though he was a jobless drunkard. At one point he tracked her down and shot her in the chest. The bullet remained lodged in her chest for the rest of her life, too close to her heart to remove, causeing health problems. As one additional spiteful act, her husband -- who refused to give her a divorce -- raped their daughter Aline.
Aline grew up, got married, and gave birth to Paul Gauguin. Yes, Flora Tristan was Gauguin's grandmother. And Gauguin's later life makes up the other thread in this novel.
So essentially there is an interleaved counterpoint between Flora Tristan the social reformist and Paul Gauguin the savage of the art world. Both suffered greatly -- Flora in ill health but traveling endlessly to meet with idiots and the bourgeoisie to little gain; Gauguin trying to paint and live the life of a savage in Tahiti, but wracked with ever-worsening flare-ups of the "unspeakable disease" (syphilis) that eventually ended his life.
This is not Mario Vargas Llosa's best novel, nor even close. His best, in my opinion, is Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, a tour de force of storytelling and character development. The problem with this novel is that Flora's thread is less interesting and very repetitious. She goes to a new place, is treated like crap, gets ill, meets with ignoramuses and aloof businessmen, she lectures and tells people off, and the same thing happens all over again in her next chapter. Gauguin's thread is much more interesting, though painful to read because of the detailed descriptions of his illness.
But I'm glad I read the whole book. It makes me realize just how bad the worker's plight was just 140 years ago (absolutely appalling conditions and long hours). And I found inspiration in Gauguin's dogged, uncompromising and savage approach to art even as he was made miserable by his "unspeakable disease."