Conversation in The Cathedral
Mario Vargas Llosa Book Review

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Plot Summary of Conversation in The Cathedral

"The dictatorship of Manuel Odria (1948-1956) has devastated the society of Peru in all its branches, politics, journalism, culture. In the mid fifties, a high-class college student, Santiago Zavala, believes in freedom of expression and, with other partners, rebels against the government, publishing revolutionary papers while studying books on Marxism and Communism.

Soon after, however, Santiago notices his actions don't harm their enemy at all and then he's depressed at the thought that what they're doing might be only a child's battle against grown-ups. He quits the rebellion when he's sent to spend a night in prison after being caught printing papers. Also, Santiago confronts his wealthy father and leaves home. (His father made his fortune by selling medications to state hospitals, through relations with the dictatorship.)

Santiago doesn't believe in himself nor others anymore. Once, his destiny was a place in a law school surrounded by the big shots. Now, in the sixties, being an obscure journalist married to a low-class nurse making enough money to survive, he meets one of his father's bodyguards, Ambrosio. They share some beers in a bar called The Cathedral.

There, they begin to recall the 16-year dictatorship at speed of lightning, with a scene amounting to the next, the past made present through the eyes of Santiago's family members, frustrated love affairs, political partners, betrayed friends and the future Santiago shattered: an individual future which represents a society being taken away of its dreams and hopes."
Augusto Wong Campos, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Conversation in The Cathedral

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - depressed
Time/era of story - 1930's-1950's
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - surviving repressive dictatorship
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 20's-30's
Ethnicity/Nationality - Hispanic/Latinic
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 (a fair amount)
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - South

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - descript of kissing - touching of anatomy - use of artificial tools - orgies - impregnation/reproduction - lesbians! - actual description of hetero sex - descript. of female anat. (the big B's) - descript. of female anat. (the big V) - descript. of nude males (the big P) - male homosexuals doing their thing
Lot of foul language? Yes
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards - a lot of stream of consciousness - No single main character?
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript

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Mario Vargas Llosa Resident Scholar Profiles

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Augusto Wong Campos

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Conversation in The Cathedral
Mario Vargas Llosa Book Review