msgtdameron's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This is a wonderful work. You have two plot lines. One, what is happening with our 18 year old hero,Marito and his Aunt Julia. The other is the slow fall due to over work, early Alzheimer's, plain old senility, take your pick of the greatest script writer and director and producer that Radio Panamericana has ever hired, Pedro Camacho. Based on Llsoa's early life writing in Lima this work is lighthearted and at times very funny, BUT skip the last 16 pages. The falling action will only tick one off. Llsoa should have left the work and printed Fini or The End on pg 359 and the ending would have left you wondering but not ticked. Which is a shame since the whole work until then is really great, but tying up the ends just leaves one slack jawed. Other wise a fantastic read.
_dunno_'s review against another edition
4.0
I declare myself satisfied after this first encounter with Llosa. The novel is funny and autobiographical in part, which makes it even more interesting. Some of the episodes written by the scriptwriter are funny, some less funny, but all written masterfully.
***
pentru o prima intilnire cu llosa, ma declar satisfacuta. regasesc un pattern sud-american, ceea ce e de bine :)
romanul e amuzant, partial biografic, ceea ce-l face si mai interesant. episoadele condeierului sint, unele mai nostime, altele mai putin, dar toate scrise impecabil. pentru asta ii mai dau o steluta lui llosa, ca initial ma gindisem doar la 3. :D
***
pentru o prima intilnire cu llosa, ma declar satisfacuta. regasesc un pattern sud-american, ceea ce e de bine :)
romanul e amuzant, partial biografic, ceea ce-l face si mai interesant. episoadele condeierului sint, unele mai nostime, altele mai putin, dar toate scrise impecabil. pentru asta ii mai dau o steluta lui llosa, ca initial ma gindisem doar la 3. :D
jobatkin's review against another edition
4.0
So many different smaller stories contained within the one novel - all quirky and original and interesting. Marito is a young law student who works at a radio station in Peru, with aspirations of being a writer in the future. He begins a secret romantic fling with his recently divorced Aunt Julia (not a blood relation) which gradually becomes more serious. At the same time, his friendship with the eccentric scriptwriter Pedro Camacho develops, and the fantastical stories from his radio soap opera type scripts are worked into the story, featuring characters such as the man whose baby sister was eaten by rats so he grows up to be the country's best rat exterminator, the bride who is discovered to be pregnant to her brother on her wedding night, and the man who is so tormented by the accidental death of a small child involved in his brutal car accident that he despises children forever. These and other fictional characters all end up being confused into different stories and violently killed off as Pedro loses his grip on sanity, while Marito and Julia's romance turns into a race to find an official willing to marry them despite Marito's age and Julia's divorce. Unexpected, well-written and entertaining.
marilynsaul's review against another edition
1.0
I noticed that one other reviewer ditched this book when it turned misogynistic. I didn't even make it that far. I put it down during the horrible mistreatment of the black stowaway. I realize it was written in a different time, a different place, but cruelty is cruelty and I don't need to read about it.
catarinaduarte30's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
gealach's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant, amusing, absorbing. The chapters alternate between the narrative and a series of interlaced stories.
The narrative is in the first person by "Mario", an eighteen year-old who writes news scripts for the radio while going to law school and experimenting as a real writer. It centers around his relationship with his Aunt Julia and a writer of melodramatic radio serials, Pedro Camacho. In many ways it has the feel of a normal coming of age memoir/novel, albeit a perceptive, funny and well written one. But the greatest interest is Camacho--an intense "artist" who works 14+ hours a day, seven days a week, simultaneously writing and acting in a large number of radio serials.
The series of interlaced stories are like Balzac on acid. Each is ostensibly an independent, extremely melodramatic rendition of a radio serial--all ending with a cliffhanger and reflecting Camacho's strange worldview (e.g., a hatred of Argentine's and a deep belief that men reach the "prime" of their lives in their fifties). The stories get stranger and stranger and characters start migrating between them, sometimes changing names or professions, or coming back to life after they've been killed, and by the end just about all of them die in a bizarre series of cataclysms.
And, of course, the trajectory of Camacho is mirrored in the evolution of the serials themselves.
The narrative is in the first person by "Mario", an eighteen year-old who writes news scripts for the radio while going to law school and experimenting as a real writer. It centers around his relationship with his Aunt Julia and a writer of melodramatic radio serials, Pedro Camacho. In many ways it has the feel of a normal coming of age memoir/novel, albeit a perceptive, funny and well written one. But the greatest interest is Camacho--an intense "artist" who works 14+ hours a day, seven days a week, simultaneously writing and acting in a large number of radio serials.
The series of interlaced stories are like Balzac on acid. Each is ostensibly an independent, extremely melodramatic rendition of a radio serial--all ending with a cliffhanger and reflecting Camacho's strange worldview (e.g., a hatred of Argentine's and a deep belief that men reach the "prime" of their lives in their fifties). The stories get stranger and stranger and characters start migrating between them, sometimes changing names or professions, or coming back to life after they've been killed, and by the end just about all of them die in a bizarre series of cataclysms.
And, of course, the trajectory of Camacho is mirrored in the evolution of the serials themselves.
frostblade's review against another edition
4.0
Am avut mereu impresia ca Mario Vargas Llosa este un scriitor care se structureaza excelent, atat in naratiune cat si in stil, dar care este insa un povestitor oarecum rece, distant si calculat, comparabil mai degraba cu un motor construit intr-o fabrica nemteasca decat cu spiritele ‘inflacarate’ ale autorilor de pe acelasi continent cu scriitorul peruan.
Matusa Julia si condeierul mi-a sters in mare parte aceasta impresie lasata de celelalte carti pe care i le citisem pana in prezent.
Poate si din cauza unui stil mai ‘light’, partial autobiografic (naratorul este un tanar de 18 ani pe nume Mario Vargas, student la drept, redactor pentru un post de radio si scriitor aspirant), scriitura lui Vargas Llosa este simpatica, fluenta si atractiva.
Tanarul redactor de la Radio Panamericana se indragosteste de matusa Julia, o bolivianca divortata, in varsta de 32 de ani, si in paralel se imprieteneste cu un personaj extrem de ciudat, condeierul angajat pentru a scrie si regiza emisiuni de teatru radiofonic.
Iar daca ‘istoria’ tanarului Mario nu este neaparat spectaculoasa, Llosa isi balanseaza romanul prin povestile scurte interpuse de-a lungul capitolelor, povesti care se dovedesc a fi scenariile genialului condeier.
Povestirile contrasteaza prin stil cu ceea ce ar trebui sa ofere in mod normal teatrul radiofonic, avand foarte putin dialog (sau chiar deloc). Cred ca acest contrast se vrea in armonie cu celelalte teme de contradictie din roman: Mario se indragosteste de bolivianca, insa continua sa o numeasca “matusa Julia”, prelungind absurdul acestei idei, iar condierul reprezinta geniul care traieste numai pentru dezvoltarea artei sale, insa nu are nicio sansa de a fi comparat macar cu scriitorii faimosi (care depun mult mai putin efort).
Matusa Julia si condeierul este o experienta simpatica, in special datorita segmentelor oferite de condeier.
Matusa Julia si condeierul mi-a sters in mare parte aceasta impresie lasata de celelalte carti pe care i le citisem pana in prezent.
Poate si din cauza unui stil mai ‘light’, partial autobiografic (naratorul este un tanar de 18 ani pe nume Mario Vargas, student la drept, redactor pentru un post de radio si scriitor aspirant), scriitura lui Vargas Llosa este simpatica, fluenta si atractiva.
Tanarul redactor de la Radio Panamericana se indragosteste de matusa Julia, o bolivianca divortata, in varsta de 32 de ani, si in paralel se imprieteneste cu un personaj extrem de ciudat, condeierul angajat pentru a scrie si regiza emisiuni de teatru radiofonic.
Iar daca ‘istoria’ tanarului Mario nu este neaparat spectaculoasa, Llosa isi balanseaza romanul prin povestile scurte interpuse de-a lungul capitolelor, povesti care se dovedesc a fi scenariile genialului condeier.
Povestirile contrasteaza prin stil cu ceea ce ar trebui sa ofere in mod normal teatrul radiofonic, avand foarte putin dialog (sau chiar deloc). Cred ca acest contrast se vrea in armonie cu celelalte teme de contradictie din roman: Mario se indragosteste de bolivianca, insa continua sa o numeasca “matusa Julia”, prelungind absurdul acestei idei, iar condierul reprezinta geniul care traieste numai pentru dezvoltarea artei sale, insa nu are nicio sansa de a fi comparat macar cu scriitorii faimosi (care depun mult mai putin efort).
Matusa Julia si condeierul este o experienta simpatica, in special datorita segmentelor oferite de condeier.
severusdd's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first book of Mario Vargas ("Varguitas?") Llosa that I chanced upon. It is half part charming, though improbable, romance novel, and half part - surreal, borderline absurdist, fantasy. It's funny in many parts, gripping in many others.
I found the periodic interludes of Pedro Camacho's ("the screenwriter") serials to be particularly innovative. They start simply, and gradually grow in their absurdist complexity. The characters, especially the protagonists, have been crafted with lots of personal details and imperfection. That makes them incredibly next-door, even though the circumstances and events are pretty extraordinary
A thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing read!
I found the periodic interludes of Pedro Camacho's ("the screenwriter") serials to be particularly innovative. They start simply, and gradually grow in their absurdist complexity. The characters, especially the protagonists, have been crafted with lots of personal details and imperfection. That makes them incredibly next-door, even though the circumstances and events are pretty extraordinary
A thoroughly enjoyable and intriguing read!