In the early works from Arequipa, the author produced a bold literary unit made up of City and Dogs, green house, and Speech in the Cathedral. These novels share a vast epic breath and a symphonic aim that seeks wholeness. The reading experience relies on an active reader, as the range of voices, settings, and characters expands with each page. Diversity, circularity, perspective, fragmentation, vivacity of language, and technical mastery all contribute to a sense of a single, overarching project. The result is a fiction that resists easy summation, yet remains a strong imprint of the author’s ambition to render a reality, often rooted in Peru, with artistic autonomy across works.
In the most recent novels this reflexivity becomes even more pronounced. Heaven in the other corner, bad girl jokes, Celtic Dream, and Five corners show a turn toward essayist concerns within fiction. The work being produced appears to stand at the threshold between novel and essay. A review chronicles the tale of guitarist Lalo Molfino, who one night captivates a scholar of Creole music named Toño Azpilcueta with his virtuosity. The emphasis is not merely on dexterous fingers but on wisdom, concentration, and mastery that seem almost miraculous. The reaction of the audience mirrors a deep silence and a collective memory of music and people. The guitarist is envisioned as a symbol of Peru s past vitality, whose trajectory motivates a broader inquiry into oblivion and national culture. The project seeks to fuse a national history with the art of music, offering a posthumous tribute and a contribution toward addressing enduring national questions, including how a fractured country could become whole again.
To write about Molfino Azpilcueta, the author travels to the birthplace, converses with family and friends who knew him, and investigates the ascent of a virtuoso. The book is imagined as a work grounded in meticulous research, designed to reconnect the nation with its hidden musical thread and to ask crucial questions about the country s divisions along geography and allegiances. Could a single volume reveal the Peruvian soul in a way that diverse citizens might recognize and remember what binds them together?
Writers in Latin America are not seen as bad as before
There is a double self reference that has persisted since Aunt Julia and the Writer. The narrative treats a manuscript that will be read even beyond the borders. The story of Lalo Molfino becomes a vehicle for exploring history, culture, traditions, and politics in Peru. The utopian premise is that unity will come not from political forces alone but through composers and singers of traditional forms and even through the very spirit of huachafería, a term denoting a bold vitality. A notable chapter examines how this cultural lens shapes the way the world is understood and organized.
With a precise sense of narrative rhythm, careful attention to data and references drawn from deep research, and a talent for dialogue that moves without relying on visuals, the author approaches a project that blends fiction with essayistic inquiry. The writing turns away from conventional storytelling tools, aiming to illuminate the relationship between culture, history, and literature. The result challenges traditional boundaries and presents a bold call to place culture at the center of discussions about a country’s future. The author maintains a critical stance toward past myths, while foregrounding a persistent struggle between individuals and the social forces that shape their world.