Tale of humour and pathos ...

Mario Vargas Llosa's latest novel, "The Discreet Hero", is really about two "heroes", both of whom are successful in their respective professions but face challenges in their lives because of their prosperity. As in his earlier book, "The Way to Paradise" (reviewed in these pages January 12, 2015),Mario Vargas Llosa tracks the life and struggles of these two businessmen in alternate chapters of his novel, and finally guides the reader to a resolution of the dual crises in a unique fashion that only a masterful storyteller of his caliber is able to pull off without making it appear too melodramatic.

Mario Vargas Llosais a Peruvian writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010 which was awarded to him, "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat,"to quote from the citation of the Nobel Committee. I have been an avid reader of Vargas llosa since I read his "Bad Girl" in one breath. Subsequently, I have enjoyed reading his "Feast of the Goat", a political novel about the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, "The Dream of the Celt" a biography of the Irish revolutionary Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916) known for investigating human rights abuses of indigenous peoples in the Congo and the Putumayo District of Peru, and "The Way to Paradise" about the life and times of two artists, Paul Gaugin and Flora Tristan.

"The Discreet Hero" which was translated from the Spanish in 2015 follows two businessmen in Peru whose lives have been thrown into turmoil by their own children who hatch elaborate plans to extract money from their fathers. The narratives detail the adversities they face and how they hatch counter-plans to foil the scheming off springs. Felícito Yanaqué is the owner of trucking company in the coastal city of Piura in Peru who finds himself the victim of blackmail by his son who comes up with a plan with his young mistress. The other hero, Ismael Carreraa successful owner of an insurance company in Lima, the capital of Peru, was recently widowed and remarried his maid, Armida. Ismael works with his long-time associate Don Rigoberto and lays out a counter-plan to avenge himself against the two lazy sons who want him dead. While this is not one of Vargas Llosa's best stories, it has humor and pathos, as well as lots of twists and turns, and these features are well preserved in the masterful translation of Edith Grossman. 

The book has twenty chapters, ten chapters for each of the two protagonists' stories, and the narrative alternates between the two threads.  The first chapter begins with Felicito Yanaque's regular early morning routine which is today spiced up with a letter he receives from an anonymous extortionist demanding payments for protection against "any accident, unpleasantness, or threat from criminal elements". The second chapter then introduces the other hero of this novel, Ismael Carrera, and his retiring second-in-command, Don Rigoberto. Ismael's two sons have burned through a lot of money from their father and now want to deny his new wife, Armida, any share of the fortune that he might leave behind after his death. 

The two sons of Ismail hope to enlist Don Rigoberto in their scheme. In one gripping exchange that takes place in Rigoberto's living room when the two brothers confront him and elaborate their legal maneuvers to annul their father's marriage, one of them pronounces,

"A wedding, by the way, that's worthless because it's pure garbage," Escobito corrected his brother. "A travesty without the slightest legal standing. You know that too, uncle; you're not a lawyer for nothing. So let's talk turkey, if you don't mind, and call a spade a spade."

Vargas llosa does not hesitate to use colorful words such as "chola", a half-breed to describe Armida, and liberally punctuates his dialogues with four-letter words that I have not seen in "discreet" novels. But, given that the events are happening in the rough and tumble word of the Peruvian underworld, his choice of anecdotes, phrases, and flowery language gives a genuine flavor of real life in the market and non-market economies of Peru which is still a developing country. I was quite piqued by Vargas llosa's allusion to "casa chica", a love nest that Felicito built for his mistress Mabel with a monthly allowance for her. "Casa chica" literally translates to "a small house", in which a man houses "a secondary family with wife and children which some married men kept apart from their primary family (the big house). The man bears the cost of this second family and visits with variable frequency, but its members have less than the 'legitimate' social rank, and no formal ties of marriage between him and the other woman."

Before Felicito came to this arrangement with her, Mabel was available to all clients for money, and he was hoping that she would be in a dedicated relationship with him. As he finds out, his own son also cherishes Mabel, forces her to regularly sleep with him, and finally persuades her to be part of the conspiracy to blackmail his unsuspecting father. 

The novel has all the hallmarks of Vargas Llosa's unique skills. To connect with the reader with his easy-flowing style; his ability to detail the lives of ordinary people; the choice of words, phrases, and metaphors that enhance the reader's sense of the world where the characters of the novel live and negotiate; and his skills as a story-teller that make each page a must-read. Unlike his other books, almost all the drama takes place in Peru and the reader comes away with a fresh insight into its society as it transitions from a medieval backwater to a modern market-based global economy. The choice of the transport company, which Felicito owns, and the insurance company that Ismael built up, both of which are symbols of globalization, can also be seen as Vargas Llosa's attempt to go back to his roots as a native son. While he now spends most of his time in his adopted country Spain, the novel reminds us once again that he is a Peruvian first and still draws his intellectual sustenance from its rich culture and heritage.   

The reviewer is a regular contributor to this page, lives and works in Boston, USA.