Read Around South America Challenge
Read at least one book by an author from each country in South America.
Best books from South America (370)
271.
I the Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos EN
Country: South America / 
Paraguay
Paraguay
Description:
I the Supreme imagines a dialogue between the nineteenth-century Paraguayan dictator known as Dr. Francia and Policarpo Patiño, his secretary and only companion. The opening pages present a sign that they had found nailed to the wall of a cathedral, purportedly written by Dr. Francia himself and ordering the execution of all of his servants upon his death. This sign is quickly revealed to be a forgery, which takes leader and secretary into a larger discussion about the nature of truth: “In the light of what Your Eminence says, even the truth appears to be a lie.” Their conversation broadens in... continue
274.
Madama Sui by Augusto Roa Bastos ES
Country: South America / Paraguay
Paraguay
Description:
Esta historia, tomada del natural, con personajes reales y auténticos, es menos que un relato y más que una invención», advierte Augusto Roa Bastos en las primeras páginas de Madama Sui. De hecho, la protagonista vivió en Paraguay, en los años sesenta y setenta, y su imagen perdura en la memoria colectiva de aquel país. Fue una muchacha excéntrica, mezcla de japonesa y criolla, ante la cual nadie permanecía indiferente. Murió con veinte años. Admiradora de Eva Perón, fue favorita de un extraño dict... continue
275.
The Curse of Nemur : In Search of the Art, Myth, and Ritual of the Ishir by Ticio Escobar EN
Country: South America / Paraguay
Paraguay
Description:
The Tomáraho, a subgroup of the Ishir (Chamacoco) of Paraguay, are one of the few remaining indigenous populations who have managed to keep both their language and spiritual beliefs intact. They have lived for many years in a remote region of the Gran Chaco, having limited contact with European or Latin American cultures. The survival of the Tomáraho has been tenuous at best; at the time of this writing there were only eighty-seven surviving members. Ticio Escobar, who lived extensively among the Tomáraho, draws on his acquired knowledge of Ishir beliefs to confront them with his own Western i... continue
276.
The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa EN
Country: South America / 
Peru
Peru
Description:
Haunted all her life by feelings of terror and emptiness, forty-nine-year-old Urania Cabral returns to her native Dominican Republic - and finds herself reliving the events of l961, when the capital was still called Trujillo City and one old man terrorized a nation of three million. Rafael Trujillo, the depraved ailing dictator whom Dominicans call the Goat, controls his inner circle with a combination of violence and blackmail. In Trujillo's gaudy palace, treachery and cowardice have become a way of life. But Trujillo's grasp is slipping. There is a conspiracy against him, and a Machiavellian... continue
277.
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
Spanning four generations, Isabel Allende's magnificent family saga is populated by a memorable, often eccentric cast of characters. Together, men and women, spirits, the forces of nature, and of history, converge in an unforgettable, wholly absorbing and brilliantly realised novel that is as richly entertaining as it is a masterpiece of modern literature.
278.
On Job by Gustavo Gutiérrez EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
One of this century's most eminent theologians addresses the eternal questions of the relationship of good and evil, linking the story of Job to the lives of the poor and oppressed of our world.
279.
The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
The Time of the Hero has been acclaimed by critics around the world as one of the outstanding Spanish novels of recent decades. In the author's native Peru, this powerful social satire so outraged the authorities that a thousand copies were publicly burned. The novel is set in Leoncio Prado Military Academy in Lima, where a group of cadets attempt to break out of the vicious round of sadistic ragging, military discipline, confinement and boredom. But their pranks set off a cycle of betrayal, murder and revenge which jeopardizes the entire military hierarchy. 'A work of undeniable power and ski... continue
280.
Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa EN
Country: South America / Peru
Peru
Description:
'A comic novel on the grand scale written with tremendous confidence and verve. Mario, 18-year-old law student and radio news-editor, falls scandalously for his Aunt Julia, the 32-year-old divorced wife of a cousin, and the progressively lunatic story of this affair is interwoven with episodes from a series of radio soap-operas written by his friend Pedro Comacho. Vargas Llosa's huge energy and inventiveness is extravagant and fabulously funny.' New Statesman