MARIO VARGAS LLOSA, 1936-2025: A STRANGE, MOST ASTONISHING CONTRAST

The Peruvian master, who passed away on April 13, may have swung from left to right in his political beliefs but leaves behind a controversial legacy as a writer, essayist and politician. Llosa was one of the foremost writers of the 'Latin American boom'

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One winter, many years ago, I was gifted a ticket to witness the Republic Day parade: the kind of gift you cannot refuse without offending the giver, and the kind of giver you cannot afford to offend. I grudgingly took myself to the venue, bereft of all distractions other than a novel clutched under my arm, a shield against the hours of tedium to follow.

At the entrance I was stopped, and informed that my book could proceed no further. I protested, held the pages up to the light, and pleaded that in no way was this creased paperback a security threat to no avail. The book was confiscated, and I proceeded empty-handed to witness the celebration of the Republic. Once I was safely out of the security guard's earshot, I muttered, "at least enjoy the novel. It's all about military idiocy."

The book was The Time of the Hero, the 1963 debut novel of the Peruvian writer, Mario Vargas Llosa who would no doubt have smiled to hear of this anecdote.

Vargas Llosa passed away on April 13, leaving behind a storied and controversial legacy as writer, essayist, and politician.

One of the foremost writers of what is popularly known as the "Latin American boom," Vargas Llosa began his career sharing the anti-authoritarian, left-wing instincts of many of his contemporaries,

such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Julio Cortazar. Unlike them, however, he ended his career (and his life) as a partisan of right-wing politics, a supporter of Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei, a votary of Friedrich Hayek, and a frequently conservative commentator in the pages of Spain's largest newspaper, El Pais. In the middle of all this, there was also a failed presidential run in the Peruvian election of 1990 - something that Latin American writers and poets are no strangers to.

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