- Hardcover
- Publisher: Northwestern Univ Pr (June 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 8447301877
- ISBN-13: 978-0810110212
- ASIN: 0810110210
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
First published in Mexico in 1955, Rulfo's ( The Burning Plain and Other Stories ) only novelpk is a modern classic. The opening of this brief yet complex work is deceptively simple: Juan Preciado has promised his dying mother that he will visit Comala, her hometown, and search for his father, Pedro Paramo. His mother's words lead Juan to expect a "beautiful view of a green plain," but instead he finds a ghost town and learns that Pedro is already dead. Commingling past and present, obliterating the boundary between life and death (spirits walk the earth and corpses converse in their graves), the story depicts this small town "at the very mouth of hell" and Pedro, a man whom one local resident describes as "living bile." An autocratic and amoral patron, Pedro resorted to deception, thievery and murder to get what he wanted. Yet the thing he wanted most--the love of Susana San Juan--remained forever out of reach as Susana, desolated by the loss of her first husband, retreated into madness and then into death. Peden's lucid translation does justice to a tale that is firmly rooted in its own culture yet so fundamentally human in its focus that it speaks across cultural borders.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
Octavio Paz has said that Juan Rulfo 'is the only Mexican novelist who has given us an image—instead of just a description—of our landscape.' By the same token we could say that Josephine Sacabo is the only photographer who has given us an image of that most elusive of landscapes conceived by Juan Rulfo—Comala. (Buenos Aires Herald )
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
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First Sentence
I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Paramo, lived there. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Paramo, lived there. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pedro Paramo,
By
This review is from: Pedro Paramo (Paperback)
Short review - AmazingLong review - I was very impressed with this book. The story - if it can be summed up so simply - is of a man who goes to the town where his father lived on the request of his deceased mother. He wanders about the dead town, running into the ghosts of previous residents, discussing his father with them and getting a glimpse into their lives. The story soon shifts focus away from him - and the 'I' narration - and instead moves about from person to person, each little experience illuminating the life of his father, Pedra Paramo, in greater detail. In some people's minds he was a villain, in others, a good man, in others, simply a rich man who did what rich men do. Occasionally little snippets of conversation float through the book, often these aren't attributed to anyone and would require a re-read to recognise as the reader becomes more familiar with the characters. Later, the narration moves away from 'he said she said' back to 'I', but this time the 'I' is Pedro himself. Here he pines for his dead wife, Susana, and his thoughts are only of love and glorifying her image. Yet, generally in sections immediately following it, we witness scenes where he either takes part in or is a silent witness to horrible deeds, so we are left to wonder just what sort of man Pedro Paramo is? And the best part of the book is that it does not try to answer this for us. Gabriel Garcia Marquez lists Rulfo as one of the two great influences of his life, as well as Kafka's Metamorphosis, and it shows. In Comala, people who die never really leave and an air of magic and realistic exaggeration (if that makes sense) permeates every person and every action. The seeds of Macondo (from 100 Years of Solitude) are more than evident here, in some ways this seems like the skeleton novella for Marquez's masterpiece. Often this was a bad thing, in that I felt I was getting a watered down version, but in other ways it was simply amazing to read another take - and the original Latin American take - on magic surrealism. This book is short, 124 pages, and a quick read. I highly recommend it, particularly if you enjoy Marquez.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the best books ever writen,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pedro Paramo (Paperback)
Not to much to say about Pedro Paramo.After finishing this book Rulfo himself stopped writing because he felt that it was to much a creepy experience for him. That's the intesinty this books has. Also it's higly recomended that you read it in spanish, or make sure that it's a good translation because the language is fundamental to enjoy it. top 10 on my list.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fellow "IB-ers",
By Veronica (Castle Rock, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pedro Paramo (Paperback)
This is by far the most confusing book I've ever read. Within the first paragraphs of the novel Rulfo grasps the reader's attention and pulls them into an unknown magical world...Comala. The never ending themes of ghosts, death, whispering, and love draw in a reader's every bit of imagination. After a first reading I was completely lost and most definitely would not feel comfortable with writing a full blown review. Although I strongly feel I need to read this book again to understand it one of the things I love about Pedro Paramo is that the reader is so confused! You keep reading, hoping a key passage will illuminate what this book really means! It's essential to keep an open mind while reading, there are so many angles you can look at this novel from. It truly is a remarkable piece of work, so be patient! Who knows? Rulfo's odd sense of style could be something you relate to the most! Good luck reading!
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