Reasons of State by Alejo Carpentier
Requirements: ePUB reader, 2.12 MB
Overview: This is one of Alejo Carpentier’s last novels, written when he was in his 70s. It begins early in 1914, a few months before the outbreak of World War I, and it ends (probably) in the mid-1920s–exactly when isn’t clear. It tells the story of the rise and ultimate fall of the dictator of an unnamed South American country.
The dictator is never named. Throughout the book he is referred to as the Head of State, or, occasionally, as the Dictator. When the novel begins, the dictator has been in power for about 20 years, and he is on an extended vacation is Paris. He is living a somewhat debauched life of luxury, living in a luxurious house replete with a cadre of servants and frequent upscale brothels where his fantasies are attended to. He is accorded all the respect and deference that a head of state might expect, and he has entree into all the salons of Paris society. His stature as head of state is apparently assisted by his considerable charm. World War I breaks out, and around the same time he receives word that there has been an uprising and coup attempt at home. Although the rebels have succeeded in winning over much of the country, some parts of the country are still loyal to him. He returns home and suppresses the rebellion with extreme brutality. Feeling secure in his position, he returns to Paris to continue his debauchery. However, he finds that he is now being shunned by the very Paris society that had previously accepted him; doors that were previously open are now closed. Why? Because, unknown to him, pictures of the slaughter that accompanied his suppression have been widely published in the Paris press. While he is bemoaning his ostracism by the Paris elite, he learns that another rebellion is taking place, this time being led by the very general who had helped suppress the first rebellion. He returns home and successfully suppresses this rebellion as well, although with much less brutality than the previous time. After putting down the second rebellion, he wisely decides that he had better stay at home and tend to running his country.
This book is a very caustic satirical account of the history of a Latin American dictatorship, and it is Carpentier’s intent for the viewer to regard this dictatorship as somewhat prototypical of Latin American dictatorships, or perhaps dictatorships everywhere. Carpentier seems to be saying that the history of Latin America is so bizarre, so down right weird, as to seem unreal. For example, in this book the dictator, at one point, in an attempt to suppress Communism and any other left-wing movements, bans all books with a "red" influence. This leads to the suppression of, in addition to some genuine revolutionary literature, "the Red and the Black" by Stendhal and "The Scarlet Letter" by Hawthorne. When a bookseller sarcastically asks if he should stop selling "Little Red Riding Hood" as well, he is immediately arrested. This may seem surreal until we realize that during the McCarthy era there were many to wanted to ban Robin Hood stories as exhibiting a Communist influence. At another point in the book during World War I, the dictator has his government declare war against Germany solely to give him the chance to seize several German ships, and more importantly their cargo, that had been docked in the harbor.
Genre: Fiction /Classics
Download Instructions:
http://gestyy.com/wLs6e5
Mirror:
http://gestyy.com/wLs6e8
