Rating: 9/10 · Translated from Spanish
- Accuracy: Closely based on the Canudos rebellion of 1896–97 and on Euclides da Cunha’s account of it.
- Readability: Long and complex, but compelling.
- Plot: A religious community in the Brazilian backlands defies the new Republic, and the army is sent to destroy it.
In the 1890s, a mystic known as the Counsellor wanders through the arid backlands of northeastern Brazil, preaching. Thousands follow him to Canudos, where they build a community that rejects the new Republic. The government sends army expeditions to crush them, and the result is a massacre.
Mario Vargas Llosa’s novel is an epic of fanaticism and violence. It follows a wide cast: the Counsellor’s followers, including former bandits and outcasts; a Scottish anarchist who believes Canudos is a revolutionary utopia; a nearsighted journalist; a baron; and army officers.
The novel explores how different people project their beliefs onto Canudos, and how ideology blinds them to reality. The army sees monarchists, the anarchist sees revolutionaries, and the faithful see the end of the world.
Vargas Llosa’s structure is complex, with shifting perspectives and times. The battle scenes are gripping and horrifying.
The weakness is the length and the difficulty of keeping track of characters.
The 9 reflects a masterpiece, Vargas Llosa’s own favourite among his novels and one of the great historical novels of Latin America.
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