Fernando del Paso: 3 books that you should read after his death

In LatinAmerican Post we remember the Mexican writer Fernando del Paso, who died on November 14 at 83 years old

On November 14, the Mexican writer Fernando del Paso died. He was the winner of the Cervantes Prize in 2015, one of the most important awards in Spanish literature that seeks to recognize the work of Spanish and Latin American writers. From 1958 to 2015, this author published more than 20 books, whose work ranges from novels, short stories and poetry, to theater and essays.

Leer en español: Fernando del Paso: 3 obras que deberías leer después de su muerte

As a writer, Del Paso was considered "one of the great stylists and innovators of Castilian prose" for its integrative capacity of elements such as history, humor or politics", as explained in Instituto Cervantes on its website.

Beyond this, this letter's lover was also a painter and draftsman. This was an artistic facet that he showed on several occasions and which he considered a revenge from his "left hand to the act of writing". He was also a diplomat, academic and even an announcer. Without a doubt, this Mexican's career was both outstanding and prolific. For that reason, we have decided to honor his memory by collecting three of his most recognized works.

 It may interest you: Latam BookLook: "In the Beginning Was the Sea" by Tomás González 

José Trigo

This is the first novel that Del Paso wrote, which was published in 1966 and with which he received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award. However, Del Paso once said in an interview with the Economic Culture Fund (FCE) that he did not recommend it to first-time readers because of its complexity. In spite of this, it deserves a place in this list because of its Rulfian influence, insofar as in this work one can also find that air of loneliness, death, desolation, and despair present in Pedro Páramo, as he said.

According to Goodreads, the work "tells us the life of José Trigo and with it that of the trains that left and arrived at the Nonoalco-Tlatelolco station, but on the same anecdote of his character, simultaneous with the recreation of the railway environment in a moment determined of the life of Mexico, the author has constructed a total evocation of the history of his country, from its origins to the present time ".

We recommend: Latam BookLook: "House of Beauty" by Melba Escobar

Palinuro of Mexico

Published in 1977 by him, Palinuro de México is the second novel written by Del Paso. This tells an overflowing love story between a medical student named Palinuro and his cousin sister Estefanía, who for years satisfy "their incestuous desires and their most extravagant fantasies in a room in the Plaza de Santo Domingo in Mexico City"

According to the FCE, "with a virtuoso style full of vertiginous word games and verbal experiments, the great Mexican author Del Paso offers us the pleasure of reading to taste, that you want to savor little by little in order to feel all the flavors and textures that make up this playful, grotesque, critical and fantastic work ". A must for lovers of the narrative of Del Paso.

News of the Empire

Another great work of the Mexican writer and his third novel, published in 1987 and with which he won the Mazatlan Prize for Literature. It is based on the Empress Carlota of Mexico and is inscribed on a date after the death of her husband, Emperor Maximilian I. The novels of Del Paso may not be the simplest or the shortest, but undoubtedly your narrative will immerse you in the look of this female character who has succumbed to tragedy and madness.

According to Goodreads, "60 years have passed since the death of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg." Reclining at the Bouchot Castle and surrounded by madness, Carlota testifies to the tragic and ephemeral Second Mexican Empire, of love for her husband shot and for a time The Empress' voice, unbridled, lucid and delirious, is a reflection of a world that disappears and of which she is the last witness ".

What did you think? Would you dare to read them? What works of Fernando del Paso do you recommend?

LatinAmerican Post | Diana Rojas Leal

Translated from "Fernando del Paso: 3 obras que deberías leer después de su muerte"

Listen this article