Vargas Llosa and Pushkin

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Clarissa

November 14, 2011

So we went to Mario Vargas Llosa’s event at St. Louis University today.

When I saw Vargas Llosa right in front of me I became very agitated. I tried explaining to N why I was getting so emotional.

“Imagine if that was live Pushkin sitting there!” I said. “How would you feel?”

“Pushkin already is sitting right in the middle of every Russian’s soul,” N deadpanned.

The last time I saw a queue as long as the one people formed to have their books signed by Vargas Llosa was in 1990 in St. Petersoburgh when people were lining up to buy ice-cream in the -30 C weather.

When I came up to the writer and gave him my copy of one of his books to sign, I got so nervous that I suddenly spoke to him in a strong Spanish accent.

“You are from Spain?” Vargas Llosa concluded. “I love Spain.”

I’ll post more on the actual event tomorrow.

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8 responses to “Vargas Llosa and Pushkin”

llama

November 15, 2011

LOL and you have convinced yet another Spanish speaker that you are a native Spanish speaker.

DId people in Leningrad/St. Petersburg really line up in minus 30 centigrade too buy ice-cream or was that “-” accidental?

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 15, 2011
  
  I was one of those people who lined up in freezing cold to get ice-cream.
  
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Ol.

November 15, 2011

Or course MVLl loves Spain;)

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Pub Editor

November 15, 2011

I don’t know if you saw this already, but Vargas Llosa had an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal last week:
http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2011/11/mario-vargas-llosa-on-liberty.html

It’s a good sign that Vargas Llosa drew such a big crowd in St. Louis.

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Pub Editor

November 15, 2011

By the way (and you may have covered this elsewhere), if you were giving a recommendation, to someone who has not read any Vargas Llosa before: which of his novels would be a good choice to read first?

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1. Pub Editor
  
  November 15, 2011
  
  Never mind, I just reread the post from last Wednesday where you recommend Cubs.
  
  What are your thoughts on Conversation in the Cathedral?
  
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  1. bloggerclarissa
    
    November 15, 2011
    
    That’s the book I got MVL to sign for me. 🙂
    
    LOVE IT!
    
    As for the writer’s political beliefs, they are frighteningly inane. The funny thing, though, is that he keeps praising free markets and wild capitalism and then publishes a novel (his most recent one) that is a passionate indictment of wild capitalism and free markets. The writer in him always defeats an ideologue, which is great.
    
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Ol.

November 15, 2011

Hum… he is a Liberal, so obviously he ends up struggling with ideological deadlocks. I do not think that the writer in him defeats the ideologue, thus.

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