Death in the Andes

Description

En un campamento minero de las montañas de Perú, el cabo Lituma y su adjunto Tomás viven bajo la constante amenaza de los guerrilleros maoístas de Sendero Luminoso, debatiéndose con misterios sin aclarar, como ciertas desapariciones inexplicables, y con el trasfondo de sus historias íntimas. La novela examina las tácticas y motivaciones de los maoístas, pero sitúa su violencia en el contexto de un mundo más antiguo donde la vida es brutal, y en una sociedad que está al margen de la modernidad. Hay mucho realismo mágico, y abundantes referencias a la antigua espiritualidad indígena y al folclore andino. ---------- Intermingling past and present, the corporeal and the spiritual, *Death in the Andes* offers a panoramic view of contemporary Peru, telling the story of the disappearance of three men from a remote Andean village and the soldiers called in to investigate.

Description

The novel tells the story of army corporal Lituma and his deputy Tomas, who have been assigned to treacherous guard duty in an isolated, run-down mining community in the mountains of Peru. The men are homesick and far from enthusiastic about serving as foot soldiers in the Peruvian Army's ongoing war against the Shining Path guerrillas. So, to pass the time, Tomas tells the story of his great love, Mercedes, a troublemaking prostitute who leads him on a precarious, cross-country adventure. But life in the Andes soon turns eventful, too. Lituma and Tomas find themselves caught up in a series of mysterious disappearances involving the Shining Path and, soon enough, a local couple performing cannibalistic sacrifices with a strange similarity to the Dionysian rituals of ancient Greece. . Part detective novel and part political allegory, Death in the Andes offers a panoramic view of Peru today - not only of the current political violence and social upheaval but also of the country's roots in Indian culture and pre-Hispanic mysticism.

Subjects

Other Editions

• Death in the AndesHardcoverFarrar, Straus and Giroux1996-01-01
• Andien miesHardcoverOtava1995-01-01
• Death in the AndesHardcoverFaber and Faber1996-01-01
• Death in the AndesPaperbackPicador1996-01-01
• Tod in den AndenPaperbackSuhrkamp1997-01-01
• Lituma w AndachPaperbackDom Wydawniczy Rebis1998-01-01