Un millón de soles. (A Million Suns)
Reviewed by Carlos Rodríguez Martorell, East Elmhurst, NY -- Críticas, 1/15/2008
Benavides, Jorge Eduardo.
Peru/U.S.: Alfaguara: Santillana. 2007. 416p. ISBN 978-9972-232-95-4. pap. $24.99. FICTION
After two political novels centered on Peru’s turbulent 1980s—Los años inútiles and El año que rompí contigo—Spain-based Peruvian Benavides here takes on Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado’s dictatorship (1968–75). Far from your typical “Latin American dictator novel,” this work focuses not so much on the dictator himself but on his circle of ministersin which a young Vladimiro Montesinos takes a prominent role as an early behind-the-scenes conspirator. It’s not the only hint at the origin of Peru’s recent troubles. Alberto Fujimori makes a fleeting appearance as an ambitious student, and a character notes ominously that “We Peruvians long for coup d’états only until we get one. And then we cry for democracy.” In a style inevitably reminiscent of fellow countryman Mario Vargas Llosa (also born in Arequipa), the narrative jumps from one character to another, revealing the military rulers’ thirst for power and sex and their inability to organize anything—from the nationalization of oil to their vast agrarian reform. After a series of economic downturns, Velasco grows increasingly paranoid and turns against his ministers and the press. Meanwhile, journalists and intellectuals compete for the junta’s favor and, when they fall from grace, are deported to Mexico. Structuring his narrative as a succession of mostly indoor scenes of whiskey-fueled conversations, Benavides intelligently maps out the rise and decay of an improvised ruling class, an effective metaphor for the corrosive effects of power. Although ultimately satisfying for its vast reach and scope, the novel could have benefited from a stronger character (Velasco is a vague, largely absent figure) or a more intriguing storyline to make it easier to absorb the multitude of plots, which only seem to reinforce the same point for more than 400 pages. Recommended for both libraries and bookstores with collections on modern Latin American narrative.
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