The Discreet Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa: book review

The Discreet Hero (2015) is a comedic story by Mario Vargas Llosa, the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature winner.

Felícito Yanaqué owns a transport company in Piura, Peru. Ismael Carrera, aged about 75-80, owns an insurance company in Lima, the capital of Peru. Felícito is being blackmailed. Ismael has two lazy twin sons, Miki and Escobita, who want their father dead so that they can have his money.

Two different men from two different cities. Both are good men. Both are about 75 or 80 years old. Which one is the discreet hero?

Felícito goes to the police station to file a complaint against the blackmailer. The police think blackmail is the price of progress and do nothing. Felícito thinks a man should not let anybody walk all over him, and vows to take the matter in his own hands.

Ismael, too, vows to take the matter in his own hands. Ismael’s actions involve Armida, the sister of Gertrudis, who is Felícito’s wife. The two sisters bring the lives of the two men together.

This intriguing tale is more than a tale of two men, two sisters, and two sons. In their quest to rebel against the unfairness of life, the actions of the two men have consequences for all. They want their lives to change, and change it does. I loved the human psychology and character insight of this novel, as well as its simple, funny, and witty style.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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