Brain Pain discussion

Juan Rulfo’s novel Pedro Páramo was first published in 1955. It has been translated into several languages and has sold well over a million copies worldwide.

Wikipedia link for Juan Rulfo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Rulfo


Wikipedia link for Pedro Páramo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_P%...


Feel free to use this thread to ask questions and post links to resources for Juan Rulfo and Pedro Páramo.

Also, if you’ve written a review of the book, please post a link to share with the group.

There is a beautiful edition of this book published by The University of Texas Press. It contains photographs by Josephine Sacabo that complement the text. It is not for sale in Europe but you can view some of the photo spreads here:

http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/r...

Jenny wrote: "There is a beautiful edition of this book published by The University of Texas Press. It contains photographs by Josephine Sacabo that complement the text. It is not for sale in Europe but you ca..."

Luckily, thanks to the internet, there's no such thing as 'not for sale in X'

The pics look mysterious and a perfect match for the text. Thanks for the link!

I'm so excited-I have my copy (a used one in pretty good condition) & have started reading. Spring break was good for my reading (I was going to do a lot of work but that didn't happen). I don't have one with photos but I'll check that out now.

Ellie wrote: "I'm so excited-I have my copy (a used one in pretty good condition) & have started reading. Spring break was good for my reading (I was going to do a lot of work but that didn't happen). I don't ha..."

It's a quick read and can be done in a day or two. I split it into 2 weeks to lengthen the discussion a bit.

I'm ridiculously late to this discussion, so I'll just add a couple of cents.

Juan Rulfo was a supreme stylist. You really get a feel for just how good he was in El Llano en Llamas (The Burning Plain). They're a series of short stories set in the Mexican hinterland portraying the suffering of rural communities during and after the revolution. I'll be perfectly honest and say, I'm not a fan of the short-story form, but these, to my mind, are exquisite, for their humanity, for their dread beauty.

Juan Rulfo often gets lumped in with the Latin American boom period. But he really was a precursor. Or maybe progenitor would be a better choice of word. Gabriel Garcia Marquez claims to have been reading Pedro Paramo on a journey through somewhere in Central America (if I remember correctly), when the opening sequences and indeed entire first chapter just appeared in his head.

These short pieces took a long time to write. They're masterful for what they are. I'll return to them at some stage.

By the way. Interesting choice. Outside of Latin America, I know very few people who have read or even heard of him.

Liam wrote: "I'm ridiculously late to this discussion, so I'll just add a couple of cents.

Juan Rulfo was a supreme stylist. You really get a feel for just how good he was in El Llano en Llamas (The Burning Pl..."

Good recommendation. I should bump this up my tbr list

Sharing some material that I found useful for a better understanding of this book:

A Special Introduction to Rulfo's Pedro Paramo from the University of Texas Press:
http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpt...

Redefining Epic and Novel through Rulfo's Pedro Páramo and Rivera's Y no se lo tragó la tierra [eScholarship]:

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/2rb2t137#

Also a review of sorts:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mala wrote: "Sharing some material that I found useful for a better understanding of this book:

A Special Introduction to Rulfo's Pedro Paramo from the University of Texas Press:
http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/..."

Thanks for the links!