Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (and my overflowing enthusiasm)
I love when people move, especially when they are readers. My radio partner, Isabelle, gave me a few of her books to unload a bit. I thought she was giving them away randomly to people she knew, but apparently not... It was right up my alley, and I enjoyed like I would candy.
The 18-year-old Varguitas works at the Panamericana radio station, a job that consists of cutting out the interesting news from the newspapers and rearranging them so that they can be read on the radio. On the side, he has to keep an eye on his colleague Pascual, who is obsessed with news about accidents, disasters and murders and has the annoying tendency to devote an entire news bulletin to a bloody battle between street gangs.
A newcomer in the family catches his eye: Aunt Julia, the sister of his uncle's wife. Divorced, 32 years old, she laughs a lot, finds Varguitas cute as a kid and is looking for a new husband.
The chapter ends. Then begins a whole new story that has absolutely nothing to do with the first one. At least that's what we think. It would have been to Pascual's taste: dramatic to the point of caricature. A handsome doctor in his fifties is about to attend the wedding of his niece to a nice but stupid little redhead. He feels a little bad for thinking this way, but at the gym where he practices with his nephew, the latter confirms his impressions. The redhead is an idiot, a happy idiot. He definitely makes a strange couple with the doctor's niece, the most beautiful and sparkling woman in town. The nephew, looking furious, lifts his weights with his Apollo biceps, while the coach calls them corpses. It's a hilarious scene.
The splendid wedding begins. Everyone dances, while the bride's brother, drunk as a skunk, broods under a tree. Suddenly, the bride collapses on the dance floor. The doctor takes her to her room, and finds out that she is pregnant... four months pregnant. The redhead doesn't know. But who could she be pregnant with? The doctor, catastrophized, sees his nephew who seems close to suicide, and a terrible doubt takes hold of him...
End of the second chapter. I return to the main story, shaken, amused, amazed. The story was funny, surprising, and remarkably well written. The kind of story where you spend as much time admiring the writing as enjoying the story.
We alternate between the love story between the little journalist and his aunt Julia and some incredible stories, each one more funny, dramatic and original than the other. I finally understood the link between all these stories, but after many disconcerting chapters.
My enthusiasm for this novel is overwhelming. I must have told my loved ones about it at least five times, and they had to beg me not to reveal all the punchlines. It took me a while to read it, because like every time I come across a gem, I want to set aside some quality time to read aloud, in silence and with full concentration.
Thanks Isabelle!
La tante Julia et le scribouillard
Mario Vargas Llosa
17,96 $
