R.I.P., Carlos Fuentes

I remember him from my Latin American Studies days. RIP Señor Fuentes.

I started reading The Death of Artemio Cruz last year, was getting interested, and then put it down to pick one of my weakness books, some police procedural type thing - the good ones of those being like candy bars to me. Still have the Cruz book on my stack, now I want to move it up in line.

Vaya con Dios y descanse en paz, Carlos.

No cuttar en proxima la planta por favor

Some a2k comments on Carlos Fuentes in the past -

Fbaezer on the thread on latin american writers and books:
Carlos Fuentes is a very prolific prosist, and has written some classics: La Región Más Transparente, La Muerte de Artemio Cruz, Aura, Las Buenas Conciencias, novels, and Cantar de Ciegos, short-stories rank among the best. He has ordered all his works around a gigantic project of social Mexico. Fuentes is incredibly talented, and, IMHO, would be a masterpiece machine if he took longer to polish some of his works and leaned less on both linguistic and social commonplaces.

Beedlesquoink:
The best lengthy ghost story I've encountered would have to be Carlos Fuentes' Aura... it's not so much terrifying as it is disturbingly thought provoking.

A Fuentes quote by Endymion:
“Writing is a struggle against silence.” ~Carlos Fuentes

Myself in the What book are you reading now thread:
Alas, I don't have much patience for full streaming of surrealism. I had to put aside Pedro Paramo [by Juan Rulfo] at page sixty.

Picked up my copy of The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes instead. Well then, that's more to my liking right away. I've read Fuentes before, but in magazine (or were they newspaper) articles, not a novel; have an art book by him on Jose Luis Cuevas that I bought in Mexico City, probably in the late sixties.

Christian Science Monitor on Carlos Fuentes -

http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0516/Carlos-Fuentes-Tribute-to-a-Mexican-literary-and-political-icon

Farmer, I don't get the import of your quote.. (help)

A national homage was paid for Fuentes today at the Bellas Artes palace.

He was indeed a very good writer.
IMO, his main sin was his vanity. He thought he was even better.
I consider his first works much better than the later ones.

I'd rank them as:

Great
Novels:
La Región Más Transparente (The Most Transparent Region) (1958)
Las Buenas Conciencias (The Good Conscience) (1961)
Aura (1961)
La muerte de Artemio Cruz (The Death of Artemio Cruz) (1962)
Short Stories:
Cantar de ciegos (1964)

Near great:
Novel:
Zona sagrada (Holy Place) (1967)
Short stories:
El naranjo (The Orange Tree) (1994)
Essay:
Tiempo mexicano (1971)

Good/ OK:
Novels:
Cumpleaños (Birthday) (1969)
La cabeza de la hidra (The Hydra Head) (1978)
Gringo viejo (The Old Gringo) (1985)
Short stories:
Los días enmascarados (1954)
Agua quemada (Burnt Water) (1980)

Failure
Novel:
Cambio de piel (A Change of Skin) (1967)
Essays:
En esto creo (2002)
Contra Bush (2004)

Horrible
Novel:
La Silla del Águila (The Eagle's Throne) (2003)

Terra Nostra (1975), which I haven't read is considered one of Fuentes' major works.

Thank you, Pancho.

Talk more if you feel like it re the whys.

Carlos Fuentes was also a witty conversationalist. Many phrases cultured Mexicans use were coined by him.

This one may interest American readers.
Fuentes was asked what does America do best and what does it do worst.
"The United States are best at understanding themselves" -he responded- "and worst at understanding others".

On books, Fbaez hasn't steered me wrong, although I reacted negativo to one.. that was my problem, not the book.

I annoy myself with this stuff. Must come from my inner sockpuppet.

Pancho will talk for himself.