''The Time of the Hero'' (original title: ''La ciudad y los perros'', literally "The City and the Dogs") is a

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

novel by Peruvian writer and Nobel laureate

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

. It was Vargas Llosa's

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

and is set among the

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s at the

Leoncio Prado Military Academy , image = , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = , latin_name = , other_name =CMLP , former_name = , motto = , mottoeng = Discipline, Morality, Work ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, which he attended as a teenager. The novel portrays the school so scathingly that its leadership burned many copies and condemned the book as

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

ian propaganda against Peru. It won the 1962

Premio Biblioteca Breve The Premio Biblioteca Breve is a literary award given annually by the publisher Seix Barral (now part of Grupo Planeta) to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. Its prize is €30,000 and publication of the winning work. It is delivered in ...

for best unpublished novel and the 1963 Premio de la Critica Espanola.

Style and themes

The novel is notable for its

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

and complex employment of multiple perspectives in a non-linear fashion.''A Study Guide for Mario Vargas Llosa's "The Time of the Hero"'', Gale 2016 A technique influenced by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

and particularly the novel ''

Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by the Southern American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a ...

''. It is a story about adolescence and young males transition to manhood, but is also described to portray a microcosm of the Peruvian society. It features themes such as masculinity, hierarchy, secrecy and the military.

Plot summary

The story concerns the theft of an examination paper by the cadet Cava carried out under orders from Jaguar, the brutal leader of a group of cadets called The Circle. The theft is reported by a lowly cadet called The Slave whom Jaguar consequently murders during military maneuvers. Concerned for the school’s reputation, the administrators choose to ignore further evidence of Jaguar’s guilt.

Background

The novel is based on Vargas Llosa's own experiences of

Leoncio Prado Military Academy , image = , image_upright = , image_alt = , caption = , latin_name = , other_name =CMLP , former_name = , motto = , mottoeng = Discipline, Morality, Work ...

, which he attended as a teenager in the early 1950s. He worked on the manuscript for the novel while he was living in France and it was published as his first novel in 1962.

Film adaptation

The novel was later turned into a film by Peruvian director

Francisco Lombardi Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

References

External links

*.
La ciudad y los perros
information on the film from the IMDb 1963 novels Novels by Mario Vargas Llosa Peruvian novels adapted into films Novels set in Lima Novels set in schools 1963 debut novels Nonlinear narrative novels Seix Barral books {{1960s-novel-stub