The Prosecutor

Reviews / Votes

Weldt-Basson's translation of the last novel in the trilogy by Paraguayan author and political activist Augusto Roa Bastos gives English speakers access to political events and literary trends in 20th-century Paraguay. (The other two titles in the trilogy are Hijo de hombre,1960, and Yo el Supremo,1974). In her introduction Weldt-Basson provides an in-depth but not overly burdensome review of the historic, political, and literary knowledge needed for a deeper understanding of the novel and of Roa Bastos himself. She examines the novel's main themes, including the political and invasive power of dictatorships, Paraguayan history, the mixing of fantasy and reality (realismo magico), intertextuality with his other literary works, the inclusion of animals, the indigenous language of the Guarani, exile, death, and women in society. The well-researched footnotes throughout the novel and the annotated bibliography provide insight into the references Roa Bastos weaves through the telling of the story, which leaves the reader to figure out what truly happened.

Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * CHOICE *