book, but I felt totally mesmerized by it. It is an epic telling the story of a peasant revolt on the backlands of Brazil on the late 1900's. But, against the historical background of factual military maneuvers, political machinations and religious fundamentalism, the characters -- both fictional and historical - a ...more This is the first book by Mario Vargas Llosa that I read, and I am ashamed that I never attempted to read any of his books before. Of course, as a Brazilian, I may be biased about this book, but I felt totally mesmerized by it. It is an epic telling the story of a peasant revolt on the backlands of Brazil on the late 1900's. But, against the historical background of factual military maneuvers, political machinations and religious fundamentalism, the characters -- both fictional and historical - are portrait with such care and humanity, they are certainly going to stay with me for a long time. (less) Vargas Llosa's The War at the End of the World reminds me of the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in its majestic beauty, depth, solemnity, and sense of imposing doom. It's a relentless book - one that's meant to be savored and learned from. Vargas Llosa's inspiration was the Brazilian government's military campaign to obliterate Canudos, a modern-day utopia. The text is really about the conflict between secularism and religion that developed in Brazil in the nineteenth century. Th ...more Vargas Llosa's The War at the End of the