socprof 's review for:

The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman

1.0

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I expected more from Vargas Llosa but this is a failed effort. I have liked his books for a long time but this one is not up to par. The Feast of the Goat and The War of The End of the World are my favorites. Which is why this one is a disappointment. The characters are one-note, one-dimensional. The chapters are repetitive and voyeuristic. More on the context of Peru during the late years of the Fujimori regime, and more on the doings of infamous Vladimiro Montesinos, along with doings of the Shining Path and MRTA would have added some dimensions and depth. Instead, it's mostly rich people complaining about how tiresome the curfew, and terrorism, and kidnappings are. Give this one a hard pass.