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Explosion in a Cathedral
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Wikipedia article
'Explosion in a Cathedral' (Spanish title: 'El Siglo de las Luces, '"The Age of Enlightenment" ') is a historical novel by Cuban writer and musicologist Alejo Carpentier. The book follows the story of three privileged Creole orphans from Havana, as they meet French adventurer Victor Hugues and get involved in the revolutionary turmoil that shook the Atlantic World at the end of the eighteenth century. Originally published in 1962, this is one of the most influential works written during the so-called "Latin American Boom".
Regarded as one of Latin America's greatest historical novels, 'Explosion in a Cathedral' deals with the impact of the French Revolution on the Caribbean.Swanson, Philip. 'Latin American Fiction: A Short Introduction', Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 78. The main characters are all members of one family: two siblings, Carlos and Sofia, and their cousin Esteban.Pope, Randolph D. "The Spanish American Novel from 1950 to 1975", in 'The Cambridge History of Latin American Literature', Vol. 2, ed. Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria and Enrique Pupo-Walker, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 249. The narrative deals with the cyclical nature of control, destruction, and development during revolution.Franco, Jean. 'The Decline and Fall of the Lettered City: Latin America in the Cold War', Harvard University Press, 2002, pp. 168-9. Stylistically, it contains elements of existentialismPope, pp. 249-50 and magical realism,Wood, Michael. "Spanish America", in 'The Oxford Guide to Contemporary World Literature', Ed. John Sturrock, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 394. and it mirrors the tension between Europe and Latin America found in many of Carpentier's other works.Pope, p. 250
References
Category:1962 novels
Category:Books about revolutions
Category:Novels by Alejo Carpentier
Category:Cuban magic realism novels
Category:Novels about orphans
Category:Novels set in the Caribbean
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