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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics

The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics

1 rating: 3.0

A book by Orin Starn

"The Peru Reader is a joy both for Peru specialists and those seeking an introduction to the country's political and social development...It brings together in English a wide variety of texts, to provide a diversity of views of Peruvians (past and present) … see full wiki

Tags: Books

Author: Orin Starn

Genre: History

Publisher: Duke University Press

1 review about The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics

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Hefty, in-depth anthology

Dec 18, 2004

by Fionnchu
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

Perhaps this book's overwhelming for a newcomer. But, if you have a basic knowledge of Peru already, this over 500-page collection of stories, chapters from academic books, poems, folktales, political reportage, popular journalism and interviews, and historical and anthropological coverage satisfies the need in English for a comprehensive starter for further research and reading on many topics.

Organised into chronological order, sections progress from pre-Inca, Inca, Conquest, Post-Conquest, Colonial and Republican periods into the 19c. These intersperse scholarly investigations with narratives. Then, politics, the Shining Path, the drug wars, the urban squatters turning land into new communities, activists among the feminist, evangelical, and gay communities, liberation theology and local leadership, and life among both villages and in Lima add chapters that comprise about half of the total text.

Most rewarding for me were the chronicles by the Incas after the Conquest, John Hemming's chapter on Atahualpa and Pizarro, folktales bookending the text from early and Amazon peoples, Steve J. Stern's analysis of post-Conquest creolisation and its discontents, Manuel Cordova's tale of life a century ago after he was abducted by Amazon indians, and the fascinating account by Catherine J. Allen from her The Hold Life Has all about coca-leaf ritual bonding. Anyone who associates coca only with cola or crack might learn a lot from this anthropological description of how chemicals sustain fellowship, and also force gatherings to acknowledge etiquette and social class distinctions--even under the influence!

The literary offerings, poems, novel excerpts, and stories, are less intriguing, but worthwhile. I sense some of these--as with the Vargas Llosa chapter from his novel Conversations in the Cathedral--were a bit wrenched out of a more rewarding context.
I wish the past ten years, the downfall of Fujimori and the attempt by Toledo to stabilise a tottering state, could have been included in an updated edition, which could also look at the fate of Guzmán and his Shining Path cohorts. Life in the diaspora--a million Peruvians live abroad--would also be enlightening. But, until these hypothetical additions, this is a promising book for anyone curious about Perú. As the back jacket asserts, there's nothing like this in English--or Spanish.

Also recommended: Robin Kirk's The Monkey's Paw for 1980s/early 90s Peru; Gustavo Gorriti's history, translated by Kirk, on the Shining Path, and Vargas Llosa's memoir of running for president, Fish Out of Water; his novelisation of Guzman, The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta; his mystery novel also set in this period, Death in the Andes.

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