Mario Vargas Llosa was born on March 28, 1936, in Arequipa, Peru. He spent his childhood in Bolivia and, after his parents reconciled, returned to Lima. He studied at various schools, including the Leoncio Prado Military School, which later inspired his first novel. In 1953, he enrolled at the National University of San Marcos to study Law and Literature. In 1959, he traveled to Spain on a scholarship and earned his doctorate at the Complutense University of Madrid. He later moved to Paris, where he worked for media outlets such as Agence France-Presse and French Radio and Television.
His first major novel, The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y los perros, 1963), won the Biblioteca Breve and Spanish Critics Awards, establishing him as a key figure in the Latin American Boom. He later published The Green House (La casa verde, 1966) and Conversation in the Cathedral (Conversación en La Catedral, 1969), both widely acclaimed. In the 1970s and 1980s, he wrote Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (Pantaleón y las visitadoras), Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (La tía Julia y el escribidor), The War of the End of the World (La guerra del fin del mundo), and The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta (Historia de Mayta).
In 1990, he ran for president of Peru but lost to Alberto Fujimori. He then moved to London and resumed his literary career. In 1993, he obtained Spanish nationality and, in 1994, was inducted into the Royal Spanish Academy. His more recent works include The Feast of the Goat (La Fiesta del Chivo, 2000), The Dream of the Celt (El sueño del celta, 2011), and Harsh Times (Tiempos recios, 2019), along with essays such as The Civilization of Spectacle (La civilización del espectáculo, 2012) and The Call of the Tribe (La llamada de la tribu, 2018).
Vargas Llosa has received numerous accolades, including the Nobel Prize in Literature (2010), the Cervantes Prize (1994), and honorary doctorates from institutions such as Yale, Harvard, Oxford, and the Sorbonne. His work is distinguished by its exploration of power structures, corruption, and individual struggles against oppressive systems.
Summary of The Time of the Hero
The novel follows a group of students at the Leoncio Prado Military School. It begins with the theft of a chemistry exam by Cava, under the orders of Jaguar, the leader of “The Circle,” a clandestine group. Arana, nicknamed “The Slave,” is unjustly punished and asks his friend Alberto to inform Teresa, the girl he likes, about his absence. However, Alberto falls in love with Teresa and keeps their relationship a secret.
Desperate, The Slave reports Cava, who is subsequently expelled. Soon after, during a military drill, The Slave is shot and killed. The school covers it up, claiming it was an accident, but Alberto suspects Jaguar and reports him to Lieutenant Gamboa. However, the institution conceals the truth and threatens Alberto into retracting his accusation.
Before graduation, Jaguar confesses to Gamboa that he killed The Slave, but the lieutenant, resigned to the corruption around him, decides to forget the case. Years later, Alberto breaks up with Teresa and starts a relationship with Marcela, while Jaguar ends up marrying Teresa.
The novel critiques the violence and corruption within the military system, reflecting the social inequalities and brutality of Peruvian society.
