In praise of reading and fiction

Name: In praise of reading and fiction
Author: Unknown Author
ISBN: 9780374175757

by Unknown Author

39 pages2011Farrar, Straus and GirouxISBN 9780374175757

Philosophy Fiction

Open in BookOwl Download on App Store

About this book

"On December 7, 2010, Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. His Nobel lLecture is a resounding tribute to fiction's power to inspire readers to greater ambition, to dissent, and to political action. "We would be worse than we are without the good books we have read, more conformist, not as restless, more submissive, and the critical spirit, the engine of progress, would not even exist," Vargas Llosa writes. "Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life. When we look in fiction for what is missing in life, we are saying, with no need to say it or even to know it, that life as it is does not satisfy our thirst for the absolute--the foundation of the human condition--and should be better." Vargas Llosa's lecture is a powerful argument for the necessity of literature in our lives today. For, as he eloquently writes, "literature not only submerges us in the dream of beauty and happiness but alerts us to every kind of oppression.""--Publisher's website.

Publication Details

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2011
Pages: 39
ISBN: 9780374175757

About Unknown Author

Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (Arequipa, 28 de marzo de 1936-Lima, 13 de abril de 2025), conocido como Mario Vargas Llosa, fue un escritor peruano con nacionalidad española desde 1993 y nacionalidad dominicana desde junio de 2022. Considerado uno de los más importantes novelistas y ensayistas contemporáneos, sus obras cosecharon numerosos premios, entre los que destacan el Nobel de Literatura 2010, el Cervantes 1994 —considerado como el más importante en lengua española—, el Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras 1986, el Biblioteca Breve 1962, el Rómulo Gallegos 1967 y el Planeta 1993, entre otros. Como escritor, alcanzó la fama en la década de 1960 con novelas como *La ciudad y los perros* (1963), *La casa verde* (1966) y *Conversación en La Catedral* (1969). Continuó escribiendo prolíficamente en varios géneros literarios, como el ensayo, el artículo y el teatro. Entre sus novelas destacan asimismo *La guerra del fin del mundo* (1981), o *La fiesta del Chivo* (2000). ---------- Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (Arequipa, March 28, 1936 - Lima, April 13, 2025), known as Mario Vargas Llosa, was a Peruvian writer with Spanish nationality since 1993 and Dominican nationality since June 2022. Considered one of the most important contemporary novelists and essayists, his works have garnered numerous awards, including the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature, the 1994 Cervantes Prize - considered the most important in the Spanish language -, the 1986 Prince of Asturias Prize for Literature, the 1962 Biblioteca Breve Prize, the 1967 Rómulo Gallegos Prize and the 1993 Planeta Prize, among others. As a writer, he rose to fame in the 1960s with novels such as *The City and the Dogs* (1963), *The Green House* (1966), and *Conversation in the Cathedral* (1969). He continued to write prolifically in various literary genres, including essays, articles, and plays. Other notable novels include *The War at the End of the World* (1981) and *The Feast of the Goat* (2000).