Marito
“No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.”
Last December, I read a book.
I have postponed writing about it for reasons that I thought mundane, but it seems fate wanted me to write it today of all days.
During the weekend, I kept thinking about it, without a clear picture of why, and I told to myself: “On Monday I’m going to write that review.”
I wouldn’t know what choosing this exact day would do to me.
It is with a heavy heart that I write this.
Today, the first day without Mario Vargas Llosa.
“Cartas a un joven novelista”, or “Letters to a young novelist”, is Mario Vargas Llosa’s way to bond with the newcomers to the craft, or those that aspire to take part in it. As one of them, I had to have this book, and I had to read it. It’s one of the things that writers like to do early in their careers – seek advice of well-established authors and learn more about the process from the experts.
With each letter that he writes to his presumably younger counterpart, he emphasizes a writing principle, and while it’s fascinating to see the craft so well described, and to find out new perspectives, the best advice he gives is in the end.
Frank Herbert said through his character Leto Atreides, the future God-Emperor, in Children of Dune: “The only rule governing creativity is the act of creation itself.”
Llosa states in the end that the young writer should disregard all the letters when it comes to his own craft, and that the only real advice he can give is to write.
“My dear friend: what I am trying to say is that you should forget everything you’ve read in my letters about the structure of the novel, and just sit down and write.”
The irony of this last sentence is that you can completely skip the book and only read this, and you end up having the same valuable insight as if you’ve read the book.
That isn’t to say Llosa’s letters aren’t interesting – they are extremely fascinating. But if it’s just the advice you are looking for (and let’s be frank, most of us look for exactly that when we pick up this kind of book), then you can get the advice from that final phrase.
Mario Vargas Llosa died yesterday, April 13th 2025. He said once that a writer owes it to the world and to himself to live and write at least up to 89.
He died two weeks after he turned 89.
Goodbye, Marito. See you on the other side.
“No matter how ephemeral it is, a novel is something, while despair is nothing.” - Mario Vargas Llosa
Good read!
Good read!