Captain Pantoja y las visitadoras

A few thoughts on the book:
I love the idea of talking about this book in terms of telescopic and periscopic points of view... telescopic describing the removed narration with only snippets of conversation and select physical details; periscopic describing reports and letters, like reading the story bounced between multiple sources, an indirect retelling of events.

It is interesting to note the similarities between this book and Kiss of the Spiderwoman - although their subjects, stories, and tones differ, both are so form-driven and self-aware of their own styles, both so schematic and patterned in their telling. Both are great examples of heteroglossia; they would be helpful to study in learning how to combine multiple voices into one text - both Puig and Vargas Llosa are clearly adept at different styles of writing.

It seems to me that the juxtaposition of extreme "Church" and ridiculous "State" provides an intriguing social commentary on the primacy of ideology or that of pragmatism, with the conclusion that either extreme is harmful, and that there must be balance between them, an ongoing negotiation of morality and practicality.

I also believe that both Captain Pantoja and Kiss of the Spider Woman are inherently Postmodern texts, because they use multiple points of view to create a sense of objectivity. The dominant subjectivity creates a strange sense of realism, in a way that a traditional linear narrative cannot. We perceive our world subjectively, from a certain point of view, with some periscopic information (gleaned from communication with other people, providing insight to their distinct points of view). These books, while their form seems strange and new, are in fact more realistic in their form than a more simply structured story.

Screening Peru

While I was disappointed that the majority of Kristal's essay consisted of plot summaries of Lombardi's movies, I was interested by his conclusion that the modes of Peruvian storytelling (whether on film or in print) reflect the rapid, haphazard modernization of Peru and contradictions of its reality. That culture is reflected both formally and contextually in art is not a new idea, but Kristal provides a good case study in the works of Vargas Llosa and Lombardi and the relationship between them.

Kristal's negative review of Captain Pantoja is discouraging. Hopefully it turns out to be better than he thought. (Saying that "the portrayal of the hardboiled radio announcer... is one of the few redeeming aspects of the film" (6) does not sound good.)

What did sound interesting was Kristal's description of "the real-time disintegration of relationships... played out across the landscapes of different media" (7) in Lombardi's What the Eye Doesn't See:

A moody television anchorman storms out of the tv studio where is girlfriend is acting in a soap opera; later, he watches her in the programme on the television in his flat; later again, we see her on the small screen of the building's cctv security system, ringing for admittance at his front door. (7)

Now that I'd like to see.