An excellent collection of short stories. Ribeyro is the finest story teller in Latin America over the past 50 years. Once you have read one of his books you are hooked for life. The language is simple yet the stories are full of depth and irony.

This unabridged reproduction of a 1962 classic should be an essential edition to any textile collection: Textiles Of Ancient Peru And Their Techniques covers raw materials form Peru, weaves unique to the region, and techniques and materials used in nonwoven efforts. The result will please any avid textile artist.

Este es un libro maravilloso, yo creci leyendo los relatos de Palma sobre mi amado Peru, y aprendi de su historia y personajes de la epoca del virreynato e inicios de la republica. Nadie como Palma describe la belleza, las tradiciones, los rincones y los personajes que poblaron no solo la bella Lima virreynal, sino tambien otras partes del Peru. Todo peruano se debe sentir orgulloso de su historia, de su gente, que a pesar de lo mucho que quieran hundirnos, siniestros personajes empecinados en sacar todo lo que puedan de nuestro pais maravilloso, nuestra gente siempre encuentra maneras de sobrevivir, de salir adelante, de mejorarse. Recomiendo este libro desde el fondo de mi corazon y le doy las gracias a mi querido abue, Don Eliseo Garcia, por haberme llenado de "Tradiciones Peruanas" mi feliz niñez.

This novel has no main characters, but somehow it works. With his extraordinary ability to see across class and ethnic lines, Arguedas construct a whole community as the hero of the story.

Another translated novel by Arguedas, Deep Rivers, comes out so emotionally, it seems innocent of conscious craft and form. In Yawar Fiesta, however, Arguedas displays a more obvious mastery of the novel, pushing the genre and language into beautiful spaces of song and history. Arguedas's childlike way of observing, these incredible lyric passages that amp up the energy, enable worlds of injustice, resistance, joy, creativity, dialogue... I admire Frances Barraclough, the translator, for creating new hybrid spaces out of the wonderful mess Arguedas made of Spanish and Quechua.

For anyone with an interest in the Andean highlands, Arguedas is really a must read. If you're a trekker on the Inca Trail, take this book along with you. It will make a pilgramage of your tourism.

Quwi, a sly guinea pig, outwits Zorro, a malicious fox, who repeatedly tries to make a meal out of him. Zorro and Quwi is an outstanding example of quality children's literature. This book is highly entertaining for a person of any age. This story if full of action, and the illustrations are highly complimentary. It contains humor and the characters are easy to understand. A clear pattern is established in this book. The guinea pig outwits the fox repeatedly. This is helpful in following the plot. While clearly pointing out the error of the fox's ways, the vook does not become overly didactic.

I generally don't waste my time on alternate historical fiction because I want to learn about real historical events in the context of entertaining fiction. But because I had a prior knowledge of the history of Pizarro's conquest of the Incas, I decided it would be worth it to see how the author would change the course of events. A helpful aspect of the book was that each chapter began with a short blurb about what really happened. This helps the reader be aware of where the story deviates into its alternate course.

Most of the time the book was entertaining, not with intense action or drama, but with an unfolding of relationships within the Incan community. Atahualpa, called Exemplary Fortune in the book, is the main character, sent away to a distant part of the kingdom to govern there, since one of his brothers, newly appointed as the emperor, fears being overthrown. This is something that did not really happen.

Much of the story describes how Exemplary Fortune learns to govern his region, and, having taken a captive Spaniard with him, comes to understand the Spanish character, purposes, and fighting style. He uses this to his culture's advantage, teaching his soldiers how to combat Spanish-style, preparing the Incas for possible invasion.

A parallel story involves a young Incan whom the Spaniards called Felipe, and who is taken to Spain by Pizarro, as a companion/servant/trophy. When they return to Peru, Felipe tries his best to find a way to escape and warn his people of the Spanish invasion.

The author does a good job of creating an atmosphere of a foreign culture. The way the Indians speak, their beliefs and interactions are different enough from ours that it creates a feeling of a distant time and place containing a unique people. Yet I was never convinced that it was a true representation of the culture.

In the book, the Spaniards do invade, but the book ends in a limbo state, with neither side winning--as yet. We are left to imagine what happens next. The reader is the one who must create the alternate history at this point, deciding whether the course of prior events in the story could have possibly changed the outcome of the Spanish invasion. It seems like the author neglected to finish what she started, yet I was also relieved to be spared from reading further details of what I know was the awful truth of that invasion.

This is a fascinating and well written alternate history of the conquest of the Inca of Peru by the Spaniards. Allés Blom has attempted something very difficult-writing an empathetic narrative novel about an historically and geographically remote people with an alien mindset-and brought it off.

Part of what makes stories like this enjoyable is the exotic sets of customs we learn, and Blom does a very good job of unfolding them for us. By having two native protagonists-one an Inca prince, the other a nobody taken by the Spanish-we get to see the story from opposite viewpoints. Actually, there's a third view as well, for each chapter begins with a few words on the "true" history of the conquest (1527-1532). Blom skillfully inverts our expectations, perhaps, that the Spanish were civilized and the Inca barbarians or savages. The Inca prince is depicted as highly rational, shrewd, cautious, and engagingly amiable, not easily awed by a bunch of wild and dirty pale invaders. Blom seems to have adopted the French view that the Inca Empire was a socialist utopia, polite and gentle, clean and organized, with food and sex for everyone. (Never mind that you can detect in the background that they indeed have armies, expropriation and kidnapping of entire populations, killing rivals and prisoners, sacrifices, fixed status, and absolute gender discrimination, in what was, after all, a monarchical empire by conquest.) In contrast, the Spaniards are constructed as lacking any socially redeeming qualities: gold-sickened, rowdy, mean, sexist, disloyal, smelly, thieving, fighting, and destructive (all probably true of the Conquistadores, too). No mention is made of the religious fervor of the Spaniards, their skills honed to fever pitch from ridding Spain of the Moors.

None of the perhaps familiar Inca names-Cuzco, Atahualpa, Huascar-are here straight, but only in strange English translation of the long flowery names that takes a while to get used to. The map is helpful but too small, and the scale is now incorrect in the shrunken pb edition. Signs this is a first novel include purely good or evil characters, formally stilted speech, and linear parallel plot structure. Be warned, the story simply stops at a critical point. I hope there's a sequel developing the "alternative" Inca response during1532-1534.

In my efforts to fill the hole in my life that exists between fininishing Eric Flint's "1633" and the arrival of its sequel, I fortuitoulsy happened on "Inca." It was not in the SF and Fantasy section, so I originally took it for a Clive Cussler clone. Thank goodness I picked it up and read the back side. This is right up there with Flint, although closer as a sub-genre to Jake Page's "Apacheria," which is to say we are not dealing with folks from the present going to the past. The hypothesis here is "if things had started just a little differently . . " It proceeds from there very logically and very enjoyably. It is well-researched and well-plotted. The only down-side is it has left me with a hole in my life to fill until its sequel comes out. Ms Blom, you owe us now. You have a contract with your readers. Write faster!

This is a superficial and at times naive account by a yet another starry eyed, eager and willing "shaman's apprentice". Elizabeth Jenkins worked as an English teacher in Cuzco when she met a "fourth level" shaman, Juan Nunez, who showed her around Peru. Juan immediately initiated her into the fourth level herself. The apparent ease and efficiency of this "initiation" process has, if i am allowed to be slightly cynical, allowed Elizabeth and Juan to create a major business catering to those who are looking to get something for nothing. About 20 times a year, Juan initiates yet another group of wide eyed tourists, and both E. and J. lead initiation workshops all over the world, including the US.

This book will be of interest to people who are inclined towards safe "spiritual adventures". I would not recommend it to people who are looking for more resources on shamanic "technology", initiation or peruvian beliefs.

I started reading "Initiation" on my way to Cusco, and was immediately hooked on it. I just couldn't stop reading. Elizabeth Jenkins' accounts of her experience with the Apus and Pachamama are so vivid that you feel you are actually living them through her words. I am Peruvian and have been for some time researching on Andean mysticism. I was not fully aware of the path that would open before me when I started my research, and just like Elizabeth, I heard Pachamama's call loud and clear. So I can fully relate to her story. The smooth and personal style in which the book is written makes it easy to read - but this is not just another nice story. This book takes you by the hand into the realm of Pachamama, and it actually complies with its mission of bringing Pachamama's word to the world. The description of the Hatun Karpay (initiation) is very vivid and compelling, and it truly opens your eyes so you can learn to distinguish between the real Andean mysteries from what is merely (to put it some way) a description of Andean folklore. I fully recommend this book to anybody who is seriously interested in embracing Pachamama's ways. After all, it did change my life!

Hi there! I found this book by accident, read it on one go and booked a trip to Peru for the following summer. I had fantastic time practising the old inka/q'ero indian energy excercises at the Inka temples and power places. I would warmly recommend this book (and the trip) to anyone spiritually inclined - and the practises really work!!!

If you want to be able to tell your friends that you read the book before it it became a top movie, get a copy of " Gold in the Shadow" by Michael Marcotte. Though the first chapter started slowly, I couldn't put the book down from then on. The story takes place in the jungles of Peru as a mixed group of treasure seekers/scientists and the heroine (looking for her lost twin brother) battle indians,the environment, and monsters. You're not sure who is an ally and who might kill whom. Add in the right ratio of fact,theory,legend and imagination and you have a great aventure thriller.

Having heard great reviews of this new author's novel, I decided I wanted to read it. Not being someone who studies much in the field or follows peruvian types of lifestyle, this book had it's work cut out for it. Michael Marcotte had to reach me through plot and characterization. He delivered. You are pulled along on a suspenseful journey through the wild jungles of the amazon, and it's here that Michael's knowledge and ability to paint the picture in my head carried me through. The members of this expedition are all there for their own personal, and for some very greedy, reasons. However, it's combining one common goal, desire to simply survive, that enables what few are left to hang on to their lives. It has a nice romantic overture, subtle..but there, that pulls two of the characters out from the rest. But, it's not really pushing on that romance, just letting nature take it's course. Our hero and heroin also learn more than what they seek to find, her..her twin brother who had disappeared into the jungle, and him knowledge of a lost city while someone else foots the bill for selfish reasons of his own, but, what they learn is what matters most in this world if you finally get smart enough to see it and stop overlooking it. It's packed with mystery and drama, murder and death, adventure and discovery, and even sneaks in pleny of gool old sardonic humor. Last, but not least, an enlightening and even surprising end.

The setting of "Gold in the Shadow" is exotic, fraught with the natural dangers of dense South American jungles. Plus lost treasures and historical puzzles. Author Michael Marcotte uses his knowledge of anthropology to create an adventure that is so thrilling you can't put the book down. Instead of pitting man against nature, however, he introduces Rachel, a short, slim anthropologist with mismatching eyes. She's a heroine whom readers, whether men or women, feel comfortable with because of her flaws rather than her virtue. She's courageous and honest, yet refreshingly vulnerable. Her only reason for flying to Peru is to find her lost twin brother, a cargo pilot whose plane has crashed near the border of Bolivia. Once she arrives in Cuzco, an unscrupulous treasure seeker dupes her into believing that he will help her find her brother's downed plane if she will join his expedition as his interpreter. In the perilous journey to follow, this man's greed endangers everyone, and only Rachel's knowledge of ancient myths and native legends helps her unlock the secret to their survival. In his debut novel, Michael Marcotte proves he is a master storyteller far more credible than Clive Cussler. His authentic details bring his adventurous tale to life, and like an ancient fable, the reader comes away with a far greater gift than the gold treasure sought in the story. It is the wisdom found in "Gold in the Shadow."

I agree that this book would have been more interesting if read before Mystery, but now the mystery is gone.

This is good stuff just the same.

Lots of good points that are useful in a classroom.

In many ways, I am disappointed that I read this book after reading de Soto's other book, "The Mystery Of Capital". Both this and his other book largely contain the same ideas, but "The Other Path" focuses more intently on de Soto's experiences in Peru rather attempting to answer a very broad question. Because "The Other Path" focuses on squarely on Peru, it can more completely chronicle how his ideas have been used to better the lot of poor Peruvians, and have contributed to the defeat of Sendero Luminoso.

I would have preferred it if the book did not purport to be a general answer to terrorism. While his ideas are very applicable with respect to Maoist revolutionaries attempting to (in theory) uplift the poor, they seem less relevant to "non-economic" terrorists, such as certain rich scions of Saudi families that fly airplanes into buildings, for example. But that is a minor point.

I enjoyed this book but was spoiled because I first read "The Mystery of Capital" and then this. This book's stats are somewhat outdated because so much has happened in the last 15-20 years, which takes away from the crispness of the argument, but the argument is still apparent and sound. Although I agree that eliminating government red tape to let more people become a part of the economic system and therefore become plugged into the benefits of the system (eg, a legal work address for customers to reach you at, legal recognition so to advertise, etc.) and thereby allow government to collect more taxes so to (hopefully) put more money toward fighting social problems; I hope de Soto agrees that the economic answer to terroism is not the only answer. Stregthening the economic infrastructure is a strong part of the answer, but much more is also needed for some people to not desire to kill other people, and that may be something which can never be had. Although I would say "The Mystery of Capital" is a must read, this is nonetheless a great supplement to "The Mystery of Capital".

Death in the Andes is a story of brutality and fear and ignorance. The language is often coarse and vulgar. The ending is especially disturbing. Were it not for the remarkable writing of Mario Vargas Llosa, I might have put this unsettling story aside. But Mario Vargas Llosa is a captivating story teller and I found myself wanting to know more and more about his characters that inhabit the harsh mountains of Peru.

The reader encounters alternating viewpoints and layered conversations that intermingle the present and the past, forcing the reader to remain alert. Death in the Andes is structurally a mystery story in which two soldiers assigned to a barren outpost investigate the disappearance of three men. The brutal Shining Path terrorists (the Senderistas) are the natural suspect, but Corporal Lituma also mistrusts both the townspeople (largely traditional Indians) and the construction work crew building a highway across the mountains. Initially, he has little patience for talk of the pishtacos, vampire-like humans that sucked the blood and ate the melted the fat of their victims.

There are stories within stories. Young French tourists are stoned to death, rather than shot, to save bullets, and to permit others to take part in the killing. In fascination we listen to a lonely young man describe his improbable love of a prostitute. We witness a village turning upon itself and selecting victims for the Senderistas. We meet an aged, repulsive woman who in her youth helped kill a pishtacos. We gain a nebulous understanding as to why Peruvians and foreigners involved in re-forestation programs and nature preserves become prime targets for assassination.

I have already begun to read Death in the Andes again and I am searching for more writings by Mario Vargas Llosa. Although I found his portrait of contemporary Peru to be unsettling, disturbing, and haunting, Death in the Andes will appeal to the reader on many levels. It is a memorable lesson in history, in cultural conflict, and in man's inhumanity.

Mario Vargas Llosa does an excellent job in capturing many of the dilemnas and controversies which face modern Peru in "Death in the Andes". He does an masterful job in presenting the military, insurgents, (Sendero Luminoso), and also the native peasants and farmers of the country. The reader really feels the emotions and experiences of the characters in the story. The violence, brutality and pain of life of many in Peru comes across clearly in this tale. Vargas Llosa weaves the narratives of three characters and also experiments with shifting between different periods of time during the course of the novel. His writing style in this work is very straightforward and clear. The book reads quite quickly and easily. If one enjoys the work of Gabriel García Márquez or a great story in general, they will enjoy "Death in the Andes".

In Death in the Andes, Vargas Llosa weaves a tale that is neither simple nor pat. He reveals truths about human nature: their complexities and frailities in stressful circumstances. People alone in the mountains; people who have lost hope turn to beliefs as old as those same hills and become something horrible. They turn on their neighbors and kill them at the behest of people all too willing to use them for their own ends. The terrucos, serruchos, apus, and pishtacos which liter his story surround the reader in a vast world one cannot explain away as being the rantings of mountain people. Vargas Llosa places the reader into this mysterious world, and it is not always a comfortable one. The Shining Path scenes in this book are, in themselves, enough to make one turn away. But it is worth the read, as simply a lever to pry open that world which I can never really know, even though I've pedaled a bike in the backcountry, and had people yell that I was a "pishtaco" or one who steals the flesh from another to sell, I am not of Peru. Vargas Llosa took me as far I could ever go.