Captain Pantoja and the Special Ser

by Mario Vargas Llosa

Book Overview

This delightful farce opens as the prim and proper Captain Pantoja learns he is to be sent to Peru's Amazon frontier on a secret mission for the army--to provide females for the amorous recruits.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374522367
• ISBN13: 9780374522360
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Review posted on The Literate Man (www.literateman.com) on June 7, 2010

For native gringos, like myself, who occasionally stray into Spanish-language fiction, I think Mario Vargas Llosa is by far the most accessible of the Latin American fiction writers. This is true for two reasons: first, for his straightforward prose (though calling him Hemingway-esque is probably unfair to both), and, second, for the tasty themes that Vargas Llosa chooses to treat, which are usually some combination of military and sexual. For anyone who has struggled to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Miguel Angel Asturias in Spanish (and I love them both), Vargas Llosa is quite a relief both in terms of complexity and humor. But back to the theme--it is the development and introduction of an efficient prostitution ring into the Peruvian military that provides the back story in Pantaleon y Las Visitadoras, which was translated into English in 1990 as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service. You can just see Vargas Llosa's very first notes on the novel now, "Peruvian army hires prostitutes--hilarity ensues." And it does. Now, before you sit down to draft your angry letters about the objectification of women, please note that the book is pure satire. Its purpose is to show the farcical nature of applying military strategy to issues which are ... well ... decidedly non-military. And the prostitutes, who take center stage and one of whom tempts Captain Pantoja to consider infidelity, are some of the best-drawn characters in the book. Pantaleón y Las Visitadoras is perhaps my favorite of Vargas Llosa's works, though I am also partial to La Ciudad y Los Perros, which treats the subject of young boys growing up in a Peruvian military academy. Either is a great (and relatively easy) read in Spanish for anyone with even conversational skills in the language. But if you want a good laugh or two along the way, I'd recommend Pantaleon y Las Visitadoras.

Fast shipping

I have yet to read this book but I was pleased with the fast shipping. Thanks

Sencillamente fabuloso - Just fabulous

Vargas Llosa es sin duda alguna uno de los mejores escritores latinoamericanos. Su novela Pantaleón y las visitadoras es de una prosa sencilla y agradable, su contenido es mejor aún. Vale la pena deleitarse y reirse leyendo este gran libro. Vargas Llosa is without any doubt one of the best latin writers. His novel, Pantaleón y las visitadoras has an easy and pleasant prose, the content is even better. It is worthy to enjoy and laugh reading this great book.

military, hookers, religion and pantaleon

This is a story of a army captain in Peru who has been entrusted to open up a service house (read whore house) to provide sexual gratification to soldiers and officers. Peruvian army is taking this step to reduce sexual relief for soldiers who overwise rape the local girl. Pantaleon (in short Panta) has been choosen for this job since his career record is spotless. The greatest part of the book are the letters written by Panta during his course of action to army headquarters and describing various statitistics of fornication. In the middle there is his mother, wife (Pocha), a religious leader, a radio talk show host (kind of like Rush), Chuchupe the queen of the house and so many unforgetable other characters. From the first page to the last page you will be reminded that this is the south American life and so colour ful in every possible way. This is not Llosa's best but still very entertaining.

Literatura seria con humor

Vargas Llosa lo dice y aqui esta la prueba. Una historia sobre la obediencia militar, los conflictos del ser humano y los trajines de un recto oficial para organizar un servicio de prostitutas con caracter militar para los soldados asignados en la Selva Peruana. Excelente novela.