Redoble Por Rancas

By Manuel Scorza

First published in 1970, DRUMS FOR RANCAS was an immediate success in Spain and Latin America. Readers were captured by the breathtaking story of the 1962 Peruvian Andean peasants' struggle to keep... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 8432055239
• ISBN13: 9788432055232
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Planeta.
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A great story with rich quechua heritage

I think this book successfully portrays the abuses committed by international corporations in the forgotten Andean region. The cruelty and abuses of the mining company as well as of the government towards the indigenous farmers of Rancas contrasts the witting and funny descriptions of events that may seem small but have a greater significance to the development of the story. The author does a great job in narrating a true story mixed with the magical realism style of Latin American writers. This is the first book I read from this author and I am truly happy I picked this book to read because I have learned that injustice and abuses towards the indigenous people of South America have not stopped since the Spanish first arrived there. This book really transported me into the story and made me more aware of the clash between the Inca and Spanish legacy in south America. It is time that the prejudices and wrong conceptions left by the Spanish are obliterated from south America so that they can all solve their problems together. I love this book. I highly recommend it!

An ignored classic that has yet to lose its relevance

I would count this novel amongst the best of the century, and yet as it is not all that easy to come by. I read it in Spanish, so I am unable to offer comments on the translation, but its portrayal of rural struggle against foreign corporate invasion is as contemporary a topic as when it was written. Scorza uses a masterful combination of reality and folklore to illustrate the Andean peasant's battle. In doing so he follows what I recently heard Salman Rushdie argue about realism: that sometimes elements of magical realism or other forms of "fiction" are the closest way to approximate an unreal reality. The fantasy is not so far removed from the situation as it might be perceived by those involved as to detract from it, but instead heightens the realsism of the situation. I would consider it a necessary read for anybody interested in literature, latin american or not, or simply in a different perspective on american multinacionals abroad.

Scorza, a formidable Latin American writer

Drums for Rancas is part of the pentalogy of novels written by Scorza, which constitutes -along with La Danza Inmovil- his immortal legacy to Latin American literature. Rancas, that humble village in the middle of Peru is just a metaphore for the underprivileged throughout Latin America. The abuses of the dominant elite, the absurdity of this oppression are challenged against all hope by the indigenous peasants (think of Chiapas and Guatemala). Behind the inevitable humor there is a fierce criticism of the landowners, the big corporations, and the complicity of corrupt and ruthless local authorities. It is the brutality of the repression that brings the reader to think of the immense tenderness that Scorza uses to paint his characters. However, this book cannot be read alone. You must try to get the other four: El Cantar de Agapito Robles, Garabombo El Invisible (my favorite), El Jinete Insomne, y La Tumba del Relampago. It will be after all those readings that you will comprehend why Scorza was called to be one of the greatest Latin American authors. Destiny, however, had other plans for him: a plane crash deprived us forever of more of his masterpieces.

Scorza, a formidable Latin American author

Redoble por Rancas is part of the pentalogy of novels written by Scorza, that constitutes along with La Danza Inmovil his immortal legacy to Latin American literature. Rancas, that humble village in the middle of Peru is just a metaphore for the underprivileged all over Latin America. The abuses of the dominant elite, the absurdity of this oppression are challenged against all hope by the indigenous peasants. Behind the inevitable humor is a fierce criticism of the landowners, the big corporations, and the complicity of corrupt local authorities. It is the brutality of the repression that brings the reader to think of the immense tenderness that Scorza uses to paint his characters. However, this book cannot be read alone. You must try to get the other four: El Cantar de Agapito Robles, Garabombo El Invisible (my favorite), El Jinete Insomne, y La Tumba del Relampago.