“El crimen es preciso porque garantiza al gobierno la adhesión del ciudadano. ¿La patria? ¡Sálvese, general, yo sé lo que le digo: qué patria ni qué india envuelta! ¿Las leyes? ¡Buenas son tortas! ¡Sálvese, general, porque le espera la muerte!»
«¡Pero si soy inocente!»
«¡No se pregunte, general, si es culpable o inocente: pregúntese si cuenta o no con el favor del amo, que un inocente a mal con el gobierno, es peor que si fuera culpable!”

Am so glad Penguin released this new translation of this, making it more widely available. Asturias seems to be (in the anglophone world) a forgotten Nobel winner and a forefather of the Latin Boom. Latin American writers really seem to always be able to body narratives about dictators and life under dictatorships. Vicious! Early magical realism is used here to make dream into reality and reality into nightmare to the point that life is a living hell. So much backstabbing. So much deceit. So much besieged joy. It didn't keep me hooked the whole time (skimmed a bit of part 3), but I appreciate this a lot and the rest of it was pleasantly shocking. As an American, depressing to see another Latin American novel (in this case, Guatemalan) tackle a dictatorship that is supported by US interests. Much national shame. Mario Vargas Llosa refers to this in the intro as one of the best Spanish-language novels ever. Enough said.

A imagética da escrita de Astúrias é extremamente cativante e instiga profundas associações do mundano vivido na América Latina com a perturbadora trama que apresenta aqui. A ressalva um pouco negativa que posso fazer sobre a minha experiência de leitura é que me encontrei em dúvida algumas vezes com relação as intenções dos personagens, pois as vezes suas falas não expressão claramente o que sentem e seus planos. Talvez isso seja motivo para futuras releituras.
A história se desenvolve com um narrador onisciente que a cada capítulo troca de personagem-central, criando um dinamismo eletrizante e angustiante sobre essas vidas afetadas e as que afetam assumidamente. Algozes tão facilmente reconhecidos por nós do terceiro mundo, que sofremos em mãos de ditadores e almas corrompidas pela ideologia dominante fascista que tortura, manipula e pisoteia qualquer ser vivo e morto em favor de qualquer mínimo benefício político.
O Senhor Presidente deve ser lido e relido, estudado e apresentado.

Nota: 4,5/5

A story of dictators, and dictatorship, and the human costs of it all.

"No hay que dar esperanzas. ¿Cuándo entenderás que no hay que dar esperanzas? En mi casa, lo primero, lo que todos debemos saber, hasta el gato, es que no se dan esperanzas de ninguna especie a nadie. En estos puestos se mantiene uno porque hace lo que le ordenan y la regla de conducta del Señor Presidente es no dar esperanza; y pisotearlos y zurrarse en todos porque sí."

Extraordinary book, sunk deep in the dismal world in a Latin American dictatorship (based on Guatemala under Cabrera). Not just awful but eerie, which is a trick Asturias does through music. Some of this music is serious, the poetry of defeat and the soundtrack to the heart's big battles ("Cada martillito del piano, caja de imanes, reunía las arenas finísimas del sonido, soltándolas, luego de tenerlas juntas, en los dedos de los arpegios que des . . . do . . . bla . . . ban las falangas para llamar a la puerta del amor cerrada para siempre; siempre los mismos dedos; siempra la misma mano."). But the most important music is maybe the profane little ditties and the rhythmic repetition of the insane flotsam on the street. The book carries the tone of that ditty whistled through a horror show and Grand Tragedy -- the mass-murderers, these "hipersuperhombres," are ridiculous little men with petty desires and temper tantrums. They are funny. Or they would be if they weren't all-powerful. The members of society that jump to conform with every whim of the dictator are laughable, but if you laugh they will inform on you and land you in a torture chamber.

I wasn't sold on the main love story, too much a tired damsel-in-distress tale to carry so much weight. The most interesting characters were on the beggars and lunatics always at the fringe of any action.

Very challenging read for someone with my Spanish level -- I had to go very slowly. Also challenging emotionally: friends asked why I was puttering around like the Lost for days and I had to explain I was just reading Asturias.

الرواية تبدي ببطئ وحسب ترجمة جمال الجلاصي جانت تحتاج تركيز حتى تعرف طريقة الحوار، بعدها ترتفع وتيرة الاحداث

الرواية من نوع متعدد الشخصيات وكل جابتر يتكلم عن شخصية معينة ... الامها ومعاناتها عدا جابترات الرئيس طبعا

نكدر نكول الرواية من النوع اللي ضد الحكم الدكتاتوري بس بيها شي اكثر من هذا، الرواية تراويك شكد الانسان ممكن يصير ظالم وشكد راح يكلف هذا الشي الناس الضعفاء، الخداع والكذب والتدمير النفسي والخيانة ... كلها تنتشر بهيج مجتمعات

اعتقد مجتمعنا مو استثناء من احداث الرواية

انطيتها ٣ نجوم لان جان السرد متعب رغم ان احداث الرواية تستحق اكثر