قصة الكتاب :
Pedro Paramo is a novel by Spanish author Juan Rulfo. It was published in Spanish in its entirety in 1955 and was followed by the English version in 1959. The story is set in rural Mexico in the period spanning the late 19th century to the 1940s. At the time of its publication, it was met with a cold response and managed to sell just two thousand copies in the preliminary years prior to its critical acclaim and rise to fame. The novel has been translated into 30 different languages and the English version has sold over a million copies in the United States. Pedro Paramo has been a source of inspiration for several other famous Latin American writers. \r\n
\r\nPedro Paramo is the story of the journey undertaken by Juan Preciado to his mother’s hometown Comala, a small town in rural Mexico, after her demise in search of his father. In doing this, he fulfills his mother’s dying wish. The title of the novel bears the name of Preciado’s father and the story itself is told in 68 short fragments that constantly jump between plots and narrators. Upon arrival, Preciado realizes that the lush, green town that houses his mother Dolores’ memories no longer exists. It is now a deserted, old town inhabited by ghosts, whispers, murmurs and haunted by the voices of the dead who all seem to have a story to tell. Juan Preciado ends up with three guides who help him discover Comala. The first is Abundio who leads Juan to Comala, the second is Dona Edu-viges who offers him a room for the night and the third is Damiana who meets Preciado at Dona’s home and asks him to accompany her. The guides all have stories to tell and that is what they end up doing as they lead Preciado through Comala’s history and that of his own family’s. Preciado discovers gradually that the guides aren’t living people and have long been dead. He learns from the first guide that his father and the rest of Comala’s inhabitants are no more. The other two tell him the tragic story of how this happens in bits and pieces. Juan Preciado dies in Comala in sheer terror as he encounters the voices of the lingering dead. The encounters he has with them are enough to kill him and he actually discovers the complete tale of Comala after his death from a female companion Dorotea, with whom he shares his coffin. At the heart of the terrible tale is Pedro Paramo’s love for his childhood sweetheart Susana who he never forgets. The events that happen in the backdrop combine with this theme to reveal how Pedro Paramo ends up being the influential and terrorizing person that people remember with fear and disgust. The terrible tale ends with every person in Comala perishing but no one quite attaining their peace even after death. Comala ends up being a living purgatory, where the dead are trapped with their terrible memories.\r\n
\r\nPedro Paramo is a surreal novel with no discernible plot. It has stood out in history as a notable literary creation not only because of its underlying themes but also for its departure from the traditional manner of narration at the time. Rulfo’s prose and excellent imagery make this piece of 20th century literature a compelling read.\r\n