Short Story Criticism | Carpentier, Alejo - Jonathan Keates (review date 1991)

Jonathan Keates (review date 1991)

SOURCE: "At the Keyboard," in Times Literary Supplement, No. 4591, March 29, 1991, p. 19.

[In the following review, Keates assesses the thematic and stylistic features of Concierto barroco, calling the work "a notable exemplar" of Latin American narrative.]

The Latin American novel is nothing if not self-conscious. As if seated at a dressing-table mirror, it tries on any number of hats, jewels, scarves and masks, shifting this way and that for the sake of yet another flattering attitude. There are moments when we long for it to forsake its overblown mannerist brilliance, its little asides and look-at-me allusions for something drab and homely. Now and then it contrives a feint in the direction of gloomy sincerity, but the lure of imaginative trapeze acts and stylistic decor is nearly always triumphant.

Even if Alejo Carpentier were not already famous as one of the most elegantly poetic...

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