Why a Booktrail?
1950s Peru – A portrait of life during the dictatorship of Manuel Apolinario Odría Amoretti.
Conversation in the Cathedral
What you need to know before your trail
1950s Peru was a dark and dangerous place. Under the dictatorship of General Ordia, suspicion, paranoia and blackmail have become part of life.
Out of this darkness, Santiago and Ambrosia, talk about their lives and of the degradation and frustration that has taken over everything they have ever known.
How can you talk freely when the very town, city, community you live in can not be trusted? Who is listening? And how does this lack of freedom affect the mind?
A real history and deep insight into Peru and life under a dictatorship
Travel Guide
Free speech in an imprisoned land is no easy task, more than likely a dangerous one.
the cathedral in question is not a religious establishment but a bar, and rather a grotty one in the working class district in the city of Lima.
Santiago and Ambrosio meet after years of not having seen each other. Santiago is the son of the late minister Don Fermin, and Ambrosio was Don Fermin’s former chauffeur. They discuss the era of the Odria dictatorship and the effect it has had on everyone they know and even those they don’t know. The innocence, hope and naivety of the time –
“The chaos is over now . With the army in charge, everybody will toe the mark. you’ll see how things are going to get better under Odria…”
The narration is as choppy and patchy as a regular conversation and the fragmented history of a country broken in to pieces by its many politicians and political regimes.
This is the Peru where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, where corruption is rife and where dictators walk around unhindered.
For a real insight into how a Latin American dictatorship works, then this is the ultimate Peruvian novel.
For more information on Odria and his place in Peru politics – the BBC timeline is a good place to start. A great book to read for any students of Spanish too.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information:
Destination: Lima, Peru Departure Time: 1950s
Beware of what you hear in Conversation in a Cathedral
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