If I were to describe the Discreet Hero by Mario Vargos Llosa, I would call it contemporary. Don Ishmael Carrera and Fanatio Yanaque, both prominent businessmen face a threat and a challenge of sorts from their children. Betrayal, deceit and incest are common and these old men; harbingers of hard work and examples of dedicated family men are devastated when they encounter a challenge to their social and moral integrity from their children. Don Carrera because his twin sons have no love for him and wish him to be dead, so as to inherit his property. Fanatio Yanaque because his mistress Mabel is a conspirator,hand in glove with her lover and Yanaque’s son to blackmail and extort money from him.
With an undying and unyielding attitude, not willing to bend to what destiny has thrown in their stride, they embark on their effort to counter this embitterment with the help of women and friends in their life.
Don Rigoberto’s son Fonchito’s illusory escapades with the ghost Edilberto Torres add a philosophical twist to this tale. What Mario Vargos Llosa desires to infuse into his tale in the form of philosophical reflection about religion, love, evil and death in this world takes the form of a dialogue between Fonchita and Edilberto Torres.
Like most Latin American novels, this novel too is distinctly Latin American or even Peruvian abounding in the flavors, sights and smells of this country. In the middle of all this Don Rigoberto, Don Ishamael’s manager’s erudite elucidation of life’s situations and the tranquil comprehension of the context lend a black humor to this novel.
Llosa’s understanding of life is more than mature. It is the understanding of an impassioned historian and a philosopher rolled into one. The grain of life, sex, love time and space evolve masterfully from this story teller, into an engaging fable.