I the Supreme

(Paperback)

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A towering achievement from a foundational author of modern Latin American literature- through the historical figure of Paraguay's nineteenth-century "Supreme Dictator for Life," Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, I the Supreme brilliantly explores the relationships between language, politics, oppression, and freedom. I the Supreme imagines a dialogue between the nineteenth-century Paraguan dictator known as Dr. Francia and his secretary, Policarpo Patino. The opening pages present a sign that they had found nailed to the wall of a cathedral, purportedly written by Dr. Francia himself and ordering the execution of all of his servants upon his death. This sign is revealed to be a forgery, which takes the leader and his secretary into a larger discussion about the nature of truth and the fallibility of the written word. Their conversation broadens into an epic journey of the mind, stretching across the colonial history of their nation, filled with surrealist imagery and labyrithian turns. In a metafictional twist, the novel itself is revealed to be the work of a mysterious compiler, who interjects from time to time and calls attention to the fragile nature of the texts he is collecting (with some lines noted as unfinished, blotted out, or obscured). Darkly comic and deeply moving, I the Supreme is a profound, unflinching meditation on power and its abuse--and on the role of language in making and unmaking whole worlds.

Reviews

A richly textured, brilliant book. . . . One of the milestones of the Latin American novel. Carlos Fuentes, The New York Times Book Review

A work of graceful, voluminous genius, an Everest of fiction. . . . Augusto Roa Bastos is himself a supreme find, maybe the most complex and brilliant Latin American novelist of all. The Washington Post

A text of a verbal density that recalls the later James Joyce. . . . Roa Bastoss novel has challenged and fascinated thousands of readers around the world. Los Angeles Times

The most magnificent work, most magnificently translated, to come from Spanish into English in almost a quarter of a century. Commonweal

These passages reverberate with a fierce surrealismpeopled with dwarves, women warriors and clairvoyant animals; studded with Borgesian images. . . A prodigious meditation not only on history and power, but also on the nature of language itself. The New York Times

An elaborate and erudite opus saturated in the verbal bravura of classic modernism. John Updike, The New Yorker

[I the Supremes] breadth of vision and ambition make it important in any language. The New Statesman

The novels true achievement is one of tone and voice. The language is a triumph almost as much for the translator as for the author: ebulliently resourceful, brilliant in its vitriol and vituperation, rabelaisian in its extravagance. Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Born in 1917, AUGUSTO ROA BASTOS is widely considered to be one of Paraguay's greatest novelists. Best known for his novels I the Supreme and Son of Man, he authored many works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and Spain's Cervantes Prize, Roa Bastos spent much of his life outside Paraguay, both as a foreign correspondent and in exile for his opposition to the ruling governments of his country. He died in 2005.