Aunt Julia Visits Part 2
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Aunt Julia Visits Part 2
Hola amigos! Sit right back and kick your feet up. This month,
I've got a strange tale to weave for you, a tale of novels and
soap operas, of famous writers and politicians, and of small
Andean radio stations. And believe it or not, this story starts
right here in these very pages, to be exact, the May, 1984 edition
(reprint #L-2). That month the articles section featured a review
of a new novel, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter , by
Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. If you keep up on Latin
American news, you may recognize Vargas as the losing candidate
in Peru's last presidential election. Not happy with his second
place finish, Vargas has since taken up Spanish citizenship. In
fact, changing one's citizenship seems to be a fad among Peruvian
politicians. Peru's previous president, Alan Garcia, applied for
Colombian citizenship not long ago, but was turned down. This was
after Garcia fled Peru to avoid charges of embezzaling tens of
millions of dollars from the national treasury. But, excuse me,
I'm digressing from the story.
Aunt Julia is actually a slightly fictionalized account of
Vargas' life in 1950's Lima as a university student and part-time
news director for Radio Panamericana (on shortwave some years
ago). The title of news director didn't mean much - he just cut
articles out of the local newspapers and rewrote them for the
hourly news bulletins, a common practice among smaller Latin
American stations. Despite the unprofessional news service, Radio
Panamericana was a very cosmopolitan station, playing a mix of
jazz and pop, including the latest hits from North America and
Europe. Clearly, this was a station of the upper classes. But,
Radio Panamericana had a co-owned step-sister from the wrong side
of the tracks - Radio Central, a station for uneducated masses.
Radio Central played a mix of tropical music and Andean melodies,
announcements and birthday greetings for listeners, brassy ads,
and melodramatic radionovelas (soap operas). In fact, it was
probably a lot like many of the rural commercial shortwave
stations that we hear.
Vargas's life begins to turn upside down when the station owner
steals a top-notch Bolivian radionovela scriptwriter named Pedro
Camacho from La Paz's Radio Illimani. Camacho begins working
fourteen or more hours a day, grinding out scripts for around a
dozen novelas, each hot and steamy and soon the hit of Lima. But,
Camacho's personal style is eccentric and dictatorial, which
causes friction betwen him and the rest of the station. Somehow
Vargas becomes the only person at the station who Camacho trusts
and the link between Camacho and the rest of the world. One of
Camacho's recurring eccentricities is placing strong insults
about Argentina and Argentines in his scripts whenever possible,
which all but causes a diplomatic incident.
Meanwhile, Vargas's 30ish sexy divorced aunt (by marriage)
arrives in town for a lengthy visit. Someone is needed to show
her around, and the family picks Vargas. After all, she's almost
twice his age; what could be more innocent than escorting one's
aunt? Vargas soon has other ideas, and slowly Aunt Julia begins
to give way to his charm. But back at the station, Camacho's
overworked eccentric mind is beginning to crack and he can no
longer keep his different novelas straight. The various plots
twist around one another as characters from one disappear to
reappear in another, other characters have their names changed in
mid-program, and the deceased suddenly come back as if they had
never been gone. In the book, starting with the fourth chapter,
the main storyline alternates chapter by chapter with the plots
of Camacho's radionovelas, so the reader can follow along in
their plunge to chaos as well.
From here, the novel builds up to an uproarious climax as Vargas,
who has fallen head-over-heels for his aunt, persuades her to
marry him and then rushes around the Peruvian hinterland trying
to find a priest dumb enough to do the deed despite his being
underage and without parental permission. Back at the station,
Camacho is now a total wreck and is writing horrendous natural
disasters into his scripts, killing dozens of characters off with
each one.
When we arrived in La Paz a few months into our journey, I
visited several of the other radio stations first. At each one, I
asked if they knew or knew of Raul Salmon. Everyone did. He was
not only a former mayor of La Paz, but one of Bolivia's most
famous playwrites as well. The plot seemed to be thickening. One
person had even heard of the supposed connection between Salmon
and the Vargas book. I realized this station visit might be very
interesting.
Radio Nueva America wasn't hard to find. It was just two blocks
from the main plaza with huge R N A letters on the front.
Inside was a huge lavender reception room. On the wall behind the
ornate wooden receptionist's counter, large carved letters
spelled out "Nuestro unico partido es Bolivia" (Our only
party is Bolivia) below the RNA logo. Large plush orange and blue
sofas and chairs filled the center of the room, while modern
sculptures and paintings lined most of the walls, except for one
which was decorated with several well-preserved 1930s vintage
radios. Never had I been to a station so lavishly and
professionally decorated.
Theresa and I asked the receptionist if we could see the manager
and were told to take a seat. It was a busy place. Suited
businessmen were coming and going while others paced, waiting for
appointments. After about a half-hour, Jose Luis Cruz of the
Publicity Department came and showed us to Raul Salmon's office.
At first the four of us talked about the station. "This is a
journalistic station," said Salmon, pointing out that most of
the 18 hours of daily programming is given over to news and
information, including some newscasts in the Aymara Indian
language. Otherwise the station broadcasts seven hours daily of
music programs and a few radionovelas. Thirty people were
employed here, making it one of the biggest stations in Bolivia.
He said they received about ten or twelve DX reports a month,
mostly from Europe (where the station is more easily heard), and
tried to answer those as best as he could. The window of his
office, which looked out into a corridor, was covered with
stickers from radio stations and tourist spots around the world,
all sent by DXers.
Gradually, the topic of conversation switched to Salmon himself.
A well-traveled and well-educated man, he studied Political
Science at George Washington University in the U.S. He still
remembers how he and several other Latin American students worked
hard to convince the professors that there were real distinctions
between the various Latin American countries, and that they were
not just some monocultural glob. He was never sure if they had
suceeded. Later he lived in London and worked for the BBC.
Given the cordiality of our visit, it was difficult to bring up
Vargas' book and the Pedro Camacho/Raul Salmon story, but finally
I did. Raul Salmon's face flushed and his smiling face turned
cold. Politely, but firmly, he said that the book had nothing to
do with him and that he had never met Vargas, although he he had
indeed worked as a scriptwriter at Lima's Radio Central at the
same time as Vargas was at Radio Panamericana. He had heard this
story before, and was very disturbed by the speculation and
rumors going around La Paz. Salmon went on to say that Vargas has
always hated Bolivia and that this was just another attack on
Bolivia. Although Vargas had been born in Peru, most of his
childhood was spent in a small town near Cochabamba, Bolivia. As
a child he was nicknamed Mari, short for Mario, and the local
children used to tease him with "mari-mari-maricon"
(maricon is a derogatory slang for homosexual). Later he married
and then divorced a Bolivian woman (his aunt). Both of these
events prejudiced Vargas against Bolivia, so Bolivia often bears
the brunt of Vargas' fantasies when he writes. In essence, Salmon
accused Vargas of behaving towards Bolivia as Pedro Camacho does
towards Argentina in the book.
Looking back on this, I think we were lucky that Salmon didn't
have us kicked out of the station when I popped the question.
Instead, he quickly ended the discussion and gave us an
autographed book of his plays, pointing out that one of them
(Three Generals) had been translated and performed in New York
City. He then asked Jose Luis Cruz to be sure to give us a good
tour of the facilities, and ushered us out of his office.
As Vargas would have it, Camacho's (or Salmon's) novelas and
their twisted demise were the biggest thing in Lima at the time.
If that were so, one would think people in Lima would remember
them, but, I haven't read anything about Limenos remembering
this. I asked several people while in Lima, and although they
certainly knew about Vargas and the Aunt Julia book, none
had heard of anything that would indicate any truth to the soap
opera story. Perhaps delving into the archives of some Peruvian
newspapers of the day would solve the dispute, but meanwhile I'm
betting on Salmon's side of the scriptwriter tale. As to Aunt
Julia, the family scandal caused by the affair and eight year
marriage has been documented elsewhere.
But, true or not, Aunt Julia is one of the funniest and
most entertaining books I've ever read - and likewise for the
several friends I've lent it to. If you're looking for some good
summer reading, get this book. One hint in finding it, however.
Books by Mario Vargas Llosa should be listed under V for Vargas,
in accordance with Spanish naming, and I'm pleased that most
bookstores and libraries that I've checked actually have him
under V. However, I have been to some places that list him under
L, and a few that have some of his books located under each
letter as if there were two different authors. So, look under
both names.
Vargas is one of Latin America's best known authors, and many of
his other works have also been translated into English. His other
novels are all about more serious themes than Aunt Julia .
The only other one that I've read is his thick but fascinating
The War of the End of the World . This is a novelized
account of an 1890s peasant revolt in northeastern Brazil
centering around a charismatic religious movement that claimed
the Second Coming was near and would happen in the small dusty
town of Canudos. So strong was the faith of these people, that it
took four Brazilian military expeditions to put down the revolt.
It's a heavy story, but would be another good summer read for
some insights into Latin American culture.
Getting back to Aunt Julia , an English language movie
called Tune in Tonight was made of the book several years
ago. However, the movies's gringo makers didn't think a US
audience could relate to the Latin American references, so the
story takes place in New Orleans, Pedro Camacho is renamed Peter
Carmichael, and the object of his hate is Albanians, not
Argentines. But, the movie otherwise follows Vargas' story line
very closely and is very well done.
Well amigos, we've reached the end of the line once again. Hasta
luego!
1996 Addendum I can't recall the source, but about a year
ago I heard that Raul Salmon had passed away.
This article is copyright 1994 by Don Moore.
It may not
be printed in any publication without written permission.
Permission is granted for all interested readers to share and
pass on the ASCII text file of this article or to print it out
for personal use. In such case, your comments on the article
would be appreciated.
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Literature Notes
Our Town
Part 2
All Subjects
Play Summary
Character List
Summary and Analysis
Act I: Part 1
Act I: Part 2
Act I: Part 3
Act II: Part 1
Act II: Part 2
Act II: Part 3
Act II: Part 4
Act III: Part 1
Act III: Part 2
Act III: Part 3
Character Analysis
Emily Webb Gibbs
George Gibbs
Editor Charles Webb
Doctor Frank Gibbs
Mrs. Julia Gibbs and Mrs. Myrtle Webb
The Stage Manager
Genealogy Chart
Thornton Wilder Biography
Critical Essays
Thematic Structure of Our Town
Structure and Technique of Our Town
Language and Style in Our Town
Wilder's Philosophy
Our Town from the Current Perspective
Study Help
Quiz
Essay Questions
Practice Projects
Cite this Literature Note
Play Summary
Character List
Summary and Analysis
Act I: Part 1
Act I: Part 2
Act I: Part 3
Act II: Part 1
Act II: Part 2
Act II: Part 3
Act II: Part 4
Act III: Part 1
Act III: Part 2
Act III: Part 3
Character Analysis
Emily Webb Gibbs
George Gibbs
Editor Charles Webb
Doctor Frank Gibbs
Mrs. Julia Gibbs and Mrs. Myrtle Webb
The Stage Manager
Genealogy Chart
Thornton Wilder Biography
Critical Essays
Thematic Structure of Our Town
Structure and Technique of Our Town
Language and Style in Our Town
Wilder's Philosophy
Our Town from the Current Perspective
Study Help
Quiz
Essay Questions
Practice Projects
Cite this Literature Note
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