Book review: The Discreet Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa - a novel labyrinth

The Discreet Hero
by Mario Vargas Llosa
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

"At least now I'm certain that it's a fantasy … But what's he trying to do with these stories? Things like this aren't provoked, they come from somewhere, with their roots in the unconscious." So says Rigoberto, one of two heroes in Mario Vargas Llosa's new novel.

Rigoberto is talking about his son, Fonchito, who is conducting what his parents believe is a dangerous imaginary relationship. This in itself is bad enough, given that Fonchito is a teenager. But what really gives Rigoberto and his wife, Lucrecia, pause is the fantasised friend. Although he has a name, Edilberto Torres, Rigoberto is convinced the smooth, enquiring older man could be the devil.

Such subtle but lively games with reality and the imagination have been Vargas Llosa's speciality throughout his Nobel-winning career. His most famous book, at least for an English-speaking audience, is Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, which ponders whether life imitates soap operas, or vice versa.

Readers of The Discreet Hero (El Héroe Discreto) might wonder whether similar games are being played again. Three quarters of the way through, Rigoberto is watching the latest developments of his life unfold on the nightly news. "The richest woman in Peru running away with a small bag in a rundown bus, like some pauper heading for nowhere … The soap opera isn't over, it goes on and on and gets harder to understand every day."