Educational Media Reviews Online

This award-winning series covers six important Latin American authors: Gabriel García Márquez, Augusto Roa Bastos, Fernando del Paso, Mario Benedetti, José Donoso, and Roberto Fernandez Retamar. With the exception of the Retamar video, each program is a brief conversation between the writer and Silvia Lemus, an obviously intelligent, talented, and well-read television program interviewer. As the series title implies, the intent was to encourage a conversation (as opposed to an interview) between the two. The effort, in this reviewer's opinion, was very successful. The Retamar video, produced by a different entity (ImAgEneración) than the one that produced the other five, is definitely not a conversation. It is a lecture that was presented to a university literature class, and later edited. Though an excellent program, it unfortunately does not fit the conversation style of the other videos in the series.

Gabriela García Márquez (44 minutes): this program explores the work of this Colombian author that many consider to be Latin America's finest novelist. The video concentrates on his remarks relating to the plot and characters in his landmark novel, Love in the Time of Cholera. Equally interesting are his comments about his writing process, women, love, and the benefits and disadvantages of fame.

Augusto Roa Bastos (46 minutes): this program covers the Paraguayan writer best known for his writings on the inter-related topics of dictatorships, injustice, and poverty. In addition to covering the novel for which he is best known, Yo el Supremo (I, Supreme), this video focuses on his political and economic beliefs concerning present-day Paraguay and Latin America.

Fernando del Paso (43 minutes): this Mexican writer is best known for Noticias del Imperio, a historical novel about the brief reign of Maximilian, the Austrian placed in power by the French to rule over Mexico, and his wife Carlota. The video covers del Paso's writing style, research techniques, and his integration of different narrative styles (letters, historical documents, narrator commentary, etc.) in his work.

Mario Benedetti (38 minutes): this Uruguayan author writes in several genres (novels, poetry, literary criticism). He considers "capital" to be the most serious danger to modern society. The program extensively covers his political and economic beliefs concerning poverty, social change, and the varying roles of intellectuals and the middle class in society.

José Donoso (50 minutes): this Chilean author is the author of several novels, El Obsceno Pájaro de la Noche being the most famous work. In this program, he passionately discusses Chile's problems with poverty, civic-military relations, and social/political injustice. Equally interesting are his comments concerning his life as an exile from Chile.

Roberto Fernández Retamar (27 minutes): this Cuban author is known for his support of the Cuban revolution. In this program, which is a recording of a lecture presumably given to a university-level literature class, he passionately discusses the revolution and his role in it, the influential writers in his life, and his place in Latin American literature.

This is an excellent series that provides a rare and insightful glimpse into the writings and beliefs of distinguished authors, in their own words, without filtering or interpretation. As is typical in a video series, the quality varies from one program to another, but in general the programs are interesting, well-done, and content-rich.

An argument could be made that other well-known writers could/should have been included. Feminist critics will note that not a single woman writer is included in this series. There are also a few technical problems that should be mentioned. The García Márquez video, for example, was videotaped in an outside courtyard, and unfortunately there are many distracting noises (radios, car horns, etc.) clearly audible on the tape. Another problem is with the subtitles. Generally, the subtitles and English translations are well done, but there were a disturbingly high number of incorrect spellings or missing accent marks (e.g. "you're" instead of the correct "your", "specially" instead of "especially"; "Hemmingway" instead of "Hemingway", "all though" instead of "although", "Jose" instead of "José", to name a few). Given the scope and the overall quality of the series, these can be considered minor distractions.

The series is highly recommended for college and university collections, especially those that offer courses in Latin American literature, history, and culture. Because of its specialized content, it will be especially helpful to upper-division, graduate students, and faculty who are familiar with the works covered in each program.