On the second leg of our LibriVox World Tour, let’s stay in the southern hemisphere. Further to the east from Australia, we encounter South and Central America, which we’ll explore with 10 gems from our catalog.
Speaking of explorations, this is exactly what Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon did in 1913/14, when he followed the “River of Doubt” in the Amazon basin with another famous person. Read his memoir of The Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Exhibition and the Telegraph Line Commission.
While tramping through the jungle, it is likely that the 19 men met many animals like tigers or monkeys. No wonder that they feature prominently in Fairy Tales From Brazil, collected by Elsie Spicer Eells.
Our collection of short works by authors from Latin America comes with a hidden bonus: The readers chose authors of their own countries! So, you can hear our Antología de Cuentes Hispanoamericanos read in authentic local Spanish accents!
We can assume that Harry A. Franck spoke his Spanish with an accent, although he travelled extensively in South America. For three months he even worked as Zone Policeman 88 in Panama during the interesting time when the great canal was built.
Bartolomé Mitre tells of the equally interesting times of The Emancipation of South America. From 1778 – 1830, many states of South America turned into republics, but their freedom did not come without bloodshed and war.
When Raimundo returns from Europe, he faces unexpected difficulties in the novel by Aluísio Azevedo. Although Raimundo has now become a doctor, all the Brazilian high society sees in him is a slave’s son – O Mulato.
Thomas Southerne also depicts the endless fight between black and white in Oroonoko. The titular black prince turned slave and his white wife Imoinda unfortunately do not live to see a happy ending in this tragedy set in Surinam.
Often, the value of somebody’s life is only discovered after the person’s death. This is why the Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas were written by himself after his death – or possibly by Machado de Assis as medium?
Stranger things have happend, at least in the stories dealing with the mysterious and science fiction by Leopoldo Lugones. A dozen or so of them are collected in Las Fuerzas Extranas.
Definitely an “outside force” is the devil and gaucho “La Pollo” has even seen him – in a theater in Buenos Aires! Listen to him tell his story to a friend in Fausto, a narrative poem by Estanislao del Campo.
Enjoy a summer in South and Central America!
Would love to find Clorinda Matto de Turner’s book here one day!!! Ave Sin Nido