The Corn People

The XX century is the "star hour" of Latin American literature. The beginning of new Latin American prose is considered to be 1949. It was then that the first "magical books" appeared - "The Corn People" by Asturias and the... novella "The Kingdom of this World" by Alejo Carpentier. 
"In them lives the inner energy of poetic word" - this is how Miguel Ángel Asturias spoke of the novels by Latin American authors. "The Corn People" captivates the reader from the very first words, immersing them in the dense atmosphere of magical realism. Events turn into legends, in which one can never distinguish truth from falsehood, or reality from fiction. 

The plot of the book is simple. Gaspar Ilom, guarded by rabbits with ears made of corn leaves, has conspired with the Indians to prevent greedy traders from cutting down and burning the forest near the village of Pisiguillito. Many greedy individuals have departed to the afterlife at his hand, and then Machohan, an Indian whose Spanish wife has remade him in her image, bought poison and poisoned Gaspar. But one cannot simply kill a man if he is guarded by yellow rabbits, for whom there are no secrets, threats, or distances. The struggle continues. A new chapter begins a new story about the most diverse people: a family cursed, a sighted blind man searching for his runaway wife, a postman turning into a coyote. The action encompasses both villages and cities. The author shows life as it is, marveling at every manifestation of it, from forest beasts to wise shamans, from corn fields to hurricanes in mountain valleys. All of this is his world, his country, his homeland. 

In "The Corn People" lies the spirit of Guatemala, a history that cannot be found in reference books or encyclopedias. If you are interested in the culture of South America and are not indifferent to the genre of magical realism, do not miss it. This is one of the best examples of Latin American literature from a brilliant writer who received the Nobel Prize in 1967.