Carlos Fuentes Macías
(born November 11, 1928) is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. Fuentes has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.
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Biography
Fuentes was born in
Panama City, Panama; his parents were Mexican. Due to his father being a diplomat, during his childhood he lived in
Montevideo,
Rio de Janeiro,
Washington,
Santiago and
Buenos Aires. In his adolescence, he returned to Mexico, where he lived until 1965. He was married to film star Rita Macedo from 1959 till 1973, although he was an habitual philanderer and allegedly, his affairs—which he has claimed include film actresses such as
Jeanne Moreau and
Jean Seberg- brought her to despair. The couple ended their relationship amid scandal and Fuentes then married journalist and now famous interviewer
Silvia Lemus. Following in the footsteps of his parents, he also became a diplomat in 1965 and served in London, Paris (as ambassador), and other capitals. In 1978 he resigned as ambassador to France in protest over the appointment of
Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, former president of Mexico, as ambassador to Spain. He has also taught courses at
Brown,
Princeton,
Harvard,
Penn,
Columbia,
Cambridge, and
George Mason. He is currently teaching at
Brown University. He was also a friend to the US
sociologist C. Wright Mills, to whom he dedicated his book
The Death of Artemio Cruz
.
He fathered three children. Only one survives: Cecilia Fuentes Macedo, born in 1962, now working with TV production. A son, Carlos Fuentes Lemus, died from complications associated with
hemophilia in 1999 at the age of 25. A daughter, Natasha Fuentes Lemus (born 31 August 1974), died of an apparent drug ovrerdose in Mexico City 22 August 2005, at the age of 30.
Works
Fuentes published his first novel,
La región mas transparente
, at 28 years old, which became a classic contemporary novel. It was innovative not only for its prose, but also by having a metropolis,
Mexico City as its main character. This novel provides an insight into the Mexican culture, which is made up of a mixture with the Spanish, the indigenous and the
mestizo
: all cohabiting in the same geographical area but with different cultures.
The author describes himself as a premodern writer, using only pens, ink and paper.
He asks "Do words need anything else?" Fuentes mentioned that he detests those authors who from the beginning claim to have a recipe for success. In a speech on his writing process he mentioned that when he starts the writing process he begins by asking "Who am I writing for? "
[1]
He published
Las Buenas Conciencias
in 1959. This is probably his most accessible novel depicting the privileged middle classes of a medium-sized town, probably modelled on Guanajuato.
His 1960s novels,
Aura
(1962) and
La muerte de Artemio Cruz
(1962) are well acclaimed for using experimental modern narrative styles (including the
second person form) to discuss history, society and identity.
In 1967, during a meeting with
Alejo Carpentier,
Julio Cortázar and
Miguel Otero Silva, Carlos Fuentes launched the project of a series of
biographies depicting Latin American
caudillos
, which would be called
Los Padres de la Patria
.
[2] Although the project was never completed, it set the bases for Alejo Carpentier's
Reasons of State
(
El recurso del método
, 1974) and various other
Dictator Novels (
novelas del dictador
).
His 1985 novel
Gringo viejo
, the first United States bestseller written by a Mexican author, was filmed as
Old Gringo
(1989) starring
Gregory Peck and
Jane Fonda.
In 1994, he published
Diana, The Goddess Who Hunts Alone,
a fictionalized account of his alleged affair with American actress
Jean Seberg. However, the authenticity of this adulterous liaison has been questioned several times.
Fuentes regularly contributes essays on politics and culture to the Spanish newspaper
El País
and the Mexican
Reforma
. He is a stern critic of what he sees as American cultural and economic situations typically hidden from mainstream Mexican society.
List of works
Novels
- La Región Más Transparente
(1959) ISBN 978-9705800146
- Las Buenas Conciencias
(1959) ISBN 978-9707100046
- The Death of Artemio Cruz
(1962) ISBN 978-0374522834
- Aura
(1962) ISBN 978-9684111813
- Zona sagrada
, (1967)
- Cambio de piel
(1967)
- Cumpleaños
(1969)
- Diana o la cazadora solitaria
(1972)
- Terra Nostra
(1975)
- La cabeza de la hidra
(1978)
- Una familia lejana
Also known as "La familia" (1980)
- Agua quemada
(1981)
- Orquídeas a la luz de la luna
(1982)
- Gringo viejo
(The Old Gringo
) (1985)
- Cristóbal Nonato
(Christopher Unborn
) (1987)
- Ceremonias del alba
(1991)
- El naranjo
(1993)
- La frontera de cristal
(1995)
- "A New Time for Mexico" (1996) ISBN 0-374-22170-7 (translated from Spanish by Marina Gutman Castaneda)
- Los años con Laura Díaz
(1999)
- Instinto de Inez
(2001)
- La Silla del Águila
(2003)
- Todas las Familias Felices
(2006), ISBN 987-04-0557-6
- La Voluntad y la Fortuna
(2008), ISBN 970-58-0446-5
Short stories
- Los días enmascarados
(1954)
- Cantar de ciegos
(1964)
- Chac Mool y otros cuentos
(1973)
- Agua quemada
(1983) ISBN 968-16-1577-8
- Dos educaciones
. (1991) ISBN 84-397-1728-8
- Los hijos del conquistador
(1994)
- La frontera de cristal. Una novela en nueve cuentos
(1995) ISBN 968-19-0268-8
- Inquieta compañía
(2004)
- Las Dos Elenas
Essays
- La nueva novela hispanoamericana
(1969) ISBN 9682701422
- El mundo de José Luis Cuevas
(1969)
- Casa con dos puertas
(1970)
- Tiempo mexicano
(1971)
- Miguel de Cervantes o la crítica de la lectura
(1976)
- El Espejo Enterrado
(The Buried Mirror) (1992) ISBN 8430602658
- Geografía de la novela
(1993) ISBN 9681640446
- Tres discursos para dos aldeas
ISBN 950-557-195-X
- Nuevo tiempo mexicano
(1995) ISBN 9681902319
- Retratos en el tiempo
, with Carlos Fuentes Lemus (2000)
- Los cinco soles de México: memoria de un milenio
(2000) ISBN 84-322-1063-3
- En esto creo
(2002) ISBN 9705800871
- Contra Bush
(2004) ISBN 9681914503
- Los 68
(2005) ISBN 0307274152
Theater
- Todos los gatos son pardos
(1970)
- El tuerto es rey
(1970).
- Los reinos originarios
(1971)
- Orquídeas a la luz de la luna. Comedia mexicana.
(1982)
- Ceremonias del alba
(1990)