The Bad Girl, Mario Vargos Llosa (3.0)
A niggling annoyance ran through this book as I read it –
I was drawn to finish it, but I was not enjoying it. It wasn’t till the end of
this book I realized what it was – the entire life of the main character
revolved around a very unhealthy relationship. Was that the point of the book?
I hope not. The main character, Ricardo, is infatuated with a young girl. From
the start, she is revealed as someone who crafts lies to suit her and help her
attain her goals, mainly of wealth. The book follows Ricardo’s life and her
entrances and exits from it, leaving him more obsessed and crestfallen each
time. Their relationship is very two-dimensional: he is completely infatuated
with her and she leads him on, enjoying the attention and power. It was tragic
to think someone would spend their entire life with such one-sided feelings. It
was obvious the bad girl was broken, but I didn’t buy into the fact that
Ricardo could heal her. I did enjoy the back-story of the politics of the time
(communism and it’s affect on Peru) and the international aspects (Ricardo is a
translator in Paris who travels the world). The ending seemed to be a resolution,
but it felt empty and sad. I think the author really thought he was writing a
happy ending and that the means justified the end. If you want to read this
type of story, I would recommend ‘Great Expectations’, for me a more believable
obsession.
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