In Memoriam: Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012)

I just read in the news that Carlos Fuentes, one of the most talented and prolific Mexican writers, has passed away. I’m extremely saddened by these news, particularly because I read Carlos Fuentes in my childhood and as I was growing up as an adolescent. It was Fuentes’ writing that gave me the opportunity to earn a 10.5 (yes, a 10.5 out of 10 – the first time a professor of mine gave me a grade higher than the actual top mark – this was an agreement between my professor and I where she said that if I wrote a superb essay she would give me extra marks so that I could earn a perfect A+ in my final exam. And as I stayed true to my promise, so did she).

Fuentes’ first novel, La Region Mas Transparente (the most transparent region, an exact translation, or as the Wikipedia entry calls it, Where the Air is Clear) is a classic work of Mexican literature, and one that Mexicans grew up reading (at least, I did in high school). What I loved about La Region Mas Transparente is that it really gave me a good insight into Mexican culture and heritage. More importantly, it enabled me to see Mexican identity from within, the synchretic blend of Aztec and Spaniard heritages. La Region Mas Transparente is an amazing analysis of the Mexican searching for his/her identity within and explores in depth the Mexican social fabric.

Since my parents were just as much of a book worm as we were, I grew accustomed to reading Fuentes’ writing. Aura, perhaps his opera magna, was a fantasy novel that created a bit of a storm because of its highly sexualized content (and I went to a Catholic high school, Jesuit liberal albeit, so it was a little bit less controversial to study Fuentes’ Aura in that context). And it was my literary analysis of Aura that enabled me to earn my highest marks in high-school Literature.

Despite Fuentes’ prolific body of work, and excellent prose, the Nobel Prize of Literature eluded him (not surprising, since the Nobel Prize Committee’s decisions are anybody’s guess). This saddens me because Fuentes died without having been honored with a prize that he most rightfully deserved for his complex narratives, his simplified and clear writing and his innovative presentation style.

Rest in peace, Carlos Fuentes. You gave Mexicans (and the world) an amazing body of work that we can still enjoy even after your passing.