Pedro Paramo

Juan Rulfo

This is the story of Pedro Peramo - overlord, lover and murderer. To know more of him you must visit Comala, the land of the dead. A short complex novel with all the ingredients and logic of nightmares, told in simple, direct language that holds you from the first sentence to the end.

Extract

I came to Comala because I had been told that my father, a man named Pedro Paramo, lived there. It was my mother who told me. And I had promised her that after she died I would go see him. I squeezed her hands as a sign I would do it. She was near death, and I would have promised anything. 'Don't fail to go see him,' she had insisted. 'Some people call him one thing, some another. I'm sure he will want to know you.' At the time all I could do was to tell her I would do what she asked, and from promising so often I kept repeating the promise even after I had pulled my hands free of her death grip.

Parallels