The Bad Girl: A Novel

My book club read "The Bad Girl" and its inspiration, "Madame Bovary" by Flaubert. Mario Vargas Llosa has updated the French classic in a way that at first glance might seem unclear. How is the protean protagonist (who goes by many names and guises) similar to Emma Bovary? Emma was provincial and doomed by the tightly controlled times in which she lived, the girl in this novel (set in '60s and '70s) travels the world, has many lovers and husbands, and seems to have far more control over her life. For a while, it seems the narrator, who is doomed to love the bad girl for his whole life, is the tragic figure.It is a worthwhile exercise to read this book and "Bovary" together. I recommend reading Flaubert first. His novel is surprisingly readable, and a revealing look at the pre-feminist world. Vargas Llosa seems to be deconstructing feminism a bit... do women really have more choices today or are they just doomed to gain power through sexuality? The bad girl, despite more freedom, has moments of sexual humiliation that might make you wonder about her control over her own life.What the novels have in common is an strong anti-passion theme. Characters driven my their passions, held hostage by them, do not fare well in the narrative. By contrast, the more reasoned and dispassionate characters fare better. Whether deliberately or not, both novels seem influenced by orthodox Christian attitudes about temperence and prudence. I also think Vargas Llosa is doing a postmodern deconstruction of feminism and sexuality and coming up with less than a full endorsement of either.

Llosa paints this little melancholic masterpiece in quiet hues. Its effect is almost subliminal on the reader who naturally becomes ever concerned with the ever changing, mysteriously engrossing bad girl. I was left with confounded feelings as young Lily had played out her last cancerous enrapturements,but am still somewhat shaken by LLosa's unique perspectives on love and responsibility to a loved one. When the bad girl is in the book, the novel shines with excitement. The glow wanes too quickly, however, when she is gone and we must hear the non-substantively droll dialogues about peruvian politics. So too are the men in the bad girl's experience. They appear stick-figured and one dimensional. There is only brief hope in her japanese tormentor, but just what is llosa saying here? In one of the most bizarre sexual scenes that I have read, llosa goes over the top into laughable, and utterly incongruous kink. All in all, a very good read but strangely unsatisfying. We only get to the surface of the protangonist(who himself seems somewhat androgynous and emotionally amorphous). Right when we are about to feel for them, one is gone; the other too easily disembarks on more tranquil pursuits. But a powerful ending and a sense of love and lust and quiet obsession being just this way makes this novel a particular standout read.

Mario Vargas Llosa is unrivaled in his storytelling. The bad girl is my favorite novel of all time. I've gifted it five times over and will continue to recommend this book to everyone. I am not usually a fan of novels, but this one is like no other. Riveting, colorful, and stretching across the entire world. The story is too great to be contained within the confines of the covers.

This is a noire love story involving a a girl with multiple disguises and a guy how loves her unconditionally. This is not one of Vargas Llosa's best novels, but it will keep you turning the pages. If you read in Spanish, I recommend doing that before picking up the translated version. I found the translation to be quite stilted, with none of the beautiful language Vargas LLosa is so capable of producing in his mother tongue.The novel takes place mostly in Europe, with back and forth references to the political situation in Perú throughout the middle and late 20th century. You'll learn something about the dictatorship, and the Shining Path, but further reading is required to gain a better understanding of what Perú has gone through as a nation.All and all, this is decent book, about an indecent woman and the guy who falls in love with her. Maybe it is also a story about the love of a country that has also gone through deceptions and lies. That might be a stretch, but readers might interpret it that way as well.

I found the two main characters difficult to get along with. The bad girl was so self centred and utterly unlikable; her obsessed 'good boy' admirer is so weak and hopelessly optimistic. In the first half of the book the plot goes round in predictable circles and I found the text heavy on narrative detail which although it felt authoritative didn't move the plot forward and I found an unnecessary weight. So why 4 stars?Ultimately I think I was drawn in; I wanted to see how far she would lead this hapless admirer and how far down he would allow himself to be dragged. You also learn something of her past and despite everything begin to develop some (not much) sympathy for the bad girl. But more importantly after the scene is set in the first half of the novel it breaks from its predictable cycle and their meetings take on a different and unpredictable nature. However what I liked most was the ending it finished really as it should, it was neither a bitter tragedy nor a sugar coated happy ending. So many books of merit let themselves down in the closing chapters; this one doesn't it has a fitting ending to a very sorry saga.

It got better towards the end.

What a book!!!!! Would recommend to anyone! worth the price! Have heard a lot about it thats why I have decided to give it a go.

It was a present. The recipient was happy

Well composed and gives good food for thought. About the nature of love and the relation between woman and man. Not one of his best books, however.