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Summary
Published in 1962, Aura is ingeniously conceived and stylistically distinctive—a true gem. Felipe Montero is a 27-year-old Mexican historian fluent in French. One day he happens to leaf through a newspaper and, via an advertisement, lands a lucrative one-month post at 4,000 pesos, the job being to help a general's widow, the 109-year-old Señora Consuelo Llorente, organize the general's memoirs written in French.
In the old woman's sunless, sealed-off house, he falls in love with her niece, the young and beautiful Aura. A series of strange occurrences then shrouds the whole story in an atmosphere of mystery, gloom, and bewilderment. As Felipe comes to know the general's manuscript better, he discovers that Aura is in fact Consuelo's youthful self replicated through sorcery—and that Felipe is the general himself.
Aura is the mature work of Fuentes's youth. Since its publication it has not only commanded readers across distant generations but also remained one of the texts most closely attended to by Fuentes scholars and critics. Like its characters, the work holds inexhaustible possibilities.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who want to encounter a representative work of the Latin American Boom in a short time
- Fiction readers who enjoy gloomy atmosphere, identity puzzles, and open endings
- Learners interested in narrative person, temporal structure, and the theme of memory
- Discussion leaders and members who wish to organize a book-club session around one short book
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting full causal explanation and a clear ending
- Those who prefer fast-paced, plot-heavy stories or lots of dialogue-driven action
- Readers who find it hard to accept non-realist elements such as sorcery and overlapping identities
Reading tips
- On the first pass, follow the suspense and resist judging who Aura is; notice how the narrator supplies information.
- On the second pass, reread the opening and ending with the question "who is narrating," checking against the progress of Felipe's knowledge of the memoirs.
- After reading, take brief notes on the mansion's space, light, and temporal dislocation, then compare with other mid-century Latin American novellas.
About the publisher
Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 一
- 二
- 三
- 四
- 五
- 译后记
FAQ
This novel is very short—will I read it too fast and miss the point?
Can I read Aura without a background in Latin American literature?
Why would such a short book be interpreted again and again?
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About the author
Carlos Fuentes is an important author in the field of foreign literature. His representative works include Aura, The Death of Artemio Cruz, The Years with Laura Díaz, The Blind Man's Song, The Glass Border, Diana, the Lonely Huntress, The Five Suns of Mexico, and The Eagle's Throne. Public information about his nationality, birth and death dates, and similar details is limited and cannot be confirmed. The library holds nine of his works, covering novels and short stories. His writing often interweaves reality and fantasy, with intricate narrative structures, and he is skilled at connecting history with individual destiny in a language full of tension. Translated into Chinese, his works provide an important reference for readers to understand Latin American literature, and they have influenced the narrative ideas of many later writers, occupying a unique place in contemporary foreign literature.
Alejandra Acosta is a foreign author about whom limited public information is currently available; her nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background are not specified in existing materials. Judging from the holdings, only one of her works, Ola, has been translated for Chinese readers, and it is commonly classified under foreign literature. Through this work, her writing appears to unfold in novelistic form, with themes that interweave literary fiction and human destinies, and a style that emphasizes atmosphere and emotional development rather than grand settings or densely packed plots. Because verifiable biographical information is scarce, it remains difficult to form a complete picture of her oeuvre, her development as a writer, or her standing in her native literary world. As the sole entry point through which she has reached Chinese readers, Ola offers an initial sample of her narrative sensibility and suggests that only with more translations and research materials may her authorial image gradually become clearer.
Zhang Rui is an author about whom limited public information is available. Her works span several subjects, including foreign literature, inspirational growth and examination preparation. Four of her titles are held in the collection, among them Aola, a work of foreign literature, and a children's phonetic picture-book edition of classic stories that influence girls' growth, aimed at young readers. She has also written practical study and examination materials, such as the second edition of a micro-course-based laboratory manual for computer fundamentals and applications, as well as the self-help title The Courage to Escape. Judging from these works, her writing combines literary appreciation with growth education, ranging from phonetic picture books for younger readers to tutorials and self-adjustment content for learners, showing a diverse range and an emphasis on practicality and readability. Because biographical details are scarce, further information awaits additional sources.
