“Pedro Páramo” is a novel written by the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo a novel that falls under and the main genre is magical realism, as Professor Jon explained to us. The novel is set in the Mexican city of Comala, which I actually visited once a few years ago. Therefore, this detail really caught my attention and made me enjoy the story in a different way, better connecting the descriptions of the city that are made. However, the style of the book was sometimes confusing for me since the story doesn’t always follow a linear structure. The narrative jumps between different points in time, with flashbacks and flash-forwards, which made it challenging for me to consistently follow the arguments and anecdotes that the author was explaining. Apart from experiencing jumps in time, the story also switches between the perspectives of different characters, not only the main one, Juan. This also made it confusing for me to fully understand the events that took place or the personalities of certain characters at times.

The main character of this book is Juan Preciado, and we learn about his experience and perspectives in his journey of searching for his father, Pedro Páramo, who was wealthy and powerful. Juan’s main objective is to learn about his past and his ascendence, which in my opinion adds an essence of mystery to the story as the reader keeps learning more information. Another main character in the story is Susana San Juan, a well-known character in the city of Comala who used to be Pedro Páramo’s lover and is seeking revenge. The story between Pedro and Susana happened when they were young lovers and she got pregnant with his child, and later Pedro abandoned her to raise the child alone. Susana gave birth to the child and didn’t have the means to support him, and sadly the baby died soon after, which explains her profound hate and feeling of betrayal against Pedro.

Overall, what I liked the most about the book is the constant mystery present in the story and the multiple themes that it constains: love, death, power, introspection… Although I sometimes found confusing the style of the novel and made it difficult for me to follow the plot, I sometimes enjoyed it and I felt like it contributed to its aspect of “magical realism”. 

What did you think about the non-linear structure of the book? Did it affect your understanding of the story or did you overall enjoy it? Why?