Marko Book Club | "Pedro Páramo" Discussion

Next week we're meeting live to discuss Mexico's classic novel

I made this image with the help of an AI art program

Hi everyone, just a quick note to remind you that next week I am hosting a live Zoom call to discuss the September Book club pick, Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo.

The discussion is open everyone - even if you haven’t finished the book. It’s a very short read and you have a week to finish it.

I’m going to use the week to re-read it, this time in English. As nice as it was to appreciate the original language, I spent most of my time translating the rural dialect rather than focusing on the story itself.

If you want to dig a little deeper, I found this really beautiful English-language discussion of the book to be very helpful. It includes some passages from the book read over Spanish guitar between analysis of the plot, characters, and theme.

In the meantime, here are some questions to chew over before our discussion.

Discussion Questions

• For our Mexican readers - what makes this book so important in Mexico?

• For those that read in Spanish, what did you notice about the language? Was it hard to translate? If so, why?

• What is the message of the book? How does the plot relate to the events of the Mexican Revolution and Juan Rulfo’s father’s death over a land dispute?

• What does the character of Don Pedro represent in Mexican society? As a larger human archetype?

• Why does the story of begin from the point of view of Juan Preciado?

• Why did Rulfo decide to structure the book in this “fragmented” style?

• Why does Rulfo tell the story through the perspective of ghosts? What does this say about the meaning of death in Mexico?

• Why does Rulfo chose not to name each narrator explicitly?

• The most powerful people in the town of Comala are don Pedro, who owns the land, and Father Rentería, who cares for the people's souls. Compare the ways don Pedro and the priest both fail the townspeople who depend on them.

• Does don Pedro's love for Susana make him a sympathetic character?

• What does the story of Dolores's marriage to don Pedro tell the reader about the status of women in the novel?

• Why does Juan Precaido die halfway through the book? What are the “murmurings? and why did they kill him?

• Juan Rulfo only published one novel and dedicated the rest of his life to the protection of indigenous groups and literary organizations. Do you find any clues in the novel to the author’s later life path?
  

I also made this with the same AI

Zoom Details

Time: Sep 28rd — 3PM Los Angeles // 5 PM Mexico City // 6 PM New York

Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88631800077?pwd=SVh2UnJ5MTBKbEhaZExJbE5aa0pFdz09

Meeting ID: 886 3180 0077

Passcode: MarkoReads

October Book Club Pick

Next month, we will be reading a fictional book by a female author. What should we read? So far I’m considering Homegoing, American Dirt and In Every Mirror She’s Black.

Comment your suggestions below!