spanish but not really

 I liked reading this book. And I can completely see why some consider it the precursor to magical realism. Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo  is largely about the balance between hope and misery, and the way that people  have such strong hopes that their wishes will come true, while having to cope with the misery of realising it'll never happen. That's a bit depressing but I think it's an important part of life. The way that people cope with not getting what they want can determine their strength in getting past adversities and this novel is a good reminder of that. Pedro Paramo is a complicated character, being both a protagonist and antagonist at the same time. I definitely can't defend him as being a good person, him straight-up letting everyone die and all, but I kinda get it within the context of his character. Basically the only thing he wants in the world is for Susana to love him and be his, and so when she dies without his only wish being fulfilled, it's sort ...