Magic Lantern: Having a Ball and Christmas Eve

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Oxford's Library of Latin America series is devoted to bringing the best of Central and South American literature to a North American audience; often these works are being translated into English for the first time. De Cuellar's The Magic Lantern provides a sardonic look at the manners of late-nineteenth-century Mexico in two novellas. The first, "Having a Ball," chronicles the planning of a party, hosted by a family among Mexico City's burgeoning nouveaux riches. The family, not knowing any of the "best" families but nonetheless wanting them to be invited, leaves the planning of the ball to a servant. The best families turn out to be the worst mannered, the house gets trashed, and reputations are ruined in this look at Mexican families adhering to European pretenses. "Christmas Eve" is an ambitious, short novella that presents a series of brief snapshots (or "exposed negatives," as the subtitle suggests) of a party given one Christmas Eve by a well-connected general for his mistress. The Magic Lantern is a well-constructed comedy of manners, showing de Cuellar to be Mexico's Balzac. Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Jose Tomas de Cuellar (1830-1894) was a Mexican writer noted for his sharp sense of humor and gift for caricature. Having a Ball and Christmas Eve are two novellas written in the costumbrista style, made popular in the mid-nineteenth century by the periodical press in which these sketches of contemporary manners were first published. The stories are a sensitive reflection of the effects of modernization brought by an authoritarian regime dedicated to order and progress. Christmas Eve describes a volatile middle class in which people pursue pleasure and entertainment without regard to morality. Having a Ball depicts women and their dedication to fashion. It is through them that Cuellar examines a society susceptible to foreign values, the importation of which radically altered the face of Mexico and its traditional customs.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish


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Mexican author de Cu llar (1830-94) uses satire, picaresque description, and the costumbrista style (sketches of contemporary manners made popular by the era's periodical press) to illustrate hypocrisy within the 19th-century Mexican middle class. Similar in style to El periquillo sarniento (1861) by an earlier author, Fernandez de Lizardi, the book consists of two novellas: "Christmas Eve," which focuses on the search for pleasure, and "Having a Ball," which satirizes women's love of fashion. Showing keen insight into the natures of men and women across race and class lines, de Cu llar addresses immorality, the breakdown of traditional family structure, and distorted ideals of female beauty. Today's reader will quickly draw parallels to these same issues in modern society and may find the depiction of racial prejudice especially disquieting. The English translation by Carson retains the 19th-century vocabulary and speech patterns. Appropriate for high school, public, and academic libraries, this book is also highly recommended for undergraduate and graduate-level comparative literature, Mexican American, and Latin American majors.--Lee McQueen, SUNY at Buffalo Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.


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