Hijo de hombre

Synopsis of Hijo de hombre

«Hijo de hombre» is a novel by Augusto Roa Bastos published by Seix Barral in hardback (285 pages, in Spanish).

Set in Paraguay between 1912 and 1936, it tells how characters from Itapé, Sapukai and the Alto Paraná are drawn into the Chaco War against Bolivia, fought over oil interests. In the end there were no deposits: a hundred thousand men died for nothing. Roa Bastos, a volunteer in that war, turns the tragedy into a human story.

Originally published in 1960, it opens the series «Trilogía sobre el monoteísmo del poder» by Roa Bastos; it received the Editorial Losada Prize.

For readers of Latin American and historical fiction, especially those who want to learn about the history of Paraguay and the Chaco War.