The Lost Steps

2001
Author:

Alejo Carpentier
Translated by Harriet de Onís
Introduction by Timothy Brennan

Three works of fiction by the inventor of magic realism-now back in print!

Translated into twenty languages and published in more than fourteen Spanish editions, The Lost Steps, originally published in 1953, is Alejo Carpentier’s most heralded novel. A composer, fleeing an empty existence in New York City, takes a journey with his mistress to one of the few remaining areas of the world not yet touched by civilization-the upper reaches of a great South American river.

An erudite yet absorbing adventure story. . . A book full of riches-stylistic, sensory, visual.

New York Times Book Review

Translated into twenty languages and published in more than fourteen Spanish editions, The Lost Steps, originally published in 1953, is Alejo Carpentier’s most heralded novel.

A composer, fleeing an empty existence in New York City, takes a journey with his mistress to one of the few remaining areas of the world not yet touched by civilization-the upper reaches of a great South American river. The Lost Steps describes his search, his adventures, and the remarkable decision he makes in a village that seems to be truly outside history.

Perhaps Cuba’s most important intellectual figure of the twentieth century, Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) was a novelist, a classically trained pianist and musicologist, a producer of avant-garde radio programming, and an influential theorist of politics and literature. Best known for his novels, Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. Born in Havana, he lived for many years in France and Venezuela but returned to Cuba after the 1959 revolution.

Perhaps Cuba’s most important intellectual figure of the twentieth century, Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980) was a novelist, a classically trained pianist and musicologist, a producer of avant-garde radio programming, and an influential theorist of politics and literature. Best known for his novels, Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. Born in Havana, he lived for many years in France and Venezuela but returned to Cuba after the 1959 revolution.

An erudite yet absorbing adventure story. . . A book full of riches-stylistic, sensory, visual.

New York Times Book Review

The greatest novel to have appeared in Latin America in our time.

Le Figaro Littéraire

Extraordinary.

The New Yorker

A classic example of magic realism and a principal influence on later works in this genre.

MultiCultural Review