Quotes from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Aquí cambian las personas, teniente, nunca las cosas.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“I know what a man feels close to the woman he loves, but he's affraid to do anything”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“—Con dogmáticos o con inteligentes, el Perú estará siempre jodido —dijo Carlitos—. Este país empezó mal y acabará mal. Como nosotros, Zavalita.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Ninguna otra novela me ha dado tanto trabajo; por eso, si tuviera que salvar del fuego una sola de las que he escrito, salvaría ésta.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“allí. Un gran canchón rodeado de un muro ruin de adobes color caca —el color de Lima, piensa, el color del Perú—, flanqueado por chozas que, a lo lejos, se van mezclando y espesando hasta convertirse en un laberinto de esteras, cañas, tejas, calaminas.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“¿Quería de veras un consejo, piensa, sabía que estabas enamorado de ella y quería saber si te atreverías a decírselo? Qué habría dicho si yo, piensa, qué habría yo si ella. Piensa: ay, Zavalita.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“¿En qué momento se había jodido el Perú?”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“automóviles, edificios desiguales y descoloridos, esqueletos de avisos luminosos flotando en la neblina, el mediodía gris. ¿En qué momento se había jodido el Perú?”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Se había acordado de algo que le dijo Trifulcio esa noche, la víspera de su partida a Lima, cuando caminaban a oscuras: estoy en Chincha y siento que no estoy, reconozco todo y no reconozco nada.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Ya se sentía bastante jodido aquí, niño, allá ese día además de jodido se había sentido viejísimo.”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

“Hasta la lluvia andaba jodida en este país. Piensa:”
― Mario Vargas Llosa, quote from Conversation in the Cathedral

About the author

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About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.