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Mario Vargas Llosa. La civilización del espectáculo. México D.F. / Madrid. Santillana / Alfaguara. 2012. isbn 9786071117663
La civilización del espectáculo is a controversial and pessimistic book that also brims with vibrant energy and instigating ideas, many of which might make the reader consider Mario Vargas Llosa a politically incorrect writer. His main argument proposes that culture, as it has been known traditionally, is on the verge of disappearing; it is disappearing at such a fast rate that no one can fully grasp the disastrous consequences of the cultural changes that are taking place before our very eyes.
The book centers on four main themes: banality of culture, disappearance of eroticism, frivolity of politics, and religious tolerance. Common to these four scenarios is the fact that they have emerged within a type of society that privileges, above all, spectacle and entertainment. The...