The Time of the Hero

The Time of the Hero (Spanish: La Ciudad y los Perros, translated literally as The City and the Dogs) is a 1963 novel. It was the first novel published by Mario Vargas Llosa. It deals with a group of students in a military school in Lima, Perú; their relationships, their backgrounds, their lives in a school ruled by strict military rules.

The novel is noteworthy for experimenting with multiple perspectives and is required literature in Latin American countries.


 * Absurdly Powerful Student Council: The Circle.
 * Anachronic Order
 * Author Tract: Military rule promotes things like manliness, sexuality and courage but cripples other things like personal development.
 * Biggus Dickus: The Boa.
 * Black Comedy: Throughout the book.
 * Butt Monkey: The Slave.
 * Depraved Homosexual: Paulino.
 * Determinator: The Jaguar.
 * Five-Bad Band:
 * The Big Bad: The Jaguar.
 * The Dragon: The Boa.
 * The Evil Genius: Brigadier Arróspide.
 * The Brute: Curly.
 * The Dark Chick: Vallano.
 * The Lancer: Cava.
 * Humiliation Conga: It happens to a lot of characters, usually not Played for Laughs.
 * In Medias Res
 * In the Back:
 * Initiation Ceremony: Happens when the boys enter the academy; the humiliating variety.
 * Karma Houdini:
 * Military School
 * Only Known by Their Nickname: The Poet, the Jaguar, the Slave, the Boa and others.
 * Pick on Someone Your Own Size
 * Prison Rape: In a military academy.
 * Reassigned to Antarctica: Lt. Gamboa is reassigned to Juliaca (for those who don’t know, it’s only a few miles from the Titicaca Lake, shared with Bolivia).
 * The Reveal
 * Sadist Teacher: Blended with Drill Sergeant Nasty.
 * The Spartan Way
 * The Stool Pigeon: The Slave, who only snitches because he wants to get out of the academy to see the girl he likes.
 * Teens Are Monsters
 * Those Two Guys: Tico and Pluto.
 * Write What You Know: Vargas Llosa spent a couple of years in the academy in his youth.