The Vortex
eBook - PDF

The Vortex

A Novel

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Vortex

A Novel

About this book

Published in 1924 and widely acknowledged as a major work of twentieth-century Latin American literature, José Eustasio Rivera's The Vortex follows the harrowing adventures of the young poet Arturo Cova and his lover Alicia as they flee Bogotá and head into the wild and woolly backcountry of Colombia. After being separated from Alicia, Arturo leaves the high plains for the jungle, where he witnesses firsthand the horrid conditions of those forced or tricked into tapping rubber trees. A story populated by con men, rubber barons, and the unrelenting landscape, The Vortex is both a denunciation of the sensational human-rights abuses that took place during the Amazonian rubber boom and one of the most famous renderings of the natural environment in Latin American literary history.

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Before 
I 
fell 
for 
any 
woman, 
I 
lost 
my 
heart 
to 
a 
sensation. 
Call 
it 
Intensity. 
No 
fainting 
sensitivities, 
no 
tender 
looks 
and 
confidences 
for 
me. 
More 
than 
a 
lover, 
I 
was 
always 
the 
subjugator
. 
My 
lips 
did 
not 
know 
how 
to 
plead. 
And 
yet, 
I 
still 
believed 
in 
the 
ideal 
of 
love, 
still 
wanted 
the 
divine 
giſt 
of 
spiritual 
fire 
to 
spread 
over 
my 
body 
like 
flames 
over 
tinder.
When 
Alicia’s 
eyes 
worked 
their 
unfortunate 
magic 
on 
me, 
I 
had 
almost 
given 
up 
hope. 
My 
arms, 
grown 
tired 
of 
liberty, 
had 
reached 
out 
to 
many 
women—seeking 
to 
be 
enchained—but 
no 
one 
guessed 
my 
secret 
dreams, 
nor 
disturbed 
the 
silence 
in 
my 
heart.
Alicia 
required 
little 
effort. 
She 
gave 
herself 
without 
hesitation, 
all 
for 
the 
love 
she 
hoped 
to 
find 
in 
me.
She 
was 
not 
thinking 
about 
marriage, 
even 
aſter 
her 
family 
conspired 
to 
fix 
everything, 
with 
the 
help 
of 
the 
priest, 
by 
force 
if 
need 
be. 
She 
revealed 
their 
plans 
to 
me, 
saying 
that 
she 
would 
never 
marry, 
that 
she 
would 
not 
stand 
in 
the 
way 
of 
my 
future 
happiness.
I
Part 
One

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Introduction: A Player in the Rainforest
  4. Prologue
  5. Part One
  6. Part Two
  7. Part Three
  8. Epilogue

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Yes, you can access The Vortex by José Eustasio Rivera, John Charles Chasteen in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & Literature General. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.