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Publicada en 1958, esta novela del escritor peruano José María Arguedas tiene hondas raíces autobiográficas. Ernesto, su protagonista y narrador en primera persona, es hijo de blancos, pero sus primeros años transcurren en una comunidad india, cuyo mundo primitivo, puro, sumergido en la naturaleza y entretejido de magia, será constantemente el refugio de sus recuerdos y nostalgias.

Durante una estancia en Cuzco (el libro comienza con la descripción de esta ciudad), Ernesto toma conciencia de que en el Perú viven en continuo contacto, pero chocando constantemente y sin posibilidad de una integración real, dos pueblos con distintas concepciones del mundo y de la vida. De un lado, los blancos, y en particular la clase dominante de los grandes terratenientes; de la otra, los indios, conquistados en el pasado por la violencia. Ambos forman parte de un sistema social y económico que sólo conoce dueños y esclavos.

Los largos vagabundeos de Ernesto se interrumpen en Abancay. Es internado en un colegio dirigido por religiosos, cuyos métodos educativos están por completo al servicio del orden constituido. La brutal explotación de los indios por parte de la oligarquía latifundista es vista por los mismos como un orden agradable a Dios. Para Ernesto, el período del colegio es tormentoso; los choques continuos con sus compañeros, entre los cuales se encuentra cada vez más aislado, le llevan a los barrios de los indios de Abancay y a sus casas, donde los indígenas viven como bestias, rodeados por la oscuridad y la inmundicia.

En las "chicherías" de estos barrios, o sea en las típicas tabernas peruanas, Ernesto revive, volviendo a descubrir la vida, los objetos y las fantasías de los quechua. Un día estalla una revuelta de prostitutas. Debido al acaparamiento especulativo por parte de la administración municipal, no se encuentra sal; consiguen dar con los depósitos de la misma, que son vaciados, y las mujeres, seguidas por Ernesto, fascinado y exaltado por la acción, se dirigen a las casas de los indios para distribuirla.

Pero de inmediato los guardias a caballo les vuelven a quitar la sal y todo vuelve a entrar en el orden establecido bajo la conmovedora y consoladora bendición del padre rector. Al final, estalla la peste, seguida de una revuelta de los indios, que los fusiles de los guardias no consiguen detener. Ernesto deja el colegio y Abancay y se encamina hacia la cordillera.

En Los ríos profundos, José María Arguedas lleva a cabo una innovación de carácter fundamental en la literatura latinoamericana. Según dice Mario Vargas Llosa en un apéndice a la novela, en los relatos y narraciones de Arguedas se substituyen, por primera vez en América Latina, los indios abstractos y subjetivos creados por los modernistas e indigenistas por personas reales, objetivas, localizadas tanto histórica como socialmente. Arguedas consiguió crear un estilo que le permitió "traducir" al español el lenguaje propio del indio mediante una ruptura sistemática de la sintaxis tradicional, que cede el paso, en la construcción de la frase, a una organización de las palabras que no está de acuerdo con un orden lógico, sino con uno emocional e intuitivo.

Reading this for August 2021 BOTM Reading 1001. This books significance is that it was written for Andean people of Peru and tho it is in Spanish, the author thought and expressed himself as Quechua. So far, it is the story of a young lad's experience expressed in terms of sensual and spiritual. The book is semi autobiographical. The main character is a boy with a double origin. "A child with roots in two hostile worlds." quote by Mario Vargas Llosa. He was brought up by Indians but yet he is white and therefore does not fit in that world or in the world of the Indian. Ernesto doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. He lives in his memories and in his communion with nature. He also has a love of music. In the last chapter there is this quote about Ernesto as he walks around the schoolyard where he has been a resident and soon will be leaving; "more attentive to memories than to external things." This is also a story of Ernesto's coming of age. He is going from a reality of innocence to one where he is aware of evil.

The title Deep Rivers refers to nature but also to life to the depth, the hidden, the treacherous.
Nature Quotes:
"feel the rest of their lives the brush of its comforting warmth on their hearts, protecting them from hatred and melancholy." (reference to the insect Zumbayllu.
"The Abancay lemon, large, thick-skinned, edible within and easy to peel, contains a juice which, when mixed with brown sugar, makes the most deliciou and potent food in the world. It is a burning and sweet. It instill happiness. It instills happiness. It is as if one were drinking sunlight."
"sunshine often appears between scattered showers" and "deeply moved by the sun and the dark clouds that cast down their rain.".

Ernesto has his own religion. He incorporates his Indian upbringing with his Christian. The Rector of the boarding school is the incarnation of human duplicity and the accomplice of injustice." (LLosa). Also in reference to social status, the reference of the hacienda owners as a form of God to his subjects. To quote one of the boys Antero. "I used to weep,. Who wouldn't but the Indians must be kept down. You can't understand because you're not a landowner." Two episodes in the book include the insurrection of the market women and the ravages of the plague.

The book is considered by the translator as one that is hard for us readers to connect because while it was written in Spanish but author wrote it for the people who speak Quechua. He wanted to write it in quechua and it contains Quechua. I found it beautiful writing of nature and did not find it hard to read. ( )

My edition of this book (which has the same ISBN as the edition I chose, but looks different and comes in at just under 250 pages) took me over 2 weeks to read. Over 2 weeks for fewer than 250 pages. Clearly, I did not love it.

From everything I have read (the intro, the afterword by Llosa, and the goodreads description), this novel is a semi-autobiographical account of Arguedas' childhood. Brought up by Indians, when he re-entered Latino society, he found he did not fit in. But he didn't fit into Indian culture either, being Latino and not native.

I know I have to be missing some (read: many, or maybe all?) cultural clues in this book. I struggled to know who was Indian and who was not—at the seminary school, the boys have a huge hierarchy (very Lord of the Flies-esque, another book I did not love). I could not understand how this hierarchy was determined. Wealth? Looks? Smarts? Plain old popularity? To me, this book was about a boy who had been brought up on the road, traveling with his father from town to town and not getting to stay anywhere for as long as he would like. And his father then leaves him at this seminary. And yes, he does not fit in, but that is because he has never needed to or had the opportunity to live amongst the same people for long, and his father does not visit nor write. He is all alone, trying to make friends (and he does, though it is hard and he is an outcast). He simple does not know how to function in a stable society.

The descriptions of the natural world--birds, bugs, landscape--were my favorite parts. I googled many of the trees and birds to see what they really look like. It made me laugh when one of the birds turned out to be a South American mockingbird. And yes, the description sounded like one!

Interestingly, the 1001 books summary sees this book more how I read it. The clueless non-Latin-American interpretation, perhaps.

Also, much of the language in this book reminded me of Calvino's Invisible Cities (which I did enjoy). I read both in translation, which strikes me as--odd. Something about the cadence of the writing. ( )