''¡Que viva la música!'' (Published in English as: Liveforever) is a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n writer

Andrés Caicedo Luis Andrés Caicedo Estela (29 September 1951 – 4 March 1977) was a Colombian writer born in Cali, the city where he would spend most of his life. Despite his premature death, his works are considered to be some of the most original produced ...

, one of his most important works and considered by many observers as a masterpiece of modern Colombian literature. He started to write it on a trip to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

trying to get in touch with Roger Corman in order to sell to the famous

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

director four of his play scripts, but he was not welcomed. Caicedo devoted his time in the US to seeing movies, studying blues and rock and writing this novel. The book was finally published in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

on March 4, 1977. That same afternoon, its author committed suicide. Caicedo described his book as a result of an "ephemeral curiosity", but there is a small but dedicated core of readers who believe it to be one of the greatest novels among

Colombian literature Colombian literature, as an expression of the culture of Colombia, is heterogeneous due to the coexistence of Spanish, African and Native American heritages in an extremely diverse geography. Five distinct historical and cultural traditions can ...

of the second half of the 20th century.

Context

The novel is set in the city of

, known also as the "World Capital of

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

".Salsa.ch
Cali, Capital Mundial de la Salsa
link retrieved on June 14, 2008. It is also the native city of Caicedo, who reflects its barrios and streets and its people of the 1970s.

Plot summary

The

has been seen as an invitation to a party without end, where the main character comes to see the world as a bottomless pit of debauchery, which she relishes. There is a secret pact with death itself involving the ever more frantic dance of María del Carmen Huerta, the blonde protagonist of the book. The novel also offers an affectionate view of the Colombian city of Cali as unique, magic, and different. Our introduction starts in the privileged north, with its Sixth Avenue ("la Sexta"), Parque Versalles, and its magical places, continuing to the ghetto in the South with its Caseta Panamericana (built especially for the

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Jan ...

), the Pance River, the neighborhoods beyond upper-class Miraflores, the winged

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountain range, and the hideouts of sex and

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

in the final stretches of 15th Street ("la Quince").

María del Carmen Huerta

She is a girl of good family, the daughter of a photographer of the Calean high society. But living in a high class comes to be for her boring and then she decided to explore the streets of the city. Through the eyes of Maria del Carmen, Caicedo shows the different social groups of the 1970s Cali, that reflects also the Colombian society and in a wider way Latin America. As a kind of Siddhartha of

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

, Maria del Carmen goes from group to group looking for a sense for her life. The first group she found is of

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

s who used to go by the streets of Cali or

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

with backpacks, untidy hair and ''

Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in Historical mater ...

'' to read anywhere to anyone who dare to listen to them as a kind of preachers. She got bored of this first team and abandoned them soon to look more pure emotions She came to the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

world imported to the city by the children of parents who were able to study in the US and return to Cali wearing gang clothes. Maria del Carmen became a part of a gang to try any kind of drugs while listening to the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

References

External links

* HERNÁNDEZ, Adriana
¡Qué viva la música! La escritura desde abajo
Primeras Jornadas Virtuales de Esquizoanalisis - 2004. * LEEB, Linda

{{DEFAULTSORT:Que Viva La Musica 1977 novels 1977 debut novels 20th-century Colombian novels Novels set in Colombia