Mario Vargas Llosa quotes
1936 – 2025 · Peru, 20th–21st century · novelist, essayist, journalist, playwright, literary critic and politician
About Mario Vargas Llosa
Born in Arequipa in 1936, he broke through with The Time of the Hero (1963) and produced novels, essays and plays that combine narrative experimentation with historical and political inquiry. He also stood for the Peruvian presidency in 1990 and defended liberal democracy throughout his career.
Works: The Time of the Hero; The Green House; Conversation in the Cathedral; The Feast of the Goat
Quotes
“Like writing, reading is a protest against the insufficiencies of life.”
Source: In Praise of Reading and Fiction, Nobel Lecture, 7 December 2010 · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence is recorded verbatim in Mario Vargas Llosa's Nobel Lecture, delivered on 7 December 2010.
Vargas Llosa argues that reading is a form of protest: by reading we declare that ordinary life falls short and we summon other possibilities. The line comes from his 2010 Nobel Lecture and encapsulates his humanist belief in fiction's moral power.