Los verdaderos paraísos

Creator: Luis Carlos Azuaje

Title: Los verdaderos paraísos

Publisher: Fundación para la Cultura Urbana

Date: 2022

Language: Spanish

Description: "A young man arrives in a remote Brazilian town following the trail of a little-known episode in the life of writer Albert Camus. In that small village, he becomes part of the daily routines of a boarding house run by an elderly Japanese woman, who offers him shelter, work, and friendship. The young man is driven by his ambition to dedicate himself to writing: his research on the days the French novelist spent in this remote place becomes the foundation of what will be his first literary work.

However, a tense atmosphere surrounds his presence—no one knows what he is doing in such a forgotten region, what his nationality is, or what intentions motivate his stay in a place of no economic or touristic interest.

With elements of both the bildungsroman and crime fiction, Los verdaderos paraísos is also a novel where metafictional techniques blur the boundaries between reality and fiction. At the same time, it offers a subtle portrait of uprootedness, the persistent struggle for the acceptance of the “other,” and the misunderstandings caused by malice and senseless resentment." (Source, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela) 

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"The novel tells the story of David, a young writer who travels to a coastal town in Brazil in search of traces of Albert Camus—the French novelist and philosopher born in Algeria who won the Nobel Prize in 1957 and had visited the same town seventy years earlier. His investigation and the locals’ suspicions about his origins shape a narrative that delves into the complexities of exile.

The jury of the 20th Annual Transgeneric Prize, composed of writers and scholars Irma Chumaceiro, Violeta Rojo, Carlos Sandoval, Jorge Carrión (Spain), and Krina Ber (winner of the 2019 edition), unanimously awarded Los verdaderos paraísos, praising it as "a beautifully written work that explores themes of travel, identity, and uprootedness." (Letralia, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela).

"Venezuelan writer Luis Carlos Azuaje was the winner of the 2020 Annual Transgeneric Prize for his novel Los verdaderos paraísos, which is now available in print at bookstores and [online stores].

@luiscarlosazuaje holds a master's degree in Latin American Literature from USB and in Hispanic Philology from the Center for Human and Social Sciences in Madrid. His work has been featured in anthologies such as Voces Nuevas (2006), Velas al viento: los microrrelatos de la nave de los locos (2010), and Antología del taller literario Los moradores (2012). In 2018, he published his first novel, El gran farsante (Fundación para la Cultura Urbana), in Málaga." (Fundación para la Cultura Urbana, translated from Spanish by Archivo Venezuela).

Subject: Literature, narrative, fiction, bildungsroman, crime novel, Iguape, Brazil, Venezuela, Albert Camus, Luis Carlos Azuaje

Type: Text

Format: Printed book

Rights: External reference

Relation: Presentation of Los verdaderos paraísos with Keila Vall de la Ville and Gustavo Valle.


Discussion with Luis Carlos Azuaje on Los verdaderos paraísos in the program Un Minuto con las Artes, la Academia en tu Radio, with Susana Benko, Álvaro Mata, Humberto Ortiz, and Rafael Castillo Zapata.

On the occasion of the publication of Los verdaderos paraísos, Gabriel Payares interviews Luis Carlos Azuaje for Prodavinci.

Identifier: LIT0006

Collection: Narrative fiction

Tags: Albert Camus, bildungsroman, Brazil, crime novel, Fiction, Iguape, Literature, Luis Carlos Azuaje, Narrative, Venezuela

Citation: Luis Carlos Azuaje, Los verdaderos paraísos, Fundación para la Cultura Urbana, 2022, accessed September 22, 2026, https://archivovenezuela.com/en/items/show/174