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Cover of The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier

The Lost Steps

Alejo Carpentier

  • 281 pages · about 5 hours
  • First published 1953
  • 63 editions
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1 About this book

Translated into twenty languages and published in more than fourteen Spanish editions, The Lost Steps, originally published in 1953, is Alejo Carpentier's most heralded novel. A composer, fleeing an empty existence in New York City, takes a journey with his mistress to one of the few remaining areas of the world not yet touched by civilization - the upper reaches of a great South American river.

The Lost Steps describes his search, his adventures, and the remarkable decision he makes in a village that seems truly outside history.

  • Caribbean fiction
  • Personal growth
  • Magical Realism
  • Indigenous peoples of South America
  • Composers
  • Hispanic & Latino
  • Jungles
  • Musicians

2 About Alejo Carpentier

1904–1980

Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (Spanish pronunciation:, French pronunciation:; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French and Russian parentage, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba, and despite his European birthplace, he strongly identified as Cuban throughout his life.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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