Novel
Brother Ass
El hermano asno
Eduardo Barrios · 1922
Synopsis
The novel takes the form of the diary of Fray Lázaro, a Franciscan who, in his seventh year at the convent, doubts that he ever had a vocation. In it he observes his companion Fray Rufino, whose reputation for holiness and miracles keeps growing, while he mortifies himself in secret; his admirers take him for a living saint. Lázaro, for his part, feels drawn to María Mercedes, the young sister of Gracia, the woman he loved before entering the cloister, and this attraction clashes with his vows.
Context
The novel appeared in 1922 from Nascimento. Ebsco classes it as psychological realism; Memoria Chilena sees in it a picture of the life of the Franciscans at the convent of San Francisco and in its surroundings. An English translation, Brother Ass, appeared in 1942 according to Ebsco, and John Stirling Thompson produced another in 1993; Britannica mentions a 1969 version under the title Brother Asno. The same encyclopaedia regards Gran señor y rajadiablos, from 1948, as the author's greatest success.
Who it is for
A short novel in the form of a diary, easy to follow; translated into English, not into French.
Prizes and reception
For Ebsco, a novel of psychological realism, told through the diary of a monk who doubts his vocation.
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