Let's not go back too far: Arthur Miller died in 2005 and from then on we have seen the death of many prominent figures of world literature.

IBNA: From the death of Arthur Miller, great dramatist who recorded the scars of capitalism, to the death of Norman Miller stubborn journalist whose résumé encompassed a wide range of works – from a social report to condemnation of the Vietnam War – and turned out to become the pioneer of the Beat Generation in the 50's, and then to unbelievable death of John Updike with his never-ending smile who accepted cancer the way it was and kept on smiling to the last shocking moment of surrender to death, or of the great Solzhenitsyn who had spent his agedness with the illusion of turning back to the grandeur of Communist era, or even to the death of Mahmood Darwish who welcomed death with admitting an unnecessary heart operation yet never came back to compose more beautiful poems for his Palestinian compatriots; from the death of old Salinger who obstinately broke up with the whole world until the last moments of his life to Ernesto Sabato who passed away on his centennial anniversary, or of José Saramago who kept on writing to the very last drops of life; we have seen so many deaths of great figures in the last decade the last of which were the French Alain Robbe-Grillet (18 Feb 2008) and Antonio Tabucchi (25 March 2012). All of these were no doubts among the literary giants who will never be replaced in history, as all of them belonged to a generation that had suffered from real sorrows of life.

Yet the death of Carlos Fuentes seems to be of another kind. It was the shocking death of a figure too close, tangible and omnipresent to die. He was a man of power who always cast a shade of his own when appearing on TV screens and yet answered all questions kindly; his attractive presence on stage was enough to make the answers more significant than the questions. Fuentes was the prominent figure of Mexico and Latin America and to the consensus of the critics, he had bestowed more significance to the social life of his country in the last decade. That is why his death is announced by the President Felipe Calderón and is called by him as a universal citizen.

Dealing with contemporary history and world politics, Fuentes could connect with a wide range of audiences in his works and address their needs by being a multidimensional writer. Fuentes always attended the great gathering of the Spanish speaking world in the greatest annual Mexican book fair held in Guadalajara, and even on the day he passed away he had a note published in a national newspaper. He fought against drugs for years and used to travel to the most Mexican border towns to prepare minute reports on drug smuggling; he had suggested free drug trade in order to set his people free of drug mafia. He regarded neighborhood with the United States as the most bothering problems of his nation and humorously complained about not being able to choose their neighbors themselves. He was a serious critic of Bosch's policies for Iraq and was banned from entering the United States; however, the decision was waived later by the American as it was not the writer who needed them. 

Fuentes was a pioneer of Magic Realist School that revived the great storytelling heritage of his country in a work like 'Aura' and paved the way for other Latin American writers. He proved to the world that people have the right to draw on their favorite writers as a means of better perception of the universe.

Fuentes has left behind 23 novels, 9 short story collections, 15 article collections and 13 plays.

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Roya Dianat
Communication Sciences, MA

Id : 137846