Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

This difficult, but fascinating tale of magical realism tells the story of Juan Preciado who searches for his father in the town of Comala where he meets the ghost of his father’s past, condemned to purgatorial existence in a land that has been poisoned by Paramo’s greed and hate. Death does not bring an end to their suffering but only an extension of it. From beyond the grave they continue to be afflicted by the tantalizing vision of a paradise from which they are forever excluded.