Books by Mario Mendoza
Mario Mendoza is considered one of the great writers of the last two decades. His works show the reality of the Colombian capital. He poses a very particular narrative, perceived through the images that show his writings.
His texts are alive, dynamic, and come from his deepest life; he boldly delves into the minds of his characters, reaching the most intrinsic part of human beings.
Her love for Bogotá is another important aspect of her novels. Her prose invites readers to immerse themselves in the underworld of the modern-day Colombian capital, making it the true protagonist of her stories. Her themes delve into aspects of everyday life, such as urban marginalization, landscapes, sunsets, parks, voices, tragedies, joys, prostitution, and more.
In the works of Mario Mendoza, the description of the city with the experiences of its inhabitants is observed: the day-to-day life of Bogota, its hardships and joys.
Express opposite feelings: love and hate, justice and revenge, courage and fear, indifference and affection; order and progress masterfully confronted. Below we show the classification of her works.
Next in Books by Mario Mendoza we present you:
Books by Mario Mendoza: Novels
There are many works published by this excellent and distinguished writer: Novels, stories, stories, alternatives, youth novels, music and comics. We will make a classification of his great works.
The novels written to date are as follows:
- 1992 The city of thresholds
- 1998 scorpio city
- 2001 Tale of a murderer
- 2002 Satan
- 2004 blood collection
- 2007 the invisible men
- 2009 buddha blues
- 2011 Revelation
- 2013 Lady Massacre
- 2016 The melancholy of the ugly
- 2018 End of the World Diary
- 2019 Akelarre
Tales
- 1997 The Seer's Journey
- 2004 a stairway to heaven
Alternative
- 2010 The madness of our time
- 2012 The importance of dying on time
- 2014 Colombian Paranormal
- 2017 the book of revelations
Juvenile novell
Between 2015 and 2016 he wrote the saga El Mensajero de Agartha
- 2015 Agartha's Messenger 1 – Zombies
- 2015 The Messenger of Agartha 2 – The Palace of the Sarcophagi
- 2016 The Messenger of Agartha 3 – My Strange Journey to the World of Shambhala
- 2016 Agartha's Messenger 4 – Altair's Colony
- 2016 The messenger of Agartha 5 – Chrononauts
- 2017 The messenger of Agartha 6 – Metempsychosis
- 2017 Agartha's Messenger 7 – The Carpenter's Son
- 2018 The Messenger of Agartha 8 – In Search of Akakor
- 2018 The Messenger of Agartha 9 – The Last Flight of the Vampire
- 2018 Agartha's Messenger 10 – The True Horror of the Big Bad Wolf
Comic – Graphic Novel
One of Mario Mendoza's great literary creations is Satanás. This novel has been adapted into a graphic novel or comic. For this innovative literary production, he collaborated with the artist Keco Olano. Given the success achieved by these two great creatives, they produced a ten-volume graphic novel series titled The Last Day on Earth.
- 2018 Satan
- 2019 The Last Day on Earth – Volume 1: Foreboding Images
- 2019 The Last Day on Earth – Volume 2: They Are Among Us
- 2020 The Last Day on Earth – Volume 3: The Astrologer
- 2020 The Last Day on Earth – Volume 4: The Hybrids
Synopsis of some books by Mario Mendoza
Below we present synopses of some of this versatile writer's works so you'll be enchanted by his fascinating writing.
Satan
This novel became a publishing phenomenon and is a representative sample of a style of Colombian narrative. It has a simple, everyday and popular language. It was adapted to the big screen, under the direction of Andrés Baiz, to the liking of movie lovers.
What is your argument?
This interesting book by Mario Mendoza deals with the presence of evil in everyday life. The story takes place in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, in late 2002. It tells the lives of four people: María, Andrés, Campo Elías, and Ernesto. Three terrifying stories are constructed based on true events that occurred on December 4, 4.
A former Vietnam war soldier named Campo Elías Delgado, murdered 3 people in a restaurant, several neighbors and then commits suicide. The life of these characters is marked by disturbing events, misery, dark (diabolical) possessions, failures, contempt, hatred, frustrations, social resentment.
The title of the novel is given by the temptations of which the characters are victims. The deadly sins are manifested in the conduct of the protagonists: lust, envy, greed and pride… Taking possession of them, leading them to commit heinous acts.
Colombian Paranormal
We should also mention another book by Mario Mendoza. It's the second one we're presenting, belonging to the alternative genre. Here's a summary of its plot. This work contains 10 stories, all framed within the paranormal. The narratives focus on fantasy and science fiction themes. All the stories address issues within Colombian society. Fantasy and fiction are ever-present: characters who speak with the dead, out-of-body experiences, and encounters with the afterlife. Everything is paranormal, difficult to understand because these situations cannot be explained scientifically. If you enjoy science fiction, I suggest reading Isaac Asimov's biography .
The first story tells of a seer who was able to predict events that would occur in Colombia in the future. By these predictions the best friend of a president is saved from death. The following story tells us about a transvestite deprived of liberty who claims to have contact with extraterrestrials and finally the story of a woman possessed by the spirit of Manuela Sáenz who reports having seen Simón Bolívar. As you can see, they are hardly credible stories.
My strange trip to the world of Shambhala
Another of Mario Mendoza's books is this one. In young adult fiction, the saga *The Messenger of Agartha* stands out. We will discuss the third book in this series, titled * My Strange Journey to the World of Shambala*. It tells the story of a 10-year-old boy named Felipe. He is going through a family crisis, as his parents are getting divorced, and his uncle, to take him away from the situation, takes him on a trip to Villa de Leyva. He must make this journey to analyze some manuscripts found in a cave.
On the trip they arrive at a tomb located in the La Candelaria convent. An ancient civilization has lived there for a long time. Felipe receives a message from the men of the Agartha Confederation, in which he tells him that humanity is lost and he must help them make society understand the need to improve their relationship with the planet's species.
Music
Surprisingly, in 2017, Mario Mendoza collaborated with the Bogotá-based group Los PetitFellas . This musical group recorded the album Formas Para Perderse o IDEAS , on which Mario Mendoza participated with the song Marco, which he wrote and narrated in his own voice, accompanied by the music. Marco represents each of us according to the author's perspective.
We offer you the audiovisual material for you to listen to Mario Mendoza.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABsOl9jLe0Y
Biography of Mario Mendoza
You already know Mario Mendoza's books, now we want you to learn about his life.
Studies
Who is Mario Mendoza? To speak of Mario Mendoza Zambrano is to honor a great writer. He was born in the city of Bogotá, Colombia on January 10, 1964. He studied undergraduate studies in his hometown, obtaining a bachelor's degree in letters and literature. Later he continues postgraduate studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá where he obtained a master's degree in Latin American Literature.
Always attentive to his academic development, he moved to Toledo, Spain, to attend courses in Latin American literature offered by the Ortega y Gasset Foundation, and also traveled to Israel, where he resided in Hof Ashkelon (Gasa), a high-risk area. He holds a PhD in Latin American Literature from the University of Iowa (United States).
He worked as a teacher in the Department of Literature at the same university where he studied for 10 years. In 1997 she teaches at James Madison University in the city of Virginia, United States.
Influence of his life on the works
The writer's life is reflected in many of his works, some of which are purely autobiographical. Leaving his home to pursue university studies in the capital allows him to surround himself with diverse people. He has to live in student boarding houses and tenements. He comes into direct contact with the harsh and cruel life in these places. He observes the variety of people he must live with, where everyone finds a way to survive, from the most honest way to drug dealing and prostitution as a means of support. In this way, he gains a close-up view of the underworld of a big city.
Mario Mendoza develops a great sensitivity, elevating his values of solidarity and brotherhood.
Books by Mario Mendoza: Literary Movement
In an interview conducted in Bogotá, the writer stated that he belongs to the Degraded Realism movement. Some critics have called it Dirty Realism. This term reflects the themes of his writings, as he has a special interest in places and characters such as transvestites, beggars, brothels, death, terrorism, drug trafficking, and others.
We will quote what the writer Mario Mendoza said regarding the themes of his work:
«I am not interested in writing about aspects, I would like to have a sensitivity for that but I don't have it, I am not interested in a literature about the center, let's say the people who succeed... I am on the way to the marginal... but I think that in the edge or on the periphery of a society, on the border, on the limits of a society everything happens and my characters have those lines of marginality»
With these words we are clear about the writer's interest in presenting in his works the reality that many Bogota citizens live.
In this way, Mario Mendoza has become the literary voice of Bogotá over the past 20 years. His goal is to make his writings transcendent, to motivate citizens to resist the injustices experienced by the Colombian people, and to educate people who will join the fight against violence wherever they are. He does this through writing, believing it is the way to reach citizens. He shows social reality as it is experienced, without hiding anything. Mendoza is one of the most beloved and admired writers among young people in Colombia and other Latin American countries.
Mario Mendoza Books: Awards & Accolades
Mario Mendoza has received several awards, including the National Literature Prize from the Bogotá District Institute of Culture and Tourism in 1995, and the Biblioteca Breve Prize from the Seix Barral publishing house in 2002 for his novel "Satan."
