The first time as tragedy, Marx said of history’s repetitions, the second time as farce. He didn’t suggest a mode for the third time, but Carlos Fuentes does: the telenovela, the interminable soap opera of conspiracy and delusion, capitalism and its demons. “Destiny and Desire” is a novel that sprawls and circles, not exactly a parody of “War and Peace,” but certainly a spectral, playful revision of the idea of a novel that competes with history.
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