Virgilio Rodríguez Macal

The novel addresses the issues facing the hopes and dreams experienced by the young juveniles juxtaposed against the stark reality that confronts them as an adult. The novel won the Central sciences, Literature and Fine Arts Award on September 15, 1953.

His most acclaimed work is his novel La mansión del pájaro serpiente which has been translated into several languages. His personality, like that of men born in the early decades of the twentieth century, was influenced by the long dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, the revolution of 1944 and by the so-called liberation movements which occurred in 1954.

The novel is a narrative work set in 1940s Guatemala. The novel takes the reader to different latitudes of the country, from the port city of Livingston, Izabal, to the jungle region of Peten. This novel tells of the misfortunes of the narrator and his steward Pedro. This book, apart from having much action and romance, is told in an emotional style with an element of "disguised" political criticism towards the military government during this period in the country of Guatemala.

Virgilio Rodríguez Macal (June 28, 1916 – February 13, 1964) was a Guatemalan writer, journalist, and diplomat who won various international and national prizes. As a novelist he is noted for integrating his deep knowledge of Mesoamerican and Guatemalan history and geography into his stories, often setting his novels in colorful Guatemalan jungle settings including its biologically rich flora and fauna.

Macal was born on June 28, 1916 in Guatemala City. He is considered one of the most popular novelists in Central American literature. Many of his works are based in the departments of Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz and are noted for displaying his factual knowledge of the fauna and traditions and the richness of his characters and locations.