Cinco Esquinas (Spanish for "Five Corners") is a term with multiple established meanings, primarily referring to a historic neighborhood in Lima, Peru, and a 2016 novel by Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa.
Geographic Location
Cinco Esquinas is an area within the Barrios Altos neighborhood of Lima, Peru. It is located on block 14 of Jirón Junín, where Jirón Santa Rosa (also known as Jirón Miró Quesada) and Jirón Huari converge, forming five street corners. It has been declared part of the Cultural Heritage of Peru as a component of the Historic Centre of Lima.
In the 19th century, Cinco Esquinas was a gathering place for Lima's bohemian artists and intellectuals. Near the intersection, on Prado Street, the renowned Peruvian waltz composer Felipe Pinglo was born. By the mid-20th century, the area had declined and became known as a refuge for criminals, including the infamous Luis D'unian Dulanto, alias "Tatán."
Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa
Cinco esquinas (published in English as The Neighborhood) is a 2016 novel by Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. It was published on March 3, 2016, by Alfaguara in Spain, Latin America, and the United States. The English translation by Edith Grossman was released in 2018.
The novel is set in Lima during the mid-1990s, under the government of President Alberto Fujimori and his intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos. The story revolves around the editor of a sensationalist tabloid, Rolando Garro, who is found murdered after attempting to blackmail a successful mining engineer with compromising photographs. The narrative explores themes of yellow journalism, political corruption, the terrorism of Shining Path, and moral decay across different social strata. Vargas Llosa stated that the title was inspired by the real Cinco Esquinas neighborhood in Lima.
Film
Five Corners (released in Spanish-speaking markets as Cinco esquinas) is a 1987 American independent crime drama film directed by Tony Bill, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Jodie Foster, Tim Robbins, and John Turturro. Set in the Bronx, New York, in 1964, the film follows a psychotic young man recently released from prison who returns to his old neighborhood to pursue the woman he previously attempted to rape. Despite its Spanish title, this film is unrelated to the Peruvian location or the Vargas Llosa novel.
Other Uses
- 5 Esquinas is a Peruvian restaurant located in Miami Beach, Florida, offering traditional Peruvian cuisine.
