The Lost Steps

The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier describes the adventures of a young composer fleeing his empty existence in New York City, in search of a more fulfilling life. This search takes him on a journey with his mistress to one of the few remaining parts of the world that remains untouched by civilization. Narrating a journey through space and time, the novel examines the origins of Latin American history.

The novel is written in the first person and reads like a diary written by the unnamed narrator-protagonist as he flees modern civilization in search of a primordial existence. The book is composed of a series of dated diary entries augmented by the narrator’s fragmented recollections of the past, as well as his thoughts on art, culture, and history.

The novel opens as the narrator watches a play in which his wife, Ruth, plays a leading role. It is a long-running production dealing with the antebellum South. In spite of its mediocrity, the play is a resounding commercial success. As he watches the action of the play unfold before his eyes, taking note of the various aspects of the setting and costume, he is overcome by feelings of boredom and loneliness.



Once a promising musicologist and composer, he now uses his talents for the benefits of an advertising agency, which makes him feel as though he has sold out and lost sight of his dreams. His marriage has become banal and predictable. He and Ruth still have sex on a weekly basis but it has become monotonous and automatic. He feels as though every aspect of his life is mechanical and uninspired, drained of the magic he once felt. He is about to be on vacation for three weeks and has no idea what to do with himself, feeling empty and listless.

He bumps into an old friend and former employer, the Curator, whom he has not seen for several years. The Curator presents the narrator with a unique opportunity, reminding him of his earlier work, before he started working at the advertising agency, on primitive instruments and his theories on the origins of music.

The Curator asks the narrator to travel to South America during his three-week vacation to bring back some indigenous clay instruments for the museum. The narrator initially refuses the offer, but when his mistress, Mouche, offers to accompany him, he reconsiders.



The narrator and Mouche arrive together in an unspecified South American city. Upon their arrival, the narrator hears the locals speaking the language of his childhood, causing him to reminisce about the early years of his life. In these new surroundings, the narrator starts to feel new life breathed into him, as though he is recovering his spiritual equilibrium.

At the same time, he takes note of Mouche’s overt postulating and urban pretensions, which strike him as particularly false and ridiculous in this new environment. While on a bus ride to the interior, he meets Rosario, and he is captivated by her strength and simplicity. He sees that she has an obvious connection with nature, which further impresses him.

The narrator and Rosario soon become lovers, and Mouche is dispatched home after contracting malaria. The narrator is now part of a small group along with Rosario, a Capuchin friar, Yannes, a Greek prospector and miner and their guide, the Adelanto. Together they travel by boat into the jungle, passing through remote and mythic regions.



When the Adelanto presents the narrator with pristine specimens of the instruments for which he has been searching, the narrator is overcome by the realization that this moment is the first outstanding and noteworthy of his life. He has the sense that, in some way, he is getting closer to fulfilling his destiny. This makes him decide to continue on the expedition.

The group arrives in a small village where the narrator, upon hearing a funeral lament, becomes convinced that he has witnessed the birth of music. He decides then and there that he will remain in the jungle, vowing never to return to the civilized world. With Rosario by his side, they set up a life together and he begins to compose a new work based on Homer’s Odyssey.

As time goes on, the narrator becomes increasingly disturbed by certain aspects of his life: his failure to deliver the instruments to the Curator, Rosario’s refusal to marry him, as well as the growing scarcity of the paper that he needs to finish his composition.



When a plane sent by Ruth, in search of her lost husband, arrives in the jungle, the narrator cannot pass up the opportunity for a brief visit to the city to stock up on indispensable supplies. His return to the city brings with it some difficult moments. He divorces Ruth, loses his job and much of his credibility, and has increasing financial worries due to mounting legal costs associated with his messy divorce.

When the narrator finally returns to the jungle, he is too late. The river has risen over the path to get to the village, and he is told that Rosario is now carrying another man’s child. He realizes his own mistake in thinking that a miracle could happen for him twice.