One of the most interesting things that the book Captain Pantoja and the Secret Service proposes is the narrative method. Mario Vargas Llosa appeals to a certain curiosity and complicity of the reader by using such an extreme version of telescopic narrative. Throughout the book it is the reader who must hold the thread of the storyline, given that the information is provided to us in segments and from different voices.
The choice of language is also a key point to the wholeness of the novel. Since it has such a strong ethnical setting, theme and group of characters, the language adds a certain plausibility to the story that could only be told through that specific choice of idioms and formal language. This along with the telescopic narrative that jumps from character to character sets a humorous feel to the novel that works very well. For example, Pantaleon with his voice, being so serious, methodic, military and devoid of emotion is placed in a situation where he has to deal with prostitutes and bucolic pimps, making the ridiculousness of the situation sound in a formal tone.
Captain Pantoja and the Secret Service is surely a success as a work of art. It has the balance that every good piece must have, and the author narrates it in the most accurate voice and method.
