The novel “Pedro Páramo” by the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo (1918–1986) was published in 1955. His hero goes in search of his father to a village called Comala - and ends up in the kingdom of the dead, from where there is no return. A little earlier, in 1953, the collection “Plain on Fire” was published, consisting of fifteen stories and, as it were, a precursor to the novel. The result is not a very large book, but its author is not only unconditionally recognized as the largest Latin American prose writer, but has also been repeatedly named among the authors who most strongly influenced the prose of the 20th century. And there is no exaggeration in such assessments. Gabriel García Márquez frankly wrote that he studied with Rulfo: “... having re-read his works more than once, I finally found the path that I had been looking for for so long, and then I was able to continue working on my own books.” He later said: “Pedro Páramo is the most beautiful novel ever written in Spanish.”