SOURCE: "Talking to Carpentier," in Review, No. 18, Fall, 1976, pp. 20-4.

In the following interview, Carpentier discusses his latest three novels, Concierto barroco, El recurso del método, and a work in progress.

The leaves on the chestnut trees are just beginning to turn yellow along the Avenue Foch and the Rue de la Faisanderie leading to the Cuban Embassy. A chilly wind announces the coming of autumn. I have not seen Alejo Carpentier for four years. My daughter Elena is with me, coloring book in hand, and is practicing her Spanish on the embassy's French receptionist.

Over the last decade, Carpentier has been working on three novels more or less simultaneously. He assures me that he is still in the habit of getting up at five or five-thirty in the morning to take advantage of the early hours for his writing. He doesn't believe in the Muse or...