If hell are the others, The forced neighborhood of a consortium will always be sufferingalthough it also offers brief feans of harmony. This is the case in the building where “A house full of people”, Mariana Sández’s novelwhich arrives at the Argentine bookstores reissued in Spain by the seal impedes.
Four units, two families – the Almeida and the Vilendi- united by friendship and later for hatred, a mysterious death and The literary legacy of a mother to her daughter They could be the fundamental points of a plot that, with humor and intelligence, speaks of passions and frustrations. Of filial love and lifestyles in conflict.
On the other hand, this is One of the most successful novels of the new Argentine literaturethe one that grew in the heat of the independent edition and that allowed many unknown voices to access the world of the book.
The novel was released first in unlimited shipping company, in 2019. And then it was reissued in Spain, a country where the author currently lives. In these years, Sández also published the storybook “some normal families” and the novel “Life in the miniature”. Visiting in Buenos Aires, where the new edition of “A house full of people” was presented, Mariana spoke with news.
News: What autobiographical elements does this novel have?
Mariana Sández: The houses are the combination of two buildings where I lived although I assembled them in one. That helped me a lot. From there in more I realized that the houses are very protagonist in my books.
News: What was the first image that shot the story?
Stupidity: One is a girl lying on the bed trying to watch TV and the one that the noise of the discussion of the neighbors falls. That happened to me when my daughter was very small. Sometimes I was afraid. I had shocks. Charo, the girl’s character, is trying to listen to TV and lower the volume to understand what happens. In parallel, it was a very strong topic for me the friendship between two very different women. In this case, the characters of Leila and Gloria. Something typical among women is to have superinteenous relationships. There are periods of superstad in which everything is shared: theater, yoga, doctors. You recommend everything. And suddenly something happens and the friends separate. In a friendship of these characteristics there are also rivalry and clear, different nuances involved in the relationship. While there is affection and admiration, at the same time there is envy, rivalry, competition. I was interested in those psychological games. History also has the passion for literature. Literature is what makes you feel that life is elsewhere. So, you want him to only pass literature. And yet reality comes all the time. This generates a lot of duality and fatigue. It happens to me. While I love my husband, my daughter, my house, my work, the truth is that many times I just want to be inside the capsule and that nobody comes to look for me.
News: The book makes a turn towards the end and a more typical tension of the police appears.
Stupidity: The books that attract me most are those that try to understand relationships or behaviors. But the reader always needs that theory to be sustained by some suspense or adventures.
News: Do you keep reading Argentine authors now that you don’t live here?
Stupidity: I am writing a book that happens in Argentina and then I was reading Hebe Uhart and Silvina Ocampo. Specific things. I would like to read much more, not only from Argentina, but my main work in Spain is the reading clubs that I organize and absorb me a lot of time. I prepare what I’m going to give and I’m always looking for new works.
News: There is a great job with the language of the different characters,
Stupidity: At first they were not going to have the names. I wanted the reader to know who was talking about the style. Then someone told me it was complex. The novel has many repetitions because the idea is to confront the versions of each of the characters. I had a lot of fun writing this novel. For example, when they fight from one floor to the other. In general I have fun and that’s why I like humor. It took a long time to finish it because I couldn’t find who told the story, what was going to be the point of view or the narrator. And at that time a friend who had a photobooks company hired me to interview common families, people who wanted to leave their history to their grandchildren. I was gathering everyone’s stories and then armed the book. In writing, I had to maintain the style of each of those who spoke and, on the other hand, make it homogeneous in the book. In parallel the novel worked. And there was a time when I said: “Why not adopt the place that I use with those families with the character of Charo?” May she interview everyone. That solved the problem.
News: A dilemma facing writers is wanting to be read by many people but, on the other hand, respect what they like to write. How do you solve it?
Stupidity: At some point I considered that dilemma, but now I realize that in the end what goes well, what I like, the majority also likes. So, rather I have to do what I like, without thinking what is expected of me. But it is also valid to listen to the editor. That exchange is good, because writing is so lonely. You always need an external look.
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