““A man-Two women” by Juan José Becerra. Seix Barral, 200 pages, $29,900.
Becerra once wrote a book that did not have his name on the cover nor did it have a title. Now he publishes two short intertwined novels: “A Man” and “Two Women.” The stories barely touch each other. Each one has its own issue. That of the man, a millionaire, is the plot of a passion for cars. As the pieces in your collection grow, you feel the need to provide them with the right environment. For that, he buys the back lot, adjacent to the mansion where he lives, and builds a garage that looks like a spaceship. But the front of the workshop overlooks another world. A trail of ranches and working people who little by little become your family. As if just turning the block had transported him to another planet. In “Two Women,” one girl follows another, fascinated by her total freedom. He lives outside the rules, bathes anywhere, eats at events and wanders around the city. Here also two universes intersect and feed each other. Becerra is one of the best writers in Argentina. That’s why your experiments are always worth it.
“Opposition” by Sara Mesa. Anagram, 232 pages, $35,500.
Sara Mesa is one of the most interesting Spanish writers on the literary scene of the Peninsula. Author of short stories and novels, in Argentina we knew her especially from “Un amor”. Then came “A Family” and the volume of stories “Bad Letter”, among other texts.
Now comes her latest novel, “Opposition”, which takes place in a different environment from her previous books: a state building dedicated to not very specified administrative tasks, where a young employee considers running for a permanent position (hence the title of the novel). It is impossible not to think of Kafka when we witness the meaninglessness of the work carried out there and the irregular logic with which tasks and objectives are judged.
With a slower pace than in previous texts, Mesa repeats its most interesting characteristics: a realistic narrative that deforms its contours as we get into the plot. After finishing each book, we continue for days wondering when the madness started.
“The Kennel” by Gustavo Barco. Cia. Naviera Ilimitada, 176 pages, $22,900.
The story that gives title to this volume of stories puts the truck that picks up stray dogs, at the top of the terrors of a neighborhood. A metaphor for all the violence suffered by the weakest, it is also the image of the dispossession to which life subjects us and a symbol of the helplessness of losing those we love most. “The Kennel” is the end of a thread that leads to the rest of the texts in the book. They all take place in the same territory, almost always with the same characters and in common scenes from the town where the author grew up.
Son of Bolivian parents, Gustavo Barco is a journalist, current member of the staff of the Telenoche news program. He grew up in the former Villa Piolín, today Villa 12, in Soldati. “La perrera” is also a tribute to his parents and the culture in which he was raised.
The most notable thing about the volume is its language, the direct path that Barco chooses to explain the life of a group of immigrants in their struggle to adapt to a foreign country. It is in the plain gaze of that boy who narrates what happens, without judgments or opinions, where the true heart of this book beats.
Ethel and Ernest by Raymond Briggs. Blackie Books, 112 pages, $22,499.
Raymond Briggs is a famous English illustrator and comic book author who died in 2022. And this is the story of his parents, which covers the reality of the country throughout the last century: their sacrifices, the suffering of war, taking care of their son, the political vicissitudes, the technological changes. A loving and beautiful relationship.
Osvaldo Bayer’s rebellious Patagonia. 21st century, 632 pages, $39,900.
Siglo XXI presents a new edition of this classic of journalistic investigation in Argentina. Originally published in 4 volumes by Galerna, with the title “The Avengers of Tragic Patagonia”, in the ’80s Bayer summarized his work in a single volume. This book also begins the Osvaldo Bayer library that will republish all of the writer’s works.
The most read
Fiction
1-
“The last secret”
Dan Brown
2-
“The good evil”
Samantha Schweblin
3-
“My name is Emilia del Valle”
Isabel Allende
4-
“Mission in Paris”
Arturo Pérez Reverte
5-
“Greek class”
Han Kang
Non-fiction
1-
“Biopause”
Gisela Gilges
2-
“Happiness”
Gabriel Rolon
3-
“Biography Lionel Scaloni”
Diego Borinsky
4-
“Moles”
Hugo Alconada Mon
5-
“How to say fuck off politely”
Alba Cardalda
Source: Yenny and El Ateneo Bookstores.
You may also be interested
Image gallery
