Recommend Some Fiction (In Spanish, Argentine Writer)

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Recommend me some fiction, not Borges please!

I want to continue improving my Spanish (local variety!) and would benefit from reading some local fiction.

Something contemporary.

 

[mariposa]

"El Jardin de Bronze" by Gustavo Malajovich, I could not put it down!!!! One of the most intriguing stories ever! Also really liked also "El Secreto de sus Ojos" by Eduardo Alfredo Sacheri. A great read even if you know the movie. Also "Tesis sobre un Homicidio" by Diego Paszkowski. Very different from the movie.

These are three great reads by Argentina authors, all take place in Buenos Aires. Have fun.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

I´ll go with Malajovich as I have seen one of the movies and intend to see the other.

Thanks.

 

[fifs2]

Las Viudas de los jueves..very pop book some years ago but very on topic for Bsas middle class living and cheating and in movie form. If you want to get in touch with your female side this is one to go for.

 

[amsam]

Thanks for bringing this up, Dublin. I'm trying to read Cortázar because he's such an icon-- but wow. My trouble is, since he's sort of absurdist it's hard to know when I'm understanding it right. (There's a story where someone "vomits little rabbits".) But if your Spanish is better than mine you might be OK with it.

Has anyone read Borges or Cortazar in Spanish? How hard did you guys find it?

Thanks for the pop reccs, fifs and mariposa. Anyone else have good BsAs pop novel ideas?

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Thanks for bringing this up, Dublin. I'm trying to read Cortázar because he's such an icon-- but wow. My trouble is, since he's sort of absurdist it's hard to know when I'm understanding it right. (There's a story where someone "vomits little rabbits".) But if your Spanish is better than mine you might be OK with it.

Has anyone read Borges or Cortazar in Spanish? How hard did you guys find it?

Thanks for the pop reccs, fifs and mariposa. Anyone else have good BsAs pop novel ideas?

Ha, thats why I asked for something relatively contemporary and nothing too surreal or out there in terms of use of language. I dont need the local version of Ulysses for example!

 

[Lulu-Kyoko]

Thanks for bringing this up, Dublin. I'm trying to read Cortázar because he's such an icon-- but wow. My trouble is, since he's sort of absurdist it's hard to know when I'm understanding it right. (There's a story where someone "vomits little rabbits".) But if your Spanish is better than mine you might be OK with it.

Has anyone read Borges or Cortazar in Spanish? How hard did you guys find it?

Thanks for the pop reccs, fifs and mariposa. Anyone else have good BsAs pop novel ideas?

I find novels to be close to impossible to read in Spanish... They are too long and I tend to lose the plot pretty quickly, given my level of Spanish. If you are interested in short stories, I have a book called Relatos From the Rio de Plata, with Borges (Emma Zunz), Cortazar (Casa tomada) along with a few other authors from BA and Uruguay.

I have the book in PDF on my computer and each story comes with an introduction to the author, an English/Spanish glossary and some grammar exercises based on the text. As well as mp3s of the stories being read by native speakers.

Anyway, PM me if you are interested. I can send them to you.

 

[mariposa]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]I find novels to be close to impossible to read in Spanish..[/background][background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]They are too long and I tend to lose the plot pretty quickly[/background]

Really?? not my experience at all!!!

Here is another book (novel!!) that I enjoyed thoroughly. It's not by an Argentine writer but by a well-known Spanish one, and one-third of the plot takes place in Buenos Aires in the 1920's. "El Tango de la Guardia Vieja" by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

 

[Jaredberryman]

Personally, despite being a very fluent Spanish speaker, I have difficulty getting through novels in Spanish. Spanish is a very flowery and beautiful language, but sometimes the flowery part drives me up the wall. That's not to say there's not great literature in Spanish, but it just seems like to me that nearly every sentence in a novel is over the top sometimes. It seems like English is so much more concise. I guess I have a short attention span.

 

[mariposa]

[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]I´ll go with Malajovich as I have seen one of the movies and intend to see the other. [/background]

An incredible book that had me reading in bed at 3 or 4 in the morning, made me forget about my dentist appointment and made me miss subte stops....

Wonderfully written, and you get a great feel for the city, its many different neighborhoods and its many different social classes. Plus the plot is incredible, and more and more things are revealed until the very last page when everything comes together.

I think it's a great and easy read even for a non-native Spanish speakers (like myself) with a reasonable command of the language.