Zama
About the book
Colonial official Diego de Zama waits for a transfer while his life gradually disintegrates.
Americas · A READING GUIDE
Argentina
Argentine prose turns waiting and mystery into philosophical adventure: Borges, Bioy Casares and Di Benedetto offer three distinct beginnings. Cortázar invites readers to rearrange chapters, while Sábato and Puig stage unsettling encounters with other minds. Enriquez and Schweblin connect horror with social and ecological danger. Cabezón Cámara rewrites a national myth from a queer perspective, and Piñeiro examines family, illness and institutional power.
WHERE TO START
- ZamaAntonio Di Benedetto
- The Invention of MorelAdolfo Bioy Casares
- FictionsJorge Luis Borges
Books to begin with
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The Invention of Morel
About the book
A fugitive on a mysterious island tries to understand the behaviour of its elusive inhabitants.
Original title: La invención de Morel
PolishTranslation
Wynalazek Morela
Wydawnictwo Literackie · 1975
Translated by Andrzej Nowak
Edition source ↗
Fictions
About the book
Stories explore labyrinths, infinite libraries and the boundaries between fiction and reality.
Original title: Ficciones
Hopscotch
About the book
A novel about Horacio Oliveira and his circle offers different reading orders between Paris and Buenos Aires.
Original title: Rayuela
The Tunnel
About the book
Painter Juan Pablo Castel recounts an obsessive relationship that led him to murder.
Original title: El túnel
Kiss of the Spider Woman
About the book
Two prisoners develop intimacy through retold films and conversations about politics and desire.
Original title: El beso de la mujer araña
Things We Lost in the Fire
About the book
These stories combine the social violence of contemporary Argentina with horror and the uncanny.
Original title: Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego
Fever Dream
About the book
Dying Amanda talks with a boy about the danger that has overtaken her and her daughter.
Original title: Distancia de rescate
The Adventures of China Iron
About the book
Young China crosses the pampas in a queer, feminist reimagining of the Martín Fierro tradition.
Original title: Las aventuras de la China Iron
Elena Knows
About the book
Living with Parkinson’s disease, Elena searches for the truth about her daughter’s death despite her body’s limitations.
Original title: Elena sabe
Ghosts
About the book
A family living on a construction site encounters ghosts, and a teenage daughter’s curiosity becomes dangerous.
Five
About the book
Five short works turn familiar genres into surreal adventures and literary games.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
- Antonio Di Benedetto — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Adolfo Bioy Casares — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Jorge Luis Borges — Penguin Random House ↗
- Julio Cortázar — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Ernesto Sábato — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Manuel Puig — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Mariana Enriquez — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Samanta Schweblin — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Gabriela Cabezón Cámara — wydawca / publisher ↗
- Claudia Piñeiro — wydawca / publisher ↗
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