Argentina is not only about football, tango, and Pampa landscapes.
Here are eleven (the number is purely coincidental) interesting books that are about or set in Argentina.
1. In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
In Patagonia is a classic book written by Bruce Chatwin, full of evocative descriptions, remarkable bits of history and unforgettable anecdotes from his journey in the exotic and mysterious land at the southern tip of South America.
It follows his search for forgotten legends, Welsh immigrants and the log cabin built by Butch Cassidy.
2. Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Horacio Oliveira is an Argentinian writer living in Paris with his mistress, La Maga, and their friends.
After La Maga’s disappearance and a child’s death, Oliveira returns to Buenos Aires, where he works odd jobs and embarks on a series of strange adventures. Hopscotch is the story of his journey.
3. The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
The Invention of Morel, a classic novella by Bioy Casares, is a suspenseful exploration and romance set on a mysterious island.
Several Latin American authors, notably Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, and Octavio Paz, have praised the work, and it has also served as the model for the film Last Year in Marienbad.
4. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato
The Tunnel is a psychological novel about obsessive love, championed by Albert Camus, Thomas Mann, and Graham Greene.
Juan Pablo Castel, an artist, murders María Iribarne after becoming obsessed with her and believing they have a mutual love. His paranoia leads him to his own destruction.
5. The Tango Singer by Tomás Eloy Martínez
Bruno Cadogan travels to Buenos Aires in search of Julio Martel, a legendary tango singer whose voice has never been recorded.
As he searches for Martel, Bruno unravels the singer’s story and discovers a dark labyrinth of the city’s past.
6. Evita: The Real Lives of Eva Peron by Nicholas Fraser and Marysa Navarro
Evita is a biography of Eva Peron, an iconic female figure of the twentieth century. It tells her story from her humble beginnings to her rise to fame as the mistress of Colonel Peron and then as a powerful presidential wife.
The book examines her controversial legacy, asking whether she was a saint or a sinner, and how the myth around her was created.
7. Dirty Secrets, Dirty War by David Cox
From 1976-1983, an estimated 30,000 people disappeared in Argentina. They were victims of the “Dirty War” – a brutal campaign designed by the government to root out possible subversives.
Those suspected of being dissidents were kidnapped and taken to secret detention centers. Most were tortured and then killed – never seen again.
8. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges’ groundbreaking trans-genre writing has been influential in world literature for over half a century.
A new edition of Labyrinths, edited by Donald A. Yates and James E. Irby, includes the original 1962 text, Irby’s biographical and critical essay, a tribute by André Maurois, a chronology of the author’s life, and a new introduction from William Gibson.
9. Asleep in the Sun by Adolfo Bioy Casares
Lucio has been dealing with his wife Diana’s strange behavior and his in-laws, and after she is taken away to a Psychiatric Institute by its mysterious head, her lookalike sister moves in.
After an adoring German shepherd is acquired, Diana returns, cured and pleasant, but Lucio soon finds out the doctors at the institute may have gone too far.
10. The Secret in Their Eyes by Eduardo Sacheri
The Secret in Their Eyes is a meditation on the effects of time and desire, centered around a retired detective’s obsession with a decades-old rape and murder case and his unfulfilled love for Irene Hornos.
Eduardo Sacheri’s tale is imbued with the subdued terror that characterized the Dirty War of 1970s Argentina, and was made into the Academy Award winning film of the same name in 2009.
11. The Seven Madmen by Roberto Arlt
Erdosain is a hapless, hopeless bill collector who is dismissed from his job and abandoned by his wife. He wanders the streets of Buenos Aires and meets a group of conspirators in thrall to an Astrologer with a plan to solve the world’s problems through mass enslavement, industrial-scale prostitution, and murder.
Erdosain struggles to understand the physical location and dimensions of his own soul.
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