Current Argentine literature is one of the most prolific and interesting in all of Latin America, with powerful voices such as those of Samantha Schweblin, Patrick Pron or own Peter Mairal and notable veterans of letters like the fireproof Cesar Aira o Beatrice Sarlo.
In the case of Pedro Mairal, trying to get rid of that uniforming label that usually only brings together creators of a similar generation, I dare say that His narrative seeks the roots of man in a world that at times has become a muddy field. for any identity previously erected as a totem.
From sexuality to emotions. In the strange self-imposed conflict by masculinity, an enriching literature is also enjoyed towards the existential exorcism of so many regrets and conditioning factors.
Advancing through many of Mairal's plots is an interesting exercise in frankness, from the determination to surrender like a modern eccehomo with his bleeding internal wounds. Current tragedies and comedies among the cold of living, all embellished by rich forms that slide through plots that are also sinuous like forms loaded with sensuality.
Life and literature are discovery, note-taking of the passions that remain after all. The fact of putting it all together to write great novels is a sincere act of intellectual and emotional heroism.
Top 3 recommended novels by Pedro Mairal
The Uruguayan
Lucas Pereyra, a writer who has just entered quarantine, travels from Buenos Aires to Montevideo to collect money that he has been sent from abroad and that he cannot receive in his country due to exchange restrictions. Married with a child, he is not going through his prime, but the prospect of spending a day in another country in the company of a young friend is enough to cheer him up a bit. Once in Uruguay, things don't quite go as planned, so Lucas will have no choice but to face reality.
Narrated in a brilliant first-person voice, La uruguaya is a funny novel about a marital crisis that also tells us about how, at some point in our lives, we must confront the promises that we make to ourselves and that we do not fulfill, the differences between what we are and what we would like to be.
Published with great success in Argentina in 2016, The Uruguayan has confirmed Mairal as one of the most prominent narrators of contemporary Argentine literature.
One night with Sabrina Love
One of those novels in which the soul of the writer is detected. Because every narrative with a character projected out the back door of childhood ends up leading the narrator to his own way out of life. It is impossible to abstract from your own learning. It is impossible to forget the initiation to life with its hedonism balanced in the most palpable nihilism as the time for discoveries is running out.
Every night, in a small town in the province of Entre Ríos, Daniel Montero, a seventeen-year-old, locks himself in his room to watch the television program of Sabrina Love, the most popular porn star of the moment.
When one day he finds out that he has won the raffle to spend a night with her in Buenos Aires, Daniel cannot believe it; Although he has no money since he has never traveled far from his town, Daniel decides to confirm the appointment and set out. The experience of travel and contact with the big city will teach you much more than you could have imagined.
Short eternal loves
Who hasn't had a brief eternal love? One of those that seemed like an inexhaustible source between kisses, saliva and other first fluids exchanged. The winds of time always end up taking eternity somewhere else so that a new excited soul can enjoy it. Those who knew him remain there, perhaps even with the same person but never with the same brief love, no matter how eternal it may seem.
A unique book of stories, in which each one is a true box of surprises, and we discover the universe of the contemporary author in Spanish that best reflects how men face their romantic relationships with better or worse luck.
Stories in which the man systematically stumbles upon the same errors that expose him and reveal his limited capacity in front of women, who have better emotional resources.
Mairal has a particular look: incisive, tender, but also funny and disturbing at times, which causes absolute admiration in the reader.
Witty and absorbing, these tales confirm Pedro Mairal as one of the most talented Spanish-language writers of this time.
