Novel
The Witness
El entenado
Juan José Saer · 1983
Synopsis
In 1515, three ships leave Spain for the Río de la Plata, and hardly have they landed when the captain and some of the men are killed by Indians, according to the publisher's presentation as relayed by Bibliosurf. The expedition's cabin boy, still a child, sees his companions devoured by the Colastinés, who spare him; he lives ten years among them, and they set out every year by dugout canoe to hunt other tribes, according to Planeta. Sixty years later, by candlelight, he writes down what he has lived through.
Context
The novel appeared in Buenos Aires with Folios in 1983. Laure Bataillon translated it into French for Flammarion in 1987, and her translation received in 1988 the prize of the Maison des écrivains étrangers et des traducteurs, according to Bibliosurf; Le Tripode has reissued it since 2014, with a postface by the writer Alberto Manguel. Margaret Jull Costa translated it into English for Serpent's Tail in 1990.
Who it is for
A novel in Spanish, in the form of an old man's memoir; translated into French and English.
Prizes and reception
Translated into French as early as 1987; the translation received a prize in 1988, according to Bibliosurf.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.