Novel
Malvinas Requiem
Los pichiciegos
Rodolfo Fogwill · 1983
Synopsis
During the Falklands War, Argentine soldiers desert and hide in an underground shelter, the Pichicera, where they spend most of their time; they trade goods and food with the English and with the islanders. The shelter is surrounded by minefields; there is cold and hunger, and four “wise men” lead the troop, masters of the food, the water and the right to stay.
Context
The writing dates from 11 to 17 June 1982, around the end of the war, and the first edition from 1983, from Ediciones de la Flor. At first little received, the book is now regarded as a classic and was staged twice in 2012. The English translation appeared in 2007 under the title “Malvinas Requiem”, the French in 2016 from Denoël, in Séverine Rosset's version, according to the BnF. Livres Hebdo sees it as a cult novel.
Who it is for
A short novel in Spanish, about the survival of deserters hiding underground on an island at war, to be read in one sitting.
Prizes and reception
At first little noticed, then regarded as a classic of Argentine literature on the conflict of 1982.
Sources for this page 6
The pages consulted to check this page.