Novel
Burning Patience
Ardiente paciencia
Antonio Skármeta · 1985
Synopsis
Isla Negra, from June 1969. Mario Jiménez, who gives up the fishing of his elders, becomes the village postman, where only Pablo Neruda receives and sends mail. He hopes for more from the poet than an exchange of a few words and a tip; Neruda becomes his friend, teaches him what a metaphor is and helps him write verses for Beatriz González, daughter of a widow, Rosa, who runs a bar and opposes their relationship. Through Mario's eyes pass Neruda's candidacy for the presidency and his Nobel Prize of 1971, in a country entering troubled years.
Context
Published in 1985 in Buenos Aires by Sudamericana, the novel takes up the film Ardiente paciencia that its author had directed in 1983. Memoria Chilena credits it with one of the widest receptions of any Chilean novel outside the country, and Lecturalia says it has been translated into twenty-five languages. François Maspero translated it into French at Le Seuil in 1987; the same year, Pantheon published it in English under the title Burning Patience, later reissued under that of The Postman. Michael Radford made Il Postino from it in 1994, which moves the action to an Italian island, and Daniel Catán an opera premiered in Los Angeles in 2010.
Who it is for
A short novel, tender and funny, about poetry, love and politics; translated into French and English.
Prizes and reception
One of the Chilean novels with the greatest international resonance, according to Memoria Chilena; the film Il Postino won Luis Bacalov the Oscar for music.
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