The Truce: The Diary of Martín Santomé (Penguin Modern Classics) - Softcover

Benedetti, Mario

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141396857 ISBN 13: 9780141396859

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2015

Synopsis

'Perhaps that moment had been exceptional, but still, I felt alive. That pressure on my chest means being alive.'

Forty-nine, with a kind face, no serious ailments (apart from varicose veins on his ankles), a good salary and three moody children, widowed accountant Martín Santomé is about to retire. He assumes he'll take up gardening, or the guitar, or whatever retired people do. What he least expects is to fall passionately in love with his shy young employee Laura Avellaneda. As they embark upon an affair, happy and irresponsible, Martín begins to feel the weight of his quiet existence lift - until, out of nowhere, their joy is cut short.

The intimate, heartbreaking diary of an ordinary man who is reborn when he falls in love one final time, this beloved Latin American novel has been translated into twenty languages and sold millions of copies worldwide, and is now published in Penguin Classics for the first time.

About this title

Review:

In this book, all the emotions of your life are identified, named and renamed. When you read it, you won't believe that you've felt so much (Roberto Saviano)

Arresting... emotionally astute, melancholic, uplifting and tragic... This book was written in 1960 and now, deservedly, it is a Penguin Modern Classic (London Evening Standard)

The Truce remains a Latin American classic. Expertly translated here by Harry Morales, it is a simple tale about a straightforward man who falls in love with a younger woman - until disaster strikes and wrenches them apart... Intimate and moving, this novel is a real find (Rosemary Goring Herald Scotland)

This 1960 Latin American classic had me laughing, blubbing and eager to discover more of Benedetti's books... If you imagine that being 50 heralds a life of daytime TV, cocoa and slippers, then this life-enhancing novel will shatter your dread (Val Hennessy Daily Mail)

About the Author:

Mario Orlando Hamlet Hardy Brenno Benedetti, known as Mario Benedetti, was a Uruguayan journalist, novelist, and poet. He is considered one of the most important 20th century Latin American writers, especially in the Spanish-speaking world. A revolutionary and a passionate romantic, Benedetti wrote of love, anger, political resistance and redemption, particularly during the period of his enforced exile from Uruguay, between 1973 and 1985. One of his last poems encapsulated his unquenchable creative urge: "When I'm buried / don't forget to put a Biro in my coffin."

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0141396857
• ISBN 13: 9780141396859
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192