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Noche terrible / Una tarde de domingo
Roberto Arlt (1900-1942) está considerando como uno de los grandes renovadores de la literatura argentina, en cuyo ámbito fue uno de los primeros en introducir el escenario y el protagonista urbanos. Además de en el teatro y en la novela, su estilo lleno de vigor halló un buen cauce de expresión en el relato corto, como lo atestiguan "Noche terrible", texto corrosivo como pocos acerca del matrimonio, y "Una tarde de domingo", alarde de sutileza y tensión psicológicas.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1933
36 people want to read
About the author
Roberto Arlt
209 books358 followersRoberto Arlt was an Argentine writer born Roberto Godofredo Christophersen Arlt in Buenos Aires on April 2, 1900. His parents were both immigrants: his father Karl Arlt was a Prussian from Posen (now Poznan in present-day Poland) and his mother was Ekatherine Iobstraibitzer, a native of Trieste and Italian speaking. German was the language commonly used at their home. His relationship with his father was stressful, as Karl Arlt was a very severe and austere man, by Arlt's own account. The memory of his oppressive father would appear in several of his writings. For example, Remo Erdosain (a character at least partially based on Arlt's own life) often recalls his abusive father and how little if any support he would give him. After being expelled from school at the age of eight, Arlt became an autodidact and worked at all sorts of different odd jobs before landing a job on at a local newspaper: as clerk at a bookstore, apprentice to a tinsmith, painter, mechanic, welder, manager in a brick factory, and dock worker.
His first novel, El juguete rabioso (1926) ("Mad Toy"), was the semi-autobiographical story of Silvio, a dropout who goes through a series of adventures trying to be "somebody." Narrated by Silvio's older self, the novel reflects the energy and chaos of the early 20th century in Buenos Aires. The narrator's literary and sometimes poetic language contrasts sharply with the street-level slang of Mad Toy's many colorful characters.
Arlt's second novel, the popular Los siete locos (The Seven Madmen) was rough, brutal, colloquial and surreal, a complete break from the polite, middle-class literature more typical of Argentine literature (as exemplified, perhaps, by the work of Jorge Luis Borges, however innovative his work was in other respects). Los lanzallamas (The Flame-Throwers) was the sequel, and these two novels together are thought by many to be his greatest work. What followed were a series of short stories and plays in which Arlt pursued his vision of bizarre, half-mad, alienated characters pursuing insane quests in a landscape of urban chaos.
During his lifetime, however, Arlt was best known for his "Aguafuertes" ("Etchings"), the result of his contributions as a columnist - between 1928 and 1942 - to the Buenos Aires daily "El Mundo". Arlt used these columns to comment, in his characteristically forthright and unpretentious style, on the peculiarities, hypocrisies, strangeness and beauty of everyday life in Argentina's capital. These articles included occasional exposés of public institutions, such as the juvenile justice system ("Escuela primaria de delincuencia", 26–29 September 1932) or the Public Health System. Some of the "Aguafuertes" were collected in two volumes under the titles Secretos femeninos. Aguafuertes inéditas and Tratado de delincuencia. Aguafuertes inéditas which were edited by Sergio Olguín and published by Ediciones 12 and Página/12 in 1996.
Between March and May 1930, Arlt wrote a series of "Aguafuertes" as a correspondent to "El Mundo" in Rio de Janeiro. In 1935 he spent nearly a year writing as he traveled throughout Spain and North Africa, on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. At the time of his death, Arlt was hoping to be sent to the United States as a correspondent.
Worn out and exhausted after a lifetime of hardships, he died from a stroke on July 26, 1942. His coffin was lowered from his apartment by an operated crane, an ironic end, considering his bizarre stories.
Arlt has been massively influential on Latin American literature, including the 1960s "Boom" generation of writers such as Gabriel García Márquez. Analogues in English literature are those who avoid literary 'respectability' by writing about the poor, the criminal and the mad: writers like William Burroughs, Iceberg Slim, and Irvine Welsh. Arlt, however, predated all of them. He is widely considered to be one of the founders of the modern Argentine novel; among those contemporary writers who cla
His first novel, El juguete rabioso (1926) ("Mad Toy"), was the semi-autobiographical story of Silvio, a dropout who goes through a series of adventures trying to be "somebody." Narrated by Silvio's older self, the novel reflects the energy and chaos of the early 20th century in Buenos Aires. The narrator's literary and sometimes poetic language contrasts sharply with the street-level slang of Mad Toy's many colorful characters.
Arlt's second novel, the popular Los siete locos (The Seven Madmen) was rough, brutal, colloquial and surreal, a complete break from the polite, middle-class literature more typical of Argentine literature (as exemplified, perhaps, by the work of Jorge Luis Borges, however innovative his work was in other respects). Los lanzallamas (The Flame-Throwers) was the sequel, and these two novels together are thought by many to be his greatest work. What followed were a series of short stories and plays in which Arlt pursued his vision of bizarre, half-mad, alienated characters pursuing insane quests in a landscape of urban chaos.
During his lifetime, however, Arlt was best known for his "Aguafuertes" ("Etchings"), the result of his contributions as a columnist - between 1928 and 1942 - to the Buenos Aires daily "El Mundo". Arlt used these columns to comment, in his characteristically forthright and unpretentious style, on the peculiarities, hypocrisies, strangeness and beauty of everyday life in Argentina's capital. These articles included occasional exposés of public institutions, such as the juvenile justice system ("Escuela primaria de delincuencia", 26–29 September 1932) or the Public Health System. Some of the "Aguafuertes" were collected in two volumes under the titles Secretos femeninos. Aguafuertes inéditas and Tratado de delincuencia. Aguafuertes inéditas which were edited by Sergio Olguín and published by Ediciones 12 and Página/12 in 1996.
Between March and May 1930, Arlt wrote a series of "Aguafuertes" as a correspondent to "El Mundo" in Rio de Janeiro. In 1935 he spent nearly a year writing as he traveled throughout Spain and North Africa, on the eve of the Spanish Civil War. At the time of his death, Arlt was hoping to be sent to the United States as a correspondent.
Worn out and exhausted after a lifetime of hardships, he died from a stroke on July 26, 1942. His coffin was lowered from his apartment by an operated crane, an ironic end, considering his bizarre stories.
Arlt has been massively influential on Latin American literature, including the 1960s "Boom" generation of writers such as Gabriel García Márquez. Analogues in English literature are those who avoid literary 'respectability' by writing about the poor, the criminal and the mad: writers like William Burroughs, Iceberg Slim, and Irvine Welsh. Arlt, however, predated all of them. He is widely considered to be one of the founders of the modern Argentine novel; among those contemporary writers who cla
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 3, 2025
Dos cuentos breves que entran en la palma de la mano y plasman la prosa de Arlt. Que manera de jugar con la cabeza del lector.
January 12, 2023
El primer relato me resultó bastante gracioso en su crueldad, el segundo ya no tanto.
January 10, 2022
Un verdadero cuento de Horror:
https://diariosoluble.blogspot.com/20...
https://diariosoluble.blogspot.com/20...
December 15, 2025
Estos relatos muestran lo que pasa por la cabeza de algunas personas cuando se les presentan situaciones como casarse o tener la posibilidad de liarse con la mujer de un amigo. A priori el tema podría ser interesante, pero el escritor me recuerda a Francisco Umbral, sus personajes masculinos siempre creen que son geniales y piensan de las mujeres que son un bien de consumo, y los personajes femeninos son bastante simples. Además, las descripciones tanto de ambientes como de las personas son enrevesadas, con palabras grandilocuentes y adjetivos repetidos hasta la saciedad. Al leerlas (en las que no desconectas porque no sabes a dónde quiere ir a parar), da la sensación de que están describiendo un cuadro expresionista, sobre el que están los personajes con unos gestos raros para lo que están viviendo. En fin, me ha parecido un escritor que se quiere mucho a sí mismo y a la forma en la escribe, con un punto misógino, rollo Miller, que no me interesa lo más mínimo.
March 9, 2024
Es difícil calificar un libro con dos cuentos. "Noche terrible" me gustó mucho, 5/5. Todo transcurre en la cabeza del protagonista, que está analizando si quiere seguir con su relación o no. Tiene una noche para decidir. Me es inevitable relacionarlo con el típico personaje que suele interpretar Woody Allen en sus películas, aunque el cuento es algunas décadas anterior. Es egocéntrico, ansioso y sumamente neurotico. Probablemente no estés de acuerdo con lo que dice pero escucharlo -leerlo- es muy entretenido.
"Una tarde de domingo" no me gustó mucho 2,5/5. Siento que no sobrevivió bien el paso del tiempo.
Elijo quedarme con el puntaje del primero en lugar de promediarlos.
"Una tarde de domingo" no me gustó mucho 2,5/5. Siento que no sobrevivió bien el paso del tiempo.
Elijo quedarme con el puntaje del primero en lugar de promediarlos.
April 24, 2020
Dos cuentos que plasman el tema del matrimonio, previo al casamiento y luego de años de vida conyugal.
October 31, 2015
Qué librito tan genial! Y cuando digo librito sólo es por su formato, apto para el bolsillo de la dama y el caballero. Creo que de Arlt no hay mucho que decir, porque es un escritor que no decepciona. Eso si, si vienen de leer "El juguete rabioso" u otra novela prepárense para conocer otra faceta del autor que estoy segura que les va a encantar.
December 8, 2015
Dos buenos cuentos de Roberto Arlt. Sin la fuerza de sus novelas pero no sin su complejidad psicológica. Cada vez siento más la necesidad de conocer todas sus obras. Si fuese argentino, tendría orgullo de saber que alguien así supo retratar el lado más desolador de mi terruño. Con su complejidad, desolaciones y esperanzas.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews