Diario de la guerra del cerdo

by Adolfo Bioy Casares

Inesperado precursor de las revueltas estudiantiles, de la guerrilla urbana y hasta del movimiento punk, Diario de la guerra del cerdo es la profética crónica de una lucha implacable entre viejos y jóvenes.

Una mañana, Isidro Vidal, jubilado sedentario y benévolo, descubre que el proceso de sustitución generacional se ha acelerado. Hordas de atléticos muchachos recorren Buenos Aires a la caza de viejos débiles y lentos. Obligados a improvisar una desesperada defensa, Vidal y sus amigos deberán aprender a moverse por una ciudad fantasmagórica, apenas iluminada por las antorchas de una guerra invisible, tan real como simbólica. Una guerra que se libra contra grupos rivales pero también contra un enemigo común: el inexorable paso del tiempo.

Adolfo Bioy Casares terminó esta novela magistral a principios de 1968. Según declaró en entrevistas, la escribió en un momento en que se sintió envejecer. Quizá por eso su historia no envejece y es tan nueva como la luz de cada día.

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Latin American, Literature, Novels, Spanish Literature, Horror

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Adolfo Vicente Perfecto Bioy Casares (1914-1999) was born in Buenos Aires, the child of wealthy parents. He began to write in the early Thirties, and his stories appeared in the influential magazine Sur, through which he met his wife, the painter and writer Silvina Ocampo, as well Jorge Luis Borges, who was to become his mentor, friend, and collaborator. In 1940, after writing several novice works, Bioy published the novella The Invention of Morel, the first of his books to satisfy him, and the first in which he hit his characteristic note of uncanny and unexpectedly harrowing humor. Later publications include stories and novels, among them A Plan for Escape, A Dream of Heroes, and Asleep in the Sun. Bioy also collaborated with Borges on an Anthology of Fantastic Literature and a series of satirical sketches written under the pseudonym of H. Bustos Domecq.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would it be like to live in a city where old people are looked upon as no better than pigs, where a group of old people seen in public is immediately taken for a stack of pigs, heaps of aging flesh fit for the rubbish bin?

Diary of the War of the Pig is an extraordinary novel published in 1969 by Argentine author Adolfo Bioy Casares. By way of diary entries, we follow don Isidro Vidal, resident of a crowded, crumbling mansion serving as tenement building for the poor in the city of Buenos Aires. Living under these circumstances is cramped and uncomfortable, especially if you’re old like don Isidro – for one thing, from his small bedroom he has to cross two large courtyards to reach the bathroom.

And the indignities don Isidro must suffer are endless: not only is he blighted with the telltale signs of old age, things like talking to himself, unending fretting over money, insomnia, impatience, a strong leaning towards melancholy but people in the street are starting to look at him with hostility and some others hurl insults directly in his face. To top it off, don Isidro’s sore jaw forced him to pay a visit to a dentist who yanked out his teeth and replaced them with a set of expensive new gleaming choppers.

But all is not lost as there is a bright spot shining through as if a ray of sunshine in an otherwise ominously dark sky: don Isidro can get together now and again with his old cronies, his good buddies Néstor, Dante, Arévalo, Jimmy and Leardo Rey to play a game of cards. Ah, friendship to the rescue, offering succor and support, a needed balm in such a hostile, cruel world. As don Isidro reflects, such friends help us most as we face the challenges of old age.

Then one cold, windy night the friends are in for a rude shock after packing up and leaving together: in a nearby alleyway don Isidore and the others witness a gang of kids cursing and using iron clubs to beat a mass of rags. Arévalo recognizes the victim as none other than the newspaper vendor, don Manuel. Vidal insists they do something to stop the murder but is told by Jimmy to keep quiet and not make a fuss. Equally disturbing, a young man standing nearby advises in a hostile tone: “Grandpa, this is no time to be spouting off.”

Intimidation and violence continue: with echoes of Anne Frank, don Isidore is hidden away in the attic by his son when a youth group holds a meeting in their building; an old custodian has his false teeth ripped out of his mouth; another oldster is beaten to death, this time an elderly women on the sidewalk in broad daylight. Don Isidore shakes his head and speaks his mind: “Nobody’s old and ugly by choice." The very next day he runs for his life when walking down the street as youngsters suddenly hurl glass bottles at his head.

The boys (even as old men, the card players see themselves as boys) read the column in the newspaper about ‘The War on the Pig’. Arévalo complains: “Where do they get the idea? They say that old people are greedy, selfish, materialistic, and eternally grumbling. Real hogs.” This leads to a philosophic discussion on productivity, old age and the meaning of life, which prompts, in turn, a further question: what are the great reasons the youth of today act the way they do? Answer: those kids don’t need great reasons since the ones they happen to have are good enough.

As Martin Levin noted in his New York Times review of the novel, Adolfo Bioy Casares’ attitude is existential rather than moral. I agree entirely: as we live through each humiliating, horrifying scene with the golden agers, no easy answers are provided; rather, we are free to interpret events as we like.

This leads to several overarching questions: How deep is the resentment against older people? Is modern society demarcated along the lines of age? Could such a demarcation lead to violence?

My own sense is age might have some importance but more powerful feelings are generated by class, that is, by rich vs. poor, which in many instances are colored by race and nationality. Karl Marx published his Communist Manifesto nearly two hundred years ago but the distinctions and categories outline by Marx continue to cast their long shadow.

Old people everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. They might not be living in paradise, but at least they are not living in the world of Diary of the War of the Pig. At least not yet, that is.



"Friendship ha turned to indifference, love has shown itself sordid and false. Only hatred flourished. He had defended himself, and would go on defending himself (he felt no doubt on that score) against the attacks of the young; but as he came into Paunero Street he had a mental picture of his own hand holding a revolver to his temple." - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Diary of the War of the Pig

[Maziyar Yf · Rating 3 out of 5]

خاطرات جنگ خوک ، کتابی ایست از آدولفو بیوئی کاسارس نویسنده و روزنامه نگار آرژانتینی . کتاب اوکه در بوئنوس آیرس رخ داده ، داستان جامعه ای را تعریف می کند که تنش بین نسل جوان و پیر به نقطه اوج رسیده ، جوانان افراد مسن را خوک نامیده و به آنها حمله می‌کنند و حتی آنها را به قتل می رسانند .
قهرمان داستان او ، مردی نسبتا مسن به نام ایسیدورو ویدال است که با پسر جوانش زندگی می کند . ویدال به همراه دوستان مسن خود تلاش می کند که زندگی کند و زنده بماند . کاسارس این گونه فضایی وهم‌آلود و پرتنش خلق کرده که شاید نمادی از ترس‌ها و نگرانی‌های او از آینده باشد .
جامعهٔ خیالی کتاب ، جایی ایست که پیرمردان به نمادی از شکست و بدبختی تبدیل شده‌ و از قدرت و جایگاه اجتماعی خود محروم مانده اند . در این جامعه، نوعی تفرقه و دشمنی بین نسل جوان و افراد مسن وجود دارد. این تفرقه شاید ناشی از این باور باشد که پیرها مانع پیشرفت و تجدید حیات جامعه هستند. این گونه پیرها به انزوا و حاشیه‌نشینی رانده شده و در معرض خشونت و تبعیض قرار می گیرند .
کاسارس کوشیده جامعه ای را ترسیم کند که ارزش‌های انسانی در برابر قدرت و خشونت، به تدریج رنگ می‌بازند . موضوعی که او انتخاب کرده ، تفاوت بین نسل ها ، نوید کتابی جالب و جذاب می دهد اما نتیجه کتابی معمولی با پایانی ناامید کننده شده که تفاوت چندانی با دیگر کتاب های مشابه ندارد .
کاسارس کوشیده جامعه‌ای را ترسیم کند که ارزش‌های انسانی در برابر قدرت و خشونت، به تدریج رنگ می‌بازند. موضوعی که او انتخاب کرده، تفاوت بین نسل‌ها، نوید کتابی جالب و جذاب می‌دهد، اما نتیجه کار، اثری کلیشه‌ای شده که مطلب چندان جدیدی ندارد. داستان، با فضایی تاریک و خسته‌کننده، روایتی تکراری از جنگ نسل‌ها را به نمایش می‌گذارد، بدون آنکه بتواند مخاطب را چندان درگیر کند. شخصیت‌ها سطحی هستند و پایان بی‌رمق و ناامیدکننده، حس اتلاف وقت در خواننده ایجاد می‌کند. در نهایت، خاطرات جنگ خوک کتابی است معمولی که به راحتی فراموش شده و هیچ جایی در ذهن باقی نمی‌گذارد.

[°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τα αποσπάσματα θανάτου ήταν ένα ιδιαίτερα βίαιο και αποτρόπαιο στοιχείο της
πολιτικής κατάστασης που επικρατούσε στη Λατινική Αμερική τις δεκαετίες του
'70 και του '80. Στην, τη δεκαετία του '70,
και στη Γουατεμάλα,
τη δεκαετία του '80, οι στρατιώτες φορούσαν στολές την ημέρα, αλλά
χρησιμοποιούσαν αυτοκίνητα χωρίς πινακίδες τη νύχτα, για να απάγουν ή να
σκοτώνουν τους εχθρούς του καθεστώτος ή τους συμπαθούντες των εχθρών του
καθεστώτος.

Στο ημερολόγιο του πολέμου των χοίρων καταγράφεται η γήρανση της ζωής μέσω μιας εξεγερμένης νεολαίας που δολοφονεί βασανιστικά και ανελέητα τους ηλικιωμένους, με το πρόσχημα της κατάλυσης
του αποτρόπαιου παρελθόντος, του παλιού,
του γερασμένου, του ξεπερασμένου, του άχρηστου
και παροπλισμένου φόβου για την ίδια τη ζωή.

Ο Κασάρες, ο αξιολάτρευτος αυτός δημιουργός
ονείρων μαι εφιαλτών διδάσκει για άλλη μια φορά
μέσω της μυθιστοριογραφίας του μαθήματα οικουμενικής πραγματικότητας.

Τα μέλη του κινήματος της νεολαίας εξοντώνουν τα παππουλάκια με περισσή απανθρωπιά και άπλετη μοχθηρία γράφοντας με το αίμα των θυμάτων τους το ημερολόγιο του πολέμου των χοίρων.

Οι ηλικιωμένοι χαρακτηρίζονται ως γουρούνια, αναίσθητα, παμφάγα, βρόμικα, σιχαμερά, άχρηστα
και εκφυλισμένα απο διαφορες παθήσεις φθοράς, ανικανότητας, εγωπάθειας και απελπιστικά προβλέψιμης παρενόχλησης μέσω της ύπαρξης τους
που σαπίζει την κοινωνία και την παραπλανά.
Την προσανατολίζεται μακριά απο την ελπίδα και την δύναμη της αλλαγής και της εξέλιξης, μακριά απο την επανάσταση της επιτυχημενης αποτυχίας που εμφορείται μονάχα η παρόρμηση και η απερισκεψία των νέων ηγετών στη χώρα του ποτέ, όπου το περιβάλλον της δεδομένης ευαισθησίας τους θα έπαυε να απειλείται της ύπουλης και τρομερής μετάδοσης των γηρατειών.

Μια παρέα απο μεγάλα και πιο μικρά παππουλάκια πρωταγωνιστεί σε αυτόν τον άξεστο πόλεμο και παιδεύεται με αγαστή συνεργασία και κλίμα αδελφοσύνης και αλληλεγγύης να σώσει και να σωθεί απο τους δολοφόνους-κυνηγούς του χοίρου και της κουκουβάγιας.

Η αγάπη, ο έρωτας, έστω και αργοπορημένος, καταφέρνει να γίνει ο εξολοθρευτής της απαισιοδοξίας που κατάβαλλει την ώριμη ηλικία και την τρομοκρατεί.

Η ηδονή της σάρκας, η ταχυκαρδία του συγκλονιστικά και θεϊκά ανεπίληπτου οργασμού ταράζει την ψυχή και χαϊδεύει με φιλήδονη λαγνεία σώματα με δέρμα υπέροχα τρυφερά και άτρωτα απο σημάδια χρόνου, πάνω σε σώματα με φανερά τα σημάδια του παρελθόντος που αποκαλύπτουν το τέλος του μέλλοντος.

Ο Κασάρες σπιντάρει και ποντάρει στο όνομα
του έρωτα που καλπάζει μακριά αγνοώντας τα γεράματα, αδιαφορώντας για τις αποφάσεις
των ειδικών πως το γήρας είναι ασθένεια
και ο άρρωστος δεν έχει άλλη επιλογή ούτε διέξοξο εκτός απο τον τάφο.

Σε μια κατά τα άλλα προφητική πολιτικά
και φανταστική ιστορία τραγικής διάστασης,
το μοτίβο αγάπης μεταξύ του μεσήλικα Ντον Ισίδορο
και της νεότερης κατά πάρα πολλά χρόνια Νέλιδας καταλήγει την τραγωδία σε ένα κάπως πιο ευτυχισμένο αν και παροδικό, όπως όλα τα ανθρώπινα, συμπέρασμα.

🐽🐽🐽💌💌

Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς

[AiK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Фантазией Биоя Касареса создаётся ситуация крайней нетерпимости молодыми стариков с поощрения и попустительства правительства. Дон Исидро Видаль, пенсионер, не получил свою пенсию. Государство вдруг решило, что все кризисы от стариков, ведётся пропаганда об увеличении старческой преступности.
Почему старые люди стали ненавистны?
Старики слишком самодовольны и занимают свое место - считают молодые. Старики считают: "Почему же я должен уступать свое дело потому, что они молодые, отдавать плоды своего труда?"
Врачей объявили виновными в росте числа стариков: раньше старики жили до 50 лет, сейчас до 80, а завтра будут до 100.
Вместо диктатуры пролетариата будет диктатура стариков - опасаются молодые.
Стариков называют свиньями.
Объявлена война молодежи со стариками. Один за другим умирают пожилые насильственной смертью. Нестора сбрасывают на поле со стадиона и сын его не защитил.
Банда мальчишек забили старуху-кошатницу на глазах у равнодушных прохожих, старик был обузой, и внук с внучкой убили деда.
Эта повесть была написана в далёком 1969 году, когда продолжительность жизни ещё так не возросла. В условиях перенаселённости планеты и постоянного увеличения пенсионного возраста, в связи с неспособностью стареющим обществом платить пенсии, поднятая писателем тема становится все более и более актуальной, но, мне кажется, что эти невротические страхи преувеличены и порождены неэффективным государственным управлением. Никто не устрашается ростом чиновников, на чьи зарплаты налогов хватает. Биой Касарес завершает свою повесть примирением сторон, и, к удовольствию некоторых стариков, молодые красавицы любят их. Видаль идёт к своим приятелям-старикам играть в карты, оставив дома прекрасную Нелиду. Это уже сексуальная утопия стареющего писателя.

[P.E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

La Matanza de los Viejos Inocentes


Esta novela trata de una Argentina distópica donde la sociedad divide a las personas en clases, aquí según su edad: 'jóvenes' por un lado, 'ancianos' por el otro.

Aunque el principio tomado literalmente me parece insostenible, hay muchas otras formas de división que se pueden invocar para asegurar la dominación sobre un pueblo o, más modestamente, para impulsar una agenda política en un país (la raza, la etnia, la religión, la categoría socioprofesional, ...).

Si le gustan mi informe o el libro, me gustaría sinceramente aconsejarle el cuento Mañana parda, porque en esencia, es lo mismo aquí: promulgar criterios de distinción arbitrarios, herméticos y insolubles en lugar de centrarse en mejorar lo que puede ser, y luego dejar que la gente luche por sus creencias prefabricadas.


Libros parecidos a Diario de la guerra del cerdo:

Manana Parda/brown Morning
Rhinocéros
El colombre (en particular los relatos cortos 'Cacciatori di vecchi' y 'L'Entrümpelung')
FUTU.RE
La naranja mecánica
Peter Pan


Banda sonora:

The Imminent - Front Line Assembly

--------

The Massacre of the Old Innocents


This story takes place in a dystopian Argentina where society is split in between all-powerful youths and persecuted old people.

Although I don't buy this principle taken literally as an operating one, there are many other forms of division already existing or possible for a political party, or a given lobby to implement so as to further a political agenda in a given country (race, ethnics, religion, socio-professional categories, ...).

If you enjoyed reading my minuscule review or the book proper, I would like to recommend you the short story Brown Morning which deals with nearly the same situation: a party enforcing division through arbitrary, hermetical and isoluble decisions, making people fight against one another for manufactured beliefs.


Books similar to Diary of the War of the Pig:

Brown Morning
Rhinocéros
Il colombre e altri cinquanta racconti (in particular the short stories 'Cacciatori di vecchi' and 'L'Entrümpelung')
FUTU.RE
A Clockwork Orange
Peter Pan


Suggested Soundtrack:

The Imminent - Front Line Assembly

[Santiago González · Rating 3 out of 5]

Preparándome para cuando empiecen los tiros

Hace 25 años, después de leer "La invención de Morel" y "El sueño de los héroes" decidí anotarme en Letras. Duré poco en la carrera pero mi gusto por Adolfo Bioy Casares permaneció. Sabía de que trataba este diario y me dije que iba a dejarlo para más adelante, acá estamos.

En el prólogo ABC dice que emprendió la escritura de esta novela cuando empezó a sentirse viejo. Yo tuiteé que empezaba a leer cuando me asaltaba la misma sensación. Él tenía 52 cuando la publicó, yo 44 cuando la leí.

Para los que no lo saben: la guerra del cerdo consiste en una guerra no declarada de jóvenes contra viejos. La novela está plagada de reflexiones sobre la vejez, todas tremendas, una por ejemplo dice que de viejo uno sabe que siempre termina aburriendo.

Me cuesta mucho leer novelas viejas, sin celulares, internet ni nada por el estilo. Acá ABC maneja un español porteño que es exquisito pero no solemne. Me reí muchas veces, especialmente al principio. La trama se me hizo un poco lenta, el conflicto tarda en desarrollarse, sospecho que un autor moderno lo hubiese liquidado en la mitad de las páginas, ateniéndose a lectores más distractibles y ansiosos.

De todos modos, Adolfo Bioy Casares está en el panteón de escritores argentinos, es uno de mis favoritos. Nunca voy a dejar de recomendarlo. Ya sabés, si las nieves del tiempo platean tu sien, leete esta novela. Al menos para saber de dónde van a venir los tiros.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Winter of Our Discontent

This summer, I spent some time in Argentina – okay, it’s winter over there, but that was another point that made my stay very pleasant – and that’s why I suddenly remembered a review by Glenn, one of my GR friends, which made me very curious about the book it dealt with, viz. Diario de la guerra del cerdo. The author, Adolfo Bioy Casares, happened to be an Argentinian, and so it seemed like a brilliant opportunity for me to go and buy that book, brushing up my Spanish into the bargain.

My review will be in English, though, because my ability to read and understand Spanish is better than my skill at actually using the language correctly for a longer text.

Diario de la guerra del cerdo is set in the city of Buenos Aires, to be more precise, in Palermo, in the early 40s. The novel [1] describes an alternative reality in which old people suddenly find themselves the target of seemingly unmotivated eruptions of violence on the part of younger people. There is apparently no rhyme or reason behind these attacks, and the government’s stance on them is, somewhat, unclear. The novel’s hero, a man around his sixties, called Isidro Vidal, feels and experiences how this grim reality intrudes into his own daily routine and into that of his friends and neighbours, forcing him to go into hiding or even to run for his life. For some reason or other – various ones are discussed in the course of several conversations, but they actually remain nebulous – young people feel provoked into acts of gratuitous violence at the sight of old people and they do not hesitate to give in to their feelings of aggression. One explanation is that those young terrorists think that old people live too long and deprive them of resources and chances that should in due course have fallen to them, but other people take a more sophisticated outlook by surmising that what those young yahoos actually hate about their victims is the melancholy fact that the old remind them of their own eventual fate.

In fact, although Bioy Casares was only in his fifties when he wrote the Diario, in his foreword he betrays his own resignation about what the future will bring for him as an ageing man:

« Desde luego, no creo que haya ninguna ventaja en ser viejo. Uno nota que sus facultades declinan, la memoria cercana se pierde, las mujeres se alejan, en fin, no es algo demasiado agradable. »

In other words, it seems to be an extremely personal work – maybe, that’s why it’s written in the form of a diary –, in which the author wants to come to terms with the doubts, apprehensions and revulsions connected with getting older. And, he was probably very scared of getting older. There are some passages in this book that really have it in them to make you feel gloomy and hopeless about becoming old – just take this one:

« Creyó por primera vez entender por qué se decía que la vida es sueño : si uno vive bastante, los hechos de su vida, como los de un sueño, se vuelven incomunicables porque a nadie interesan. Las mismas personas, despues de muertas, pasan a ser personajes de sueño para quien las sobrevive ; se apagan en uno, se olvidan, como sueños que fueron convincentes, pero que nadie quire oír. »

Caducity not only is a hard word to remember, but still a harder fact to stomach, and reflexions like these made it, once more, clear to me. I remember my grandma, who shortly before her 90th birthday told me she didn’t really know whom to invite for all the people she knew were dead. She said it with a smile, a wry one, at the time, but I wonder what she really felt.

Bioy Casares also refrains from idealizing old age by pretending old people were wiser, more relaxed and resigned to what life has in store. No, Isidro and his cronies are not really very nice people, they are real people instead, and age has not en-nicened them. For starters, none of them really considers himself old at all, and each of them has at least one unpleasant quality like greed, stubbornness, cowardice – one of them even betrays a friend in order to escape death –, and intolerance. One weakness most of them share is prurience. Man, are they dick-driven! Women, especially young ones, is what they all think most about, and our hero Isidro does not make an exception to this rule: He constantly has to think about his young neighbour Nelida, and he lives under the impression that life all of a start makes sense again because his hopes fulfil themselves in that Nelida falls in love with him. From that moment on, he is both so eager to please – being afraid of boring Nelida with his memories and his tendency to shape them into words – and so jealous that he seems like an insecure teenager. The thing that repelled me most about those old men, Isidro and his friends, was that on the one hand, they rightly denounced the young thugs’ crimes against old people whereas, on the other, they themselves do not think too kindly about women once they have reached a certain age. When, at the beginning of the novel, they witness an older woman enter the bar where they are playing truco, they ask themselves, for instance, what business a woman her age has to go into such a place at such a time. For all the dangers he encounters or also imagines, Isidro still finds the time to muse on older women’s lack of attraction to him whenever he encounters them. So, our hero and his friends do have their minor, everyday flaws, but interestingly, most of these flaws might not have come with age, any less than they were overcome by it. On a bitter note, one could add that age makes these flaws stand out as more disagreeable in the eye of a beholder, though, as it makes a person’s bones stick out more sharply under their skin.

To come to a conclusion, Diario de la guerra del cerdo is a sobering book about old age, maybe too bleak at that, but at the same time it can also be read as a study of how things can go wrong in society, of how easily certain groups of people can become scapegoats while nobody seems to be caring enough and the government keeps prevaricating. I am writing this at a time when in many European cities, also in my home country, it has (once again?) become dangerous for Jewish people to walk the streets wearing a kippah and so identify themselves as Jewish. This book is, in a way, still a hot topic today.



[1] As the title suggests, it is written in the form of diary entries, although it does not become clear who the actual writer of that diary might be. Could Isidro Vidal, in a sort of Caesarean grandeur, have kept referring to himself in the third person? This is unlikely, though, because the writing style is more artistic than would be consistent with a down-to-earth man like Vidal, whose main interests seem to be the creature comforts of life.

[Nate D · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an unexpected foreshadowing (perhaps) of the impending Social Security crisis, this is a chilling, strange account of a Buenos Aires that has, without warning, violently turned on its elderly. Casares is best known for his collaborations with Borges, and for early work of the philosophic fantastic The Invention of Morel, which inspired Last Year at Marienbad and the second Brothers Quay feature. This late novel may actually surpass that one in many ways: War's narration gives it a much more immediate sense of urgency and tension than Invention's oddly removed dairy entries, while maintaining Casares' usual density of ideas. And despite the sheer darkness of the concept -- the story follows six friends in their twilight years who find themselves suddenly the targets of mob violence with the rest of the older population of the city -- the tone keeps things oddly brisk and at times ironic. This is almost Kafka territory: it is as if there is an inevitability and absurdity to brutality that can only be met with a sort of cynical resignation.

[Xan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ideal para leer en medio de la crisis de los cuarenta: te deja hecho polvo.
Perfecta para entender lo rápido que se puede extender una ideología y lo fácil que es prender la mecha de una matanza indiscriminada.
Lectura recomendada para revolucionarios con conciencia.

[Katya]

Olhò DNF fresquinho!

O homem astuto acciona a tempo a sua estratégia contra a velhice. Se pensa nela, entristece-se, perde o ânimo, nota-se-lhe, dizem os outros que se entrega de antemão. Se a esquece, recordam-lhe que há um tempo para cada coisa e chamam-lhe velho ridículo. Contra a velhice, não há estratégia.

O meu historial com Casares devia ter-me deixado de sobreaviso, mas o tema deste Diário da guerra aos porcos (a discriminação e violência contra cidadãos mais velhos) interessa-me tanto que pus de lado as cautelas e resolvi tentar entender-me com o autor.
Nascido de um sentimento melancólico de Casares perante a própria velhice, este Diário, em princípio, até não estava mal. Don Vidal é um senhor simpático e dado a solilóquios, bastante terra a terra, amigo da jogatina entre velhotes, de mate e de um luxo ou outro quando a reforma permite extravagâncias (leia-se no luxo uma visita à farmácia para uma injeção ou à lavandaria para deixar os peúgos). A aura de ameaça à integridade física deste senhor, e seus conterrâneos, é coisa que estava a mexer comigo - e o paralelo com a nossa sociedade comprometida com a juventude não passou despercebido - até estes velhotes se revelarem todos uns panhonhas depravadinhos com expressões como: "É pão comido, a Tuna" (e isto a propósito de partilhar uma prostituta). Que todo o mal fosse esse, ainda teria prosseguido (afinal, "são velhos, mas não estão mortos" - expressão de muito mau gosto e muitíssimo questionável), mas o foco da narrativa perde-se no meio de mil e uma voltas e mil e uma situações insignificantes, subentendidos e subterfúgios com os quais o autor procura comunicar com o leitor, diálogos dolorosamente confusos (marca registada do autor) - repletos de piadas culturais com as quais o tradutor não se preocupa -, e personagens muito pouco definidas (são todos velhos incaracterísticos, fica difícil saber quem é quem). Safa-se Don Vidal, que é carismático, mas nem por isso carismático o suficiente para puxar consigo todas as 234 páginas deste livro.
O objetivo era a distopia, mas acho que Bioy Casares só tem fôlego para a pantomima.
Haja paciência.

É velho e é feio, mas isso é uma coisa que não lhe podemos atirar à cara. Ninguém é velho e feio por gosto.

[Bárbara Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro muito interessante sobre a forma como encaramos a velhice e a juventude.

Já dizia Saramago " Nem a juventude sabe o que pode, nem a velhice pode o que sabe"

[Jose Garrido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neste livro de 1969, o protagonista, um homem que mora com o filho no bairro de Palermo em Buenos Aires, descobre tragicamente que o processo de substituição geracional foi, subitamente, acelerado. Grupos de jovens andam pela cidade a matar os velhos.
Nesta guerra os jovens matam por ódio contra o velho que serão um dia, ao entenderem de uma maneira intoleravelmente dolorosa que um velho é sempre o futuro de algum jovem.
Incómodo, muito interessante.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adolfo Bioy Casares is one of Argenina's greatest writers of the 20th century, as well as a close friend and former collaborator with Jorge Luis Borges.

Diary of the War of the Pig is a fantasy about a time in Buenos Aires when old people are being attacked and killed by the young. The story is seen from the point of view of Don Isidoro Vidal and his friends, who get together to play an Argentinian card game called truco. Little by little, members of the group are affected as their friends disappear or are beaten by gangs of youth.

The government does nothing to help: In fact, Don Isidoro's pension had not been paid for months. Tradesmen refuse to sell to the elderly, even when all they want is a newspaper. The whole informal persecution is referred to as "The War of the Pig," though the old are frequently referred to as "owls."

Curiously, Bioy Casares was only in his fifties when he wrote this novel. It deserves to be more widely known, and, in fact, Bioy Casares deserves a larger readership. His wife, Silvina Ocampo, was also an excellent writer - of poetry and short stories.

[Eliana Rivero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una reflexión sobre el envejecimiento de los hombres que tienen miedo a las nuevas rutinas, a la muerte y a la soledad. No considero que sea fantástica pero quizá algo de distópica, esta es una novela llena de violencia y miedo por el futuro. La contraposición entre juventud y vejez es muy palpable durante todo el libro. Como en otras obras de ficción de Bioy, siempre hay una chica linda, además del recorrido por las calles de Buenos Aires que da una atmósfera caótica pero nostálgica.

[María Alcalde · Rating 5 out of 5]

«Cuando uno vive, se deja ir, distraído». Si reaccionaba, si despertaba de esa distracción, pensaría en Néstor, en la muerte, en personas y en cosas que desaparecieron, en sí mismo, en la vejez. Reflexionó: «Una gran tristeza da libertad». Indiferentemente avanzó por el centro de la calle, porque de todos modos no quería que lo sorprendieran.

[Hugo Emanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheguei a Adolfo Bioy Casares através de Jorge Luís Borges. Borges não poupou elogios á obra de Casares, de quem era grande amigo, tendo inclusive escrito algumas obras em conjunto com este (as quais estão atribuídas ao pseudónimo de H. Bustos Domecq)e até tornando-o como personagem de um dos seus contos (“Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius“). Depois de ler "Diário de Guerra aos Porcos" parece-me que de facto a apreciação de Borges do trabalho do seu amigo não foi de todo turvada pela grande amizade existente entre os dois.
"Diário de Guerra aos Porcos" é, de certo modo, uma distopia, mas os acontecimentos narrados passam-se numa sociedade de tal modo semelhante à nossa e são tão pouco exagerados que se torna assustadoramente credível. A obra relata o gradual surgimento e expansão de um movimento juvenil que parece passar a considerar qualquer ser humano com mais de cinquenta anos não só como inútil, mas também desprezível e asqueroso e que os persegue durante a noite, espancando-os, humilhando-os e até assassinado-os. Este movimento juvenil, que vai aumentando em colaboradores e acções torna-se gradualmente mais assustador e perigoso, levando a que pais e avós venham inclusive a temer os seus filhos e netos - por vezes justificadamente.
O conceito do romance é bastante negro e extremo; no entanto Casares consegue atribuir-lhe alguma leveza e até humor, evitando conscientemente relatar situações demasiado gráficas ou horripilantes.
O gradual crescimento deste movimento juvenil e as suas consequências são-nos dados através de Isidoro Vidal, um sénior que vive com uma misera pensão, acompanhado de um filho de quem se tem vindo a distanciar. Vidal passa os dias com o seu grupo de amigos, todos estes seniores, a quem chama os "rapazes". Um individuo pouco informado sobre os eventos do dia-a-dia, este vai percebendo, pelos relatos de vizinhos e amigos, que se mobilizam uma série de ataques aos idosos da vizinhança, apercebendo-se eventualmente de que se trata de um problema à escala nacional, aumentando a cada dia o risco de ele próprio ou um dos seus amigos virem a ser vitima de um destes ignóbeis ataques.
O romance, embora escrito com alguma leveza, é francamente assustador. O irracional ódio que se propaga entre alguns grupos de jovens contra os idosos faz lembrar o assustador aumento de militantes de partidos de extrema direita a que temos assistido na Europa nos últimos anos e, acima de tudo, alguns dos princípios fascistas - tal associação de ideias leva a que o romance, que à partida possa parecer improvável, torne-se assustadoramente credível. Enquanto houver ódio irracional no coração dos homens tais acontecimentos não são tão improváveis como possam à partida parecer. No entanto, o romance termina com uma nota de esperança e crença na eventual vitória dos melhores impulsos do ser humano, algo importante tendo em conta o negro tema da obra.
A leitura deste romance deixou-me muitíssimo interessado no resto da obra do autor. Tenho toda a intenção de vir a ler outra obra de Casares em breve.

[pantelif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Από τον συγγραφέα της Εφεύρεσης του Μορέλ, που ανήκει ��τα ελάχιστα που τις εικόνες θα πάρω κυριολεκτικά μέχρι τον τάφο, θα διάβαζα με μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον μέχρι και Συλλογές για τα Ψώνια στο Σούπερ.

Το Ημερολόγιο είναι επαρκώς ύπουλο και στέκεται ωραιότατα γραμμένα σε κλίμακα μινόρε:
- Το μοτίβο 'πανικός μπροστά στη βαρβαρότητα ασανσέρ με τον στουθοκαμηλισμό ότι "όλα καλά, όλα καλά"' (μια χαρά περιγραφή για το πώς το πήγαμε στις Ελλάδες με την ΧΑ πχ)
- Εικόνες εγκλεισμού και ελπίδες για την επιστροφή στην "κανονικότητα". Μόνο που η "κανονικότητα" είναι να ξαναγίνεις νέος (υπέροχη αντίστιξη με αυτά που ζούμε)

Αυτό που με πανικοβάλει -εξήγησε- είναι η όψη της πόλης, ίδια όπως πάντα, σαν να μην συμβαίνει τίποτε

Ο άρρωστος δεν είναι η αρρώστια, αλλά ο γέρος είναι τα γηρατειά και δεν υπάρχει άλλη διέξοδος από το το θάνατο

Παρά την μαυρίλα, το βιβλίο είναι ουσιωδώς αισιόδοξο και μέσα στην βροντερή νταουνίλα ο πρωταγωνιστής στανιάρει στην αγκαλίτσα μιας μικρούλας. Εύγε.

Το βιβλίο ολοφάνερα δεν μεταφράστηκε με αγάπη και γενικά η έκδοση είναι παμπάλαιη και μάπα.
Ο λαός απαιτεί νέα έκδοση με μετάφραση από τον Αχιλλέα Κυριακίδη, ψηθείτε εκδοτικοί οίκοι για γκολάρα τριφασική.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was excellent--started it on a Sunday morning and ended up canceling all my plans for the day because I just couldn't put it down.

It's a short, very dark story about genocide against the elderly--the young people of Buenos Aires have decided that seniors don't contribute to society and should be eliminated. The mere concept is terrifying, and Bioy Casares did a great job of showing the atrocities that normal people are capable of doing when they're consumed by hatred. He described the mob mentality of the young people, told of neighbors informing on neighbors, families turning on their loved ones, etc. It was so sinister it made my skin crawl throughout the entire book. It wasn't all gloom and doom though, as the author also described how the old folks stuck together, how some families hid their old people from the mob, etc. His characters were vivid, and his descriptions of being old were heartbreaking but sweet at the same time, if that makes any sense.

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I found the ending to be very abrupt--I wanted more! I'd never read this author before but now I will certainly be looking for more of his work.

[Julia Chupryna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Загалом, політичні утопії мені даються не легко, а тим паче, коли вони ще й написані автором з Латинської Америки. Але, завжди приємно відчувати себе людиною, яка зрозуміла хоч щось з того писання.

Чому варто читати (і не боятись):
- позачасові теми, що будуть зрозумілі незалежно від історичного контексту чи регіону написання (конкретно тут - тема старості і її викорінення з лав соціуму);
- перестороги, якими напічкана книга і результати, які змальовуються у разі порушення цих пересторог;
- загальна картина апокаліпсису людського (примат молодості і його війна із досвідом, а подекуди така ж боязнь стати старими і бути закиданими камінням лише від єдиного факту старості);
- неоднозначність відповідей і формулювань правил (можливо, екстремізм молодих це не такий вже й екстремізм, бо старість на те й старість, щоб все згущувати й робити поганопридатним);
- і знову - за відповіді на свої глибинні страхи, особливо, коли тобі вже перевалило за 25)))

[Sara Pernas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una historia que pretende ser distopía y no lo consigue. Nada tiene ningún sentido, la historia es forzadísima, más que una historia es una sucesión de "cosas que pasan", los personajes planos y acartonados, los diálogos son malos y el tufo a señoro misógino rancio que desprende el autor hacia los personajes se deja ver demasiado.
Podría resultar interesante alguna de las reflexiones sobre la edad, sobre la disonancia entre cómo nos percibimos y cómo nos perciben los demás en el proceso de envejecer... pero todo lo demás lo eclipsa.

[Jörg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise is fantastic. A war breaks out. A war that never was declared and nobody talks about openly. A war between the old and the young. I almost wonder why this wasn't enough to keep this book from falling into oblivion. I heard about Bioy Casares "The Invention of Morel" and wanted to read it. But this book and the even lesser known "The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata" were the ones I could get my hands on.

The story is told from the view of Isidoro Vidal, a single man approaching the age of 60, living with his son in an apartment and following his daily routine of hanging out with "the boys". Nothing new happens anymore, the conversations follow defined rules, nothing is expected as one day follows the other. Until juvenile death squads start hunting older people. Their motives aren't clear. The government doesn't take position. The further development is unclear. Suddenly, old patterns are broken. A friend of Isidoro gets killed, others get hurt or are abducted. A young woman develops a romantic interest out of the blue, he moves in with her and leaves his son.

There are common themes with the above mentioned Adventures of a Photographer which I read before this. The uncertainty of reality, things not being what they seem. Odd things going on in society. The estrangement of humans and the inability to live together without conflicts. Conceptually, this is the stronger book. It lacks the lightness of the Adventures but makes up for this with depth. It's about an important topic most of us have to face: old age and all the disadvantages associated with it.

[Manuel Fontana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me costó entrar en la sintonía del libro. Se me hizo pesado por momentos, más por la trama en sí que por la manera en que utiliza el lenguaje este increíble autor. La segunda mitad del libro me resultó todo lo contrario: entretenido, y más que nada, reflexivo, que es lo que me hace recordar más de las lecturas. Comparto una frase : solamente con argumentos sentimentales puede uno defender a los viejos.

[Cesar Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Está tan bien escrito que no necesita mounstro diferentes o traídos del espacio para ponerte la piel de gallina con ese espejo irremediable que es el tiempo.


Sentir como se derrumba la sociedad hacia el caos con cada página y mantener aquella tensión que casi te hace dejar el libro


Un libro brillante que todos debemos leer.

mi único punto negativo podría ser una decisión que me parece romper con esa tensión del libro por unas páginas.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Напівсон, а не сюжет. Щось із наміром зовсім важко - запливає надміром плутаних думок про все на світі.
Конфлікт поколінь, прагнення любові, невизначеність перед смертю.. ну ок. Це ж література, де місце таких запитам і думкам.
Просто саме ця книга мені зовсім не зайшла.

[Diego · Rating 4 out of 5]

El primer libro que leo de Bioy Casares, me deja con ganas de leer más. En un Buenos Aires indeterminado, Isidoro, un jubilado que vive con su hijo en una habitación empieza a encontrarse en una situación extraña: los viejos empiezan a ser asesinados brutalmente por bandas de jóvenes. Esto pone al bueno de Isidoro en el brete de si él mismo se considera viejo o no, incluso sorprendiéndose pensando o actuando como un viejo, oscilando entre la rebelión y la resignación.

Lo mejor es cómo la trama se introduce sutilmente en la rutinaria vida de Isidoro. Eso sí, hay que tener en cuenta que es una novela "pitopáusica"; que probablemente refleja el miedo a la vejez del propio autor, que publicó este libro con 54 años. Eso se refleja en la ausencia de personajes femeninos independientes; el único es el de Nélida, la joven cuya conquista sirve al protagonista para demostrarse que no es, definitivamente, un viejo.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

از اون کتابا بود که تمام مدت فک میکردم خب که چی همش چندتا پیر مرد جمع میشن یجا یا دارن فرار میکنن کتاب حتی مسقیم که چه عرض کنم غیر مستقیم هم نمیگه منظورش چیه اما وقتی که تموم میشه و چند روز میگذره و کتاب ته ذهنت ته نشین میشه میبینی که جزء کتابایی که هیچوقت فراموشش نمیکنی نه بخاطر احساس کتاب چون فک نکنم هیچ احساساتی پشت کتاب باشه یا بخاطر بحث سیاسی پشت زمینه کتاب یا همذات پنداری با شخصیت های پیر پاتال کتاب فقط به این دلیل که تو هم داری پیر و خرفت میشی تو هم دیگه هیچ جایی تو اجتماع نداری تو هم نفرت انگیزی تو هم یواش یواش شانست برای همبستر شدن با دختران جوان و زیبا روز به روز کم تر میشه و له له میزنی برای جوونی از دست رفتت این کتاب یه خرد غم انگیزه
در نهایت این کتابو پیشنهاد میکنم اما همه شاید دوسش نداشته باشن
نمره۴،۵

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diario de la guerra del cerdo, publicada cuando Adolfo Bioy Casares tenía 55 años, refleja el temor del escritor al paso del tiempo.
Leí este libro ahora, y tengo 55 años.
Este libro me ha gustado mucho.
La narrativa es dura y sombría. Es una novela muy triste, pero nos lleva a reflexionar.
A los personajes “viejos” les cuesta reconocerse como tales y muestran su odio y rechazo con todo lo relacionado a la vejez, pero también esta presente el amor y la amistad.

[Javier · Rating 2 out of 5]

La idea de fondo es buena, el problema es que no he logrado hacerme al estilo del autor, sus expresiones, su forma de montar los párrafos. Los diálogos entre los ancianos son especialmente desesperantes.
Aún así, destaco un montón de grandes frases y reflexiones sobre la vejez que van soltando los protagonistas a lo largo del libro.

[Bogdan Korytskyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Дистопія, яка має більше спільного з реальністю аніж з фантастикою, де кожен знайде свої паралелі: хтось одвічний конфлікт батьків та дітей; інший-паралель до тоталітарних режимів; третій-про збереження "Я" у змінному світі. Касарес написав справді особистий твір, який треба читати у дорослому, "старому" віці.

[Germán González · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐. En esta distopía, que sucede en Buenos Aires, los viejos están siendo asesinados uno por uno por los jóvenes. Escrita por Bioy Casares cuando comenzaba a sentirse viejo, deja algunas reflexiones interesantes sobre la juventud y la vejez.

La idea es interesante pero la historia se vuelve repetitiva y no va hacia ningún lado hasta que termina sin mayor justificación. Me gustó lo porteño de la historia, hay muchos detalles de como se vivía en los '60/'70.