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Saverio, el cruel / La isla desierta
Sus obras recorren un camino que las aleja de la saineteria epidemica y colorida, como lo demuestran Saverio, el cruel, en donde esta presente un tema central de su produccion: el golpe magico que cambia la existencia rutinaria en una gran aventura, a los personajes de La isla desierta, habitantes de buenos Aires que viven y padecen un agotamiento cultural cada vez mas hueco e intolerable y en quienes el trabajo rutinario se contrapesa a la fantasia del viaje imaginario, con un interior humillante y un exterior jubiloso.
151 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1936
About the author
Roberto Arlt
201 books390 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 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 13, 2008
One of my very favorite dramas, an excellent look into the human psyche and the consequences of mockery and cruelty.
September 9, 2017
La isla desierta.
Manuel: No sé. La vida no se siente. Uno es como una lombriz solitaria en un intestino de cemento. Pasan los días y no se sabe cuándo es de día, cuándo es de noche. Misterio..
Saverio el cruel.
Saverio: Cuando yo tenía la cabeza llena de nubes, creía que un fantasma gracioso suplia de una tosca realidad. Ahora he descubierto que cien fantasmas no valen un hombre.
Manuel: No sé. La vida no se siente. Uno es como una lombriz solitaria en un intestino de cemento. Pasan los días y no se sabe cuándo es de día, cuándo es de noche. Misterio..
Saverio el cruel.
Saverio: Cuando yo tenía la cabeza llena de nubes, creía que un fantasma gracioso suplia de una tosca realidad. Ahora he descubierto que cien fantasmas no valen un hombre.
August 11, 2022
Sólo por el final merece la pena leerlo. Qué forma tan aguda de acabar una trama estrambótica.
Lo anterior es bueno, pero mejorable. Saverio parece listo y otras veces tonto, no acaba de estar bien perfilado. Al resto de protagonistas les pasa un poco lo mismo.
Lo anterior es bueno, pero mejorable. Saverio parece listo y otras veces tonto, no acaba de estar bien perfilado. Al resto de protagonistas les pasa un poco lo mismo.
December 4, 2016
Al fin lo termine!! Sera por que no estoy acostumbrada a este tipo de libros pero me resulto muy aburrido :/
December 20, 2025
te amo Arlt
August 2, 2026
Susana una visionaria
January 6, 2020
La isla desierta: Una historia interesante, con un dialogo interesante, a pesar de que no es mi tipo de lectura preferida lo disfrute bastante.
Saveiro el Cruel: Lo sentí un poco lento, con relativamente exesivo "relleno", los dialogos no muy interesantes.
3 estrella, principalmente por la primera historia.
Saveiro el Cruel: Lo sentí un poco lento, con relativamente exesivo "relleno", los dialogos no muy interesantes.
3 estrella, principalmente por la primera historia.
October 3, 2026
Las dos me gustaron mucho, pero la de saverio el cruel me parecio buenísima. Es una trama tan simple pero que trata temas tan interesantes de una manera muy cómica y dramática a la vez. Corta pero muy disfrutable
May 19, 2019
El prólogo ❤️
June 14, 2020
Lo leí en la secundaria y lo odié. Tal ves es porque simplemente no me gustan las obras de teatro.
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August 14, 2024MEDIANTE ESTE MENSAJE LOS INVITO A LLEVAR A CABO UNA OBRA DE TEATRO
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November 17, 2025leí “la isla desierta” para la facu
November 8, 2025
"Ha sido inútil, Coronel, que te disfrazaras de vendedor de manteca".
No se veía venir. Tremendo. Disfrutables ambas historias, una por su crítica mordaz certera de las vidas humanas modernas, y otra por la inesperada tragicomedia de un Shakespeare del conurbano bonaerense.
No se veía venir. Tremendo. Disfrutables ambas historias, una por su crítica mordaz certera de las vidas humanas modernas, y otra por la inesperada tragicomedia de un Shakespeare del conurbano bonaerense.
May 7, 2014
"Aviada estaría la luna si tuviera que hacer caso de los perros que ladran"
La isla desierta: 5/5
Saverio el cruel: 4/5
Me gustó que ambas obran contengan un fuerte contenido crítico social y político; que al ser tan cortitas, es lo que más destaca.
La isla desierta la había leído para una representación en la escuela hace algunos años y quería releerlo. Desde el primer momento me atrajo la idea de "la isla" y con esta segunda vez, pude sentir lo que el autor quería expresar.
Saverio el cruel me sorprendió. Al principio es bastante confuso, pero después se van despejando las dudas y el final fue algo sorpresivo.
"¿Qué interés encerraría la farsa si uno de los que participa no ignora el secreto? El secreto es en cierto modo la cáscara de banana que caminando pisa el transeúnte distraído"
2015 Reading Challenge:
February 14, 2014
La isla desierta - Ha estado genial, La isla desierta es un 5/5 para mí. El autor ha sabido plasmar muy bien como el hombre se deja llevar por la rutina y olvida los sueños hasta que alguien más aparece y logra hacerlos revivir. Don Manuel y el mulato se llevan la historia con sus decires. Muy recomendable.
Saverio el cruel - 4/5 Aunque Saverio el cruel es una obra teatral muy corta posee mucho contenido que se puede analizar desde variadas perspectivas. Para empezar, la farsa y el comportamiento de burla de los personajes había otro que consideran inferior y luego, el análisis de la evolución de las mentalidades que afectan a la misma evolución de la sociedad, a través de las bromas y actuaciones se ve cómo una mente puede cambiar de tal forma que llegue a desear hacer lo que aborrecía. Esta es una obra muy recomendable que resulta entretenida y reveladora.
Saverio el cruel - 4/5 Aunque Saverio el cruel es una obra teatral muy corta posee mucho contenido que se puede analizar desde variadas perspectivas. Para empezar, la farsa y el comportamiento de burla de los personajes había otro que consideran inferior y luego, el análisis de la evolución de las mentalidades que afectan a la misma evolución de la sociedad, a través de las bromas y actuaciones se ve cómo una mente puede cambiar de tal forma que llegue a desear hacer lo que aborrecía. Esta es una obra muy recomendable que resulta entretenida y reveladora.
October 22, 2012
Yo sólo leí Saverio el Cruel, pero a mí me gustó mucho esa obra. Era interesante ver que aunque el mundo europeo (o todo el mundo en general) no se dió cuenta los problemas que trajeron los dictadores como Mussolini y Hitler cuando primero se convirtieron en líderes de sus paises, pero sólo tras 3 años Arlt (¿y el mundo éntero?) se dió cuenta que tuvimos un gran problema.
Pobre Saverio ;_;
Pobre Saverio ;_;
January 11, 2014
Venía enamoradísimo de El juguete rabioso, estas dos obras no me impresionaron mucho. Saverio es sobre un "mantequero" a quien una casa de sociedad le juega una broma, La isla desierta va por un lado más existencial, con gente atrapada en una oficina. Son lecturas divertidas pero ninguna me impactó demasiado.
November 19, 2016
un Arlt drammaturgo da riscoprire per ritrovare anche nel teatro il suo stile personale, anti-accademico, che mischia in maniera tragicomica nella stessa opera melodramma, teatro grottesco, metateatro, grand-guignol e teatro dell’assurdo.
http://www.piegodilibri.it/recensioni...
http://www.piegodilibri.it/recensioni...
Want to Read
May 16, 2014Obras de Arlt.
June 4, 2015
Saverio el cruel, extraordinaria obra de teatro. La verdadera crueldad cae en la demente Susana! Saverio más bien fue una víctima de la farsa!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2024
El capitalismo es un ladrón de vidas y del tiempo
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews