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Ángela Pradelli Argentina
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Ángela Pradelli was born in Buenos Aires
in 1959, where she currently lives and works as a teacher and author. Her work
comprises lyrical poetry, narratives and novels and has been published in
various anthologies. Among several prizes, Pradelli was awarded the Premio
Emecé in 2002 for her novel Amigas mías (“Girlfriends”), which was
received with great enthusiasm by audiences as well as critics. A year later Turdera
was published and in 2004 the author secured herself the Premio Clarín
of the Argentinian newspaper of the same name with her novel El lugar del
padre (“Father’s Place“).
There are four women protagonists in Amigas mías
and it is a novel of seemingly banal occurrences. The every day life with
children, husbands and professional life leaves hardly any space for breaking
out, but within this tight and rigid orderliness nevertheless there grow
desires, passions and disappointments. When they least expect it, the lives of
either Ema, Olga, Patricia or the first person narrator are whirled about by
unforeseen events. One of the few things never to be missed, however, is their
yearly meeting on December 31st, which gives them the strength to look to the
future with humour.
Turdera is the name of the train station of a suburb. Pradelli uses it as the stage for a number of stories, that are linked, crossed over and reflect the social problems and financial strait of a Latin American reality on a small scale. And so in the first chapter the reader encounters Germán as a husband who has little left to say to his wife when he later appears as a dedicated doctor in the precariously equipped hospital. With her concise prose and subtle command of observation Pradelli creates figures that are astonishingly authentic in their honesty of emotions.
Analogous to the technique used by the Polish director
Krzystof Kieslowski in his famous Three Colours Trilogy Blue/White/Red the
author reaches for repetitive motives which connect her works; possibly a
looming thunderstorm, the railway, a father-daughter relationship, the
harvesting of grapes or the Italian language. All her work is coined by an
unagitated but precise observation.
In El lugar del padre the female first person
narrator experiences the painful loss the death of her father has caused. This
experience reduces her perception to the essential, to matters and people in
her closest surroundings, such as the relation to her neighbour, a friend of
her father’s.
El lugar del padre is a novel of elegant withdrawal, subtle
emotions, a wise and by no means emphatic prose, a rousing rhythm and a
craftsmanship that entices the reader into its own little world. This
particularly original work is a song of praise to the uncertain and the gentle
pleasure of defencelessness. I congratulate Ángela Pradelli to this small
masterpiece.
Antonio Skármeta
Combi
is the name of a means of transport that connects Buenos Aires with its
suburbs. These minibuses ferry thousands of commuters into the Argen-tinean capital
every day. Most passengers tend to know each other from their daily journeys.
Pradelli describes one such group of passengers in her
latest novel, beginning with the driver, Esteban. He is a brand new father, but
suffering from the new situation: when his wife puts the baby to bed in the
evening he doesn't get to see her, although he'd love so much to watch a film
with her like in the old days. All they talk about is diapers on special offer
in the supermarket. He remembers his father, who was also a driver, and their
trip to the coast – a few days that were an unforgettable experience. Now
Esteban does all he can for his family, but he is unhappy and far from blind to
the allures of the telephonist at his combi agency. By the evening, his head is
still full of her breasts and he's forgotten the diapers.
The closer the combi gets to Buenos Aires, the more
people get on, and they all have their stories. A Peruvian woman keeping
herself and her student daughter above water with domestic jobs. She murdered
her partner when she realised he was sexually abusing her daughter, a child at
the time. Dina, who has very bad skin but can't help squeezing her pimples as
soon as her hands are free so she
spends all her time writing text messages on her cell phone. A sullen shoe
salesman who complains about everything and everyone and has vowed never to
enter the city again after his retirement.
These stories are at times moving, always authentic
and straight out of real life in Argentina today. The portraits are linked by
their journey into the city, which is lengthened by a demonstration in memory
of two young men who died in an uncontrolled police operation four years ago.
On the combi's radio the passengers hear an interview about the drama of the
past events, and at the same time ask themselves whether the combi will get to
the bridge before it is blocked, as they all have to get to work or an
appointment on time.
In this novel, the reader experiences a slice of
everyday life in modern Argentina, including its environmental scandals and
inconceivable police violence. Pradelli is a precise observer, writing with
authenticity and control.
The Old Testament is not only the basis of Christian
theology; it can be seen as the foundation stone of all western literature. What
other text unites faith, writing and time in such a unique way to form a
never-ending basis for interpretation? What would happen if we were to write
the bible over again today? Ángela
Pradelli and Esther Cross posed
this question to 25 Argentine authors, producing a book that gives us an idea
of the outcome: La Biblia ("The Bible") from a modern view. By
turns eccentric, burlesque and tragic, the chapters of this anthology are
written by the crème de la crème of the Argentine literary intelligentsia.
This Biblia is an ambitious and razor-sharp project,
not for died-in-the-wool churchpeople, but very much for critical Christians
and friends of intelligent literature on one of the most significant human
subjects: that of faith.
The authors: Esther Cross, Ángela Pradelli, María
Granata, Giselda Gambaro, Luis Chitarroni, Carlos Chernov, José Pablo Feinmann,
Ana María Shua, Luisa Valenzuela, Angélica Gorodischer, Héctor Tizón, Mempo
Giardinelli, Aurora Venturini, Tununa Mercado, Elvio Gandolfo, Vicente Battista,
Juan Martini, Sergio Olguín, Juana Bignozzi, Diana Bellessi, Juan Sasturain,
Noé Jitrik, Luis Gusmán, Antonio Dal Masetto, Guillermo Saccomanno.
Original editions:
Novels:
Amigas mías, Buenos Aires: Emecé 2002, 231 p.
Turdera, Buenos Aires : Emecé 2003, 175 p.
El lugar del padre, Buenos Aires: Alfaguara 2004, 163 p.
Combi, Buenos Aires: Emecé 2008, 286 p.
Anthology:
La Biblia. Según veinticinco escritores argentinos
(Ed. By Ángela Pradelli and Esther Cross)
Buenos Aires:
Emecé 2009, 272 p.
Non-Fiction:
Libro de lectura, Buenos Aires: Emecé 2006, 153 p.