Mario Benedetti

La tregua

Karla 

Le daría todas las estrellas del universo. 

Me encanta, me hace sentir tanto.

La tregua is the story of Martin, a widower who begins to write the intimate details of his dull gray existence in a diary. But when a young new employee, Laura, bursts onto his office routine, Martin, a common but not mediocre man who is aware of his own limits and unattractiveness; unwittingly opens a luminous parenthetical statement in the diary of his life. Published in fifteen countries, translated into eight languages, and adapted for radio, television, and the theater.

La Tregua

Stephanie Alvarez

'La Tregua' (1960 - engl.: The Truce) by Uruguayan writer Mario Benedetti (1920 - 2009) is a classic. It tells the story of Martín Santomé's last year before retiring. 

The whole story is written as a diary by the main protagonist himself. He complains a lot about his life, the work and his 3 adult children, who live with him. His children don't like him, because they never had a chance to develop a relationship with him. Santomé is a widower and never remarried. One year befor his retirement he falls in love with his new 25-year-old collegue Laura Avellaneda, whom he referse to exclusively by her last name - even after they get together. There are not many descriptions of places or the looks of people - but if there are some, they do carry a lot of meaning.

At the beginning it was quite hard to read from a feminist point of view. Santomé is a 49-year old widower in late 50's Uruguay and has some quite old fashioned views about life and love. Still, continuing reading is absolutely worth it. He goes through an impressive metamorphosis. The end is shocking and really makes you cry.

Luigi Mozzillo

Gianluigi

Una novela sobre la soledad y la incomunicaci�n, el amor y la sexualidad, la muerte y los problemas pol�ticos. Mart�n Santom�, viudo con tres hijos, en las v�speras de su jubilaci�n comienza a registrar en un diario su vida gris y sin relieve. La vida cotidiana de la rutina en la oficina y la de un hogar desunido y crispado se ver�n alteradas cuando irrumpe en su rutina la joven Laura Avellaneda, su nueva empleada. Y este hombre, casi sin propon�rselo, decide abrir en su vida un par�ntesis luminoso. La tregua se ha traducido a decenas de idiomas y ha sido adaptad al cine, la televisi�n, el teatro y la radio, pero que sobre todo ha gozado de la excepcional acogida de los lectores de todo el mundo. ENGLISH DESCRIPTION Just before his retirement, Mart�n Santom�, a widower with three children, starts to document his dull grey life in a diary. The everyday routine at the office and in a tense, conflictfilled home starts to change with the arrival of young Laura Avellana, his new employee. And this man, almost without meaning to, decides to begin a luminous new chapter in his life. The Truce has been translated to dozens of languages and has been adapted for movies, television, and radio, but above all has enjoyed exceptional acclaim by readers around the world.

La tregua

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