Roberto Arlt Books

April 26, 1900 – July 26, 1942

Roberto Arlt was an Argentine novelist whose work was characterized by its rawness, colloquialism, and surrealism, setting him apart from the prevailing middle-class literature of his time. A self-taught autodidact who worked a variety of odd jobs, his writing delves into the lives of marginalized characters pursuing bizarre quests within a landscape of urban chaos. His narratives often feature alienated, half-mad individuals in absurd situations, with his observations on everyday life in Buenos Aires maintaining a forthright and unpretentious style. Arlt's influence on Latin American literature is substantial, with his distinct voice resonating with contemporary authors who explore the darker facets of existence.

The Seven Madmen
336 pages
12 hours of reading
3.8(167)Add rating
Remo Erdosain's Buenos Aires is a dim, seething, paranoid hive of hustlers and whores, scoundrels and madmen, and Erdosain feels his soul is as polluted as anything in this dingy city. Possessed by the directionlessness of the society around him, trapped between spiritual anguish and madness, he clings to anything that can give his life meaning: small-time defrauding of his employers, hatred of his wife's cousin Gregorio Barsut, a part in the Astrologer's plans for a new world order... but is that enough? Or is the only appropriate response to reality - insanity?Written in 1929, The Seven Madmen depicts an Argentina on the edge of the precipice. This teeming world of dreamers, revolutionaries and scheming generals was Arlt's uncanny prophesy of the cycle of conflict which would scar his country's passage through the twentieth century, and even today it retains its power as one of the great apocalyptic works of modern literature.
Noche Terrible. Una Tarde de Domingo
3.8(45)Add rating
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.
El amor brujo
209 pages
8 hours of reading
3.7(193)Add rating
Roberto Arlt nacio en el barrio porteno de Flores en el ano 1900 y murio en esta ciudad de Buenos Aires en 1942. El amor brujo informa acerca de las relaciones de un hombre casado con una adolescente. A partir de este episodio -apunta Pedro Orgambide-, "Arlt describe las reacciones atipicas de un grupo familiar a la vez que deja testimonio de las hipocresias muy pequeno burguesas acerca del amor, el sexo, el matrimonio (...) Lo que sobrevive, lo que se mantiene con la misma fuerza original, es la observacion sagaz, implacable de si mismo, cierto aliento metafisico en los breves viajes de Retiro al Tigre, en uno de esos trenes que tanto obsesionan a Arlt, trenes que continuarian andando cuando el estuviera definitivamente muerto." TAPA RUSTICA

The Seven Madmen

Noche Terrible. Una Tarde de Domingo

El amor brujo