Adolfo Bioy Casares' Diary of the War of the Pig (1969) | Book Review and Analysis 

Automn story by Tommaso Landolfi "Set during WW II, this is the first novel to appear in English by the celebrated Italian author of Words in Commotion and Other stories. The narrator, an outlaw, takes refuge in an odd mountain manor occupied by an elderly nobleman and his two ferocious wolfhounds. The renegade's curiosity is awakened when he sees a turn-of-the-century painting of an alluring woman, and hears 'faint breathing' in his room at night and suspiciously light footsteps on a staircase. Ignoring the wishes of his host, he explores what he perceives to be a ghostly presence in the mansion". This riveting tale packs multiple surprises, with piercingly nightmarish imagery and intense, lonely characters tormented by private passions and obsessions.

Hi Jorge thanks for discussing Bioy Casares who so often tends to live in the shadow of Borges.As a huge Borges fan I be ame aware of Bioy because of their friendship and then collaboration .I particularly enjoyed the wonderful collection of short stories Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi .His books are difficult to find in English so I have only managed to read Morel and The Dream of Heroes which Borges considered his masterpiece and as you mention in this review of The Diary of the war of the Pig the structure consists of many short chapters which give it a rather cinematic feel.Thanks again and have a great weekend.

Hola jorge! What an amazing novel! I bought it immediately(in spanish)and today it'll be mine. Also the novels of james j ballard are very close to "a clockwork orange" and to "diary of the war of the pig", especially "high rise" and "running wild". Thanks for your interesting review and see you in the next video. Have a wonderful day, my friend!

Both your students and the novel are right: life changes twice, at 30 and 60. At 30, we start adopting a bourgeois mentality, and at 60, we enter old age. Of course, the former transformation is often much worse than the latter. (Your videos are really good. Please keep making them.)

Thanks for providing the correct pronunciation of "Bioy" and "Casares." I read Casares the first time in the early 90s when the English version of "A Russian Doll" appreared. The stories were a great read, but I was too young to know what writer I stumbled on to. All these years later, The Invention of Morel came my way. Like you mentioned, I wondered how Casares was going to end the story. Has any more of his writing made it into English? Keep making these videos!

"Tres mujeres (y una cuarta en la sombra) ocupan el centro de estos relatos de amor, publicados por primera vez en 1964. Tres destinos unidos por una anomalía patente o profunda... La muda, la demasiado hermosa, la insignificante y opaca: todas ellas se conceden sin darse. ¿Por qué? Ese misterio y la incapacidad masculina para penetrarlo constituyen el hilo que vincula sus suertes. Los hombres las conocen, las desean, las poseen, pero en todos los casos sin lograr romper el cristal que parece protegerlas. Las mujeres se encuentran, inexorablemente, encerradas en su secreto, por el cual pagarán un precio más o menos doloroso. Con afortunada intuición narrativa, Landolfi no hace hablar a las tres mujeres, sino a sus compañeros, por lo que las historias -plasmadas en páginas de una intensidad poco común y un profundo compromiso emocional- cobran vida desde el punto de vista precisamente de quien no comprende, de quien hiere por sentirse herido". "Tres relatos" by Tommaso Landolfi (regarded as the italian bioy casares).

Me suena muy intersante "Diario de la guerra del cerdo." La agrage a mi lista de libros que estan por leer.