Nuestra Parte de Noche [Our Night Party]

By: Mariana Enriquez

Narrated by: Mara Brenner

El legado, el deseo de vivir, la paternidad, el horror, lo íntimo y lo político. El terror sobrenatural se entrelaza con terrores muy reales en esta osada y perturbadora novela.

Un padre y su hijo atraviesan Argentina por carretera, desde Buenos Aires hacia las cataratas de Iguazú, en la frontera norte con Brasil. Son los años de la junta militar, hay controles de soldados armados y tensión en el ambiente. El padre de Gaspar trata de protegerlo del destino que le ha sido asignado después de que su madre muriese en circunstancias poco claras; en un accidente que acaso no lo fue.

Como su padre, Gaspar está llamado a ser un médium en una sociedad secreta, la Orden, que contacta con la Oscuridad en busca de la vida eterna mediante atroces rituales. Para ellos es vital disponer de un médium, pero el destino de estos seres dotados de poderes especiales es cruel, y el desgaste físico y mental es rápido e implacable. Los orígenes de la Orden, regida por la poderosa familia de la madre de Gaspar, se remontan a siglos atrás, cuando el conocimiento de la Oscuridad llegó desde el corazón de África a Inglaterra y desde allí se extendió hasta Argentina.

El lector emprenderá un viaje entre la represión de la dictadura militar argentina y el Londres psicodélico de los años sesenta, donde la madre de Gaspar conoció a un joven cantante de aire andrógino llamado David; descubrirá casas cuyo interior muta, pasadizos que esconden monstruos inimaginables, rituales con fieros sacrificios humanos, enigmáticas liturgias sexuales y la carga de una herencia atroz.

English Description

A father and a son cross Argentina by road, from Buenos Aires to the Iguazu Falls. It's the military regime era - there are armed soldiers and tension in the environment. The son's name is Gaspar and the father tries to protect him from his destiny after his mother died in unclear circumstances.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

©2021 Vintage Espanol (P)2021 Random House Audio

Layered, lyrical, and melancholy

Some of the most indelible horror stories are about monsters, yes, but specifically the human capacity for monstrosity. There are many layers of horror in the story, natural and supernatural, from the barbaric and brutal acts of fascism to the ravages of disease and the mysterious and evil entities that defy articulation.

These interwoven threats and fears shape the characters and trajectory of those exploited by a large, powerful, and sociopathic family that thinks nothing of destroying its own.

Sometimes I found myself thinking the whole thing was metaphor, other times I thought they were just parallel threads, ultimately indistinguishable from one another because sadism and exploitation by any mechanism always look the same.

I'm so glad I abandoned the English version half way through, despite its excellent translation, in favor of listening to the rich Argentinian delivery, because this book is so firmly of its place, it just can't be extricated from its soil with all its magic intact.

I learned my Spanish in La Plata on a visit from the US at 16, and even after all these years, my entire sense of the country came back vividly listening to the particularities of the language and the descriptions of the streets and buildings. This is a very sensory writer, you can always feel the heat (even the marching band deflates in surrender in one scene) and hear and smell the elements, Talk about a sense of place.

I'm so happy to have discovered this writer and it seems to me that if you are able to understand Castilian Spanish--which is quite different for the uninitiated!--she should be read and heard in her native tongue.

Insane!

Nuestra parte de noche is a master piece like no other in Argentinian literature. I’d dare say in contemporary Latam as well.

Both the book and the voice acting of Mara Brenner are amazing (the musical parts made me tear up a little). I’ve been a fan of Enríquez’ short stories for a while. She has always managed to convey great interpretations of the effects of dictatorship through her horror houses, ghosts, and sinister characters. However, this novel is a huge step in expanding all those elements. She delves into issue of trauma, new and old models of masculinities, and affection, memory. 1000% worth it, even if it takes a little bit for you to get fully immersed in the story.