Los adioses. (The Goodbyes)

Reviewed by Kathleen March, Univ. of Maine -- Críticas, 2/15/2008

Onetti, Juan Carlos.
Spain/U.S.: Punto de lectura: Santillana. 2007. 111p. ISBN 978-84-663-2011-5. pap. $10.99. FICTION

Originally published in 1954, Los adioses is considered Uruguayan Onetti’s masterpiece, a representative work that invites the reader to meditate on basic aspects of the human condition. A former basketball player suffering from tuberculosis moves to a small town to live out the final stages of his illness. The athlete and his contacts with two women are the object of speculation, and the final scene is itself vaguely shaped by these conjectures. While it is easy enough for the narrator, a mere observer, to examine the former athlete’s actions, the story in fact emerges not from the ailing man’s activities but from the observer’s attempts to make sense of what is happening. The tension between the athlete’s frailty and his smiling appearance is never resolved. Onetti’s subtle, sinuous style barely calls attention to itself, and before readers know it they are caught up in his words. Brief yet dense, this is a formidable lesson in ethics. Highly recommended.

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