Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages
Encyclopedia
Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages (Spanish: Maldición eterna a quien lea estas páginas) is a 1980 novel by Argentine
novelist Manuel Puig
. As in other works by Puig, the story is formally experimental, consisting of mostly unattributed dialogue, digressing into stories within stories
. It also bears many of Puig favorite motifs, including sexuality and leftist revolutionary politics.
, near Washington Square
. Larry, a poor and otherwise-unemployed former college student, accepts a part-time job taking care of 74-year old Mr. Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez is an Argentine expatriate who has apparently lost his memory, as well as his understanding of basic concepts such as love and sexual arousal. Though the two men are ostensibly strangers, their conversations reveal that they may somehow have intimate knowledge of each other's pasts. Abruptly and without clear explanation, dialogue often digresses into elaborate melodramatic reenactments of events that may or may not have happened to the two men.
1980 – ; English translation: Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages (1982)
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
novelist Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig was an Argentine author...
. As in other works by Puig, the story is formally experimental, consisting of mostly unattributed dialogue, digressing into stories within stories
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
. It also bears many of Puig favorite motifs, including sexuality and leftist revolutionary politics.
Plot introduction
The novel is set in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, near Washington Square
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
. Larry, a poor and otherwise-unemployed former college student, accepts a part-time job taking care of 74-year old Mr. Ramirez. Mr. Ramirez is an Argentine expatriate who has apparently lost his memory, as well as his understanding of basic concepts such as love and sexual arousal. Though the two men are ostensibly strangers, their conversations reveal that they may somehow have intimate knowledge of each other's pasts. Abruptly and without clear explanation, dialogue often digresses into elaborate melodramatic reenactments of events that may or may not have happened to the two men.
1980 – ; English translation: Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages (1982)