A lodge to obtain money, power and eternity; a darkness that demands human sacrifices; houses that trap people; psychics with supernatural powers; passages with hellish creatures; fields full of the dead and underground… The elements that make up the plot frame of this horror novel point to the concept of a holistic novel, far from being a pigeon in the genre, combining supernatural horrors with others. very natural and human Our part of the Night (Anagrama, 2019), Argentine writer Mariana Enríquez’s Herralde Prize for the novel from the Castilian narrative critic in Celsius, both in 2019 and in 2020, is a very and very pleasant surprise. It is a novel that adheres in principle to the canons of the horror genre, but with more than 700 pages, it goes far beyond these limits.
I learned of its existence through a radio show, and as I have said on other occasions, contrary to what most fans say, I may be a victim of commercials. He interpreted this novel as horror. And I’m surprised that a novel of such a distinctive genre has gained such recognition. The truth is that even though I consumed a lot of such texts as a teenager, it hasn’t caught my interest since then, not even to the movies, because I suffer enough from the fear of truth. imaginary. But I skipped these tastes and ideas and decided to read. As soon as I started, I realized that it wasn’t as I had understood from the advertisement; It’s not just a horror novel, it’s more of a start-up novel, a novel of parent-child relationships, a novel of Argentina’s history of dictatorship and the ensuing economic crisis, a romance, a romance… It was obviously not intended for a specific consumption, for a genre reader, but rather for its permanence over time. So in some cases, like this week, it falls off the shelf and rereads it and continues to be fascinated by the simple name, Juan, which is hostile to his personality.
We are located in Argentina, between La Plata and the province of Misiones, on the border with Paraguay and also in London. We begin by learning about the very special relationship between a widowed father and his son. Always dark, terrifying, and magnificent, the author, through the technique of mystery or the constant intrigue and concealment of data, achieves an incredible portrait of these characters: a strong and certain father who will not be so hateful or misunderstood; and a son with whom we accompanied him on his rough rise in life (“I left you something mine, I hope it’s not cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, not dark, it’s our part of the night”). But it also tells the epics of some of the country’s most powerful families, not exempt from certain serialized features, always often in a slow style, direct when necessary, sometimes morbid and sharp, and very literary. . For all these reasons, it is recommended to read slowly, away from the speed required by the succession of events in the novels of the genre. All this is based on a fairy-tale architecture of narrative, dividing time into different stages that are not chronologically arranged in six chapters of unequal length, and of course the interweaving of facts.
And why should you read this novel? Because it’s a perfect example of what the novel-type genre is, in this case the study and exploitation of terror; and because if you like genres mixed or overlapping with high literature you will enjoy reading for hours. It’s also important because we all have to spend part of the night with someone.