A lovely, lyrical novel set in the Argentinian countryside.
The Plains is a beautifully descriptive novel by Argentinian writer, Federico Falco. Set in rural Cordoba, the story follows a man in his erly forties who has moved into a dilapidated former farmhouse. He’s heartbroken as his partner of seven years, Ciro, with whom he lived in Buenos Aries, has left him.
The novel opens in January and covers a nine-month, four-season timeline. As he tends to his garden and plants flowers and a vegetable patch, he thinks back to his youth, to his grandparents and, eventually, to his relationship with Ciro. He is a writer but, since the split, has felt unable to write. Throughout the novel, he ponders a writer's life and the nature of writing, too.
There isn’t a plot as such, but rather a deep dive into the narrator’s life and experience as he tries to understand how his life has changed so dramatically and why Ciro has rejected him. While that lack of a plot may be offputting for some readers, as someone who is also developing my writing, many of his thoughts on writing and his deep need to pursue it resonated with me. As he says, it is always more pleasant not to write.
I loved the descriptions of the changing seasons and the flat, remote Argentinian landscape, which immediately roots the reader into the setting. The tending of the garden reflects his growth as he begins to recover from his heartbreak. The pacing is quite langurous but Falco’s lyrical writing kept me hooked.
This is another gem from Charco Press, who kindly sent me a review copy, a small but mighty publishing house based in Edinburgh. Their catalogue of translated novels is well worth a browse.
Comments