Southeaster

December 7, 2015
Decades after his disappearance from the streets of Buenos Aires in 1976, Conti is still rightly regarded as one of Argentina's finest authors. His first novel and English-language debut features vivid depictions of life on the Paraná River. Boga is a rootless young man who spends months living and working with an old man to harvest reeds for sale. When the old man dies, Boga feels restless and adopts a "languid life of wandering." Floating in a small boat along the river's branches, the usually apathetic Boga discovers new emotions and shares encounters with people that force him to navigate violent situations. Miles's translation does a wonderful job of reflecting Conti's poetic tone. The prose is rhythmic and unrelenting, flowing for page after page; only sporadic line breaks offer brief bends in the stream of text. Though the narrative is deceptively simple in its premise, it has great depth. During Boga's time on the river, he plunges into long periods of isolation and silence, and in this chosen solitude he examines his existence. There is a sense of regret for what has passed and also a feeling of gratitude for what could have been; the tension between these feelings guides the story in clever ways, making this a memorable journey.