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zoemig's review against another edition
3.0
"I’m thinking,” he said with some excitement, “that a photographer is a man who looks at things to photograph them. Or perhaps a man who, looking at things, sees where there’s a good photograph."
You know you're reading an uncommon book when you can't even find an image of the cover online. There are probably two reasons The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata by Adolfo Bioy Casares is so rare, and neither of them have to do with the content. First, it's a translation of a Spanish book that takes place in a city I couldn't even find on a map without googling- turns out it's the capital city of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Secondly, it was written twenty-five years ago, published in 1985, which means that if the English reading world actually did know about it at one point, it was before the internet. The most famous book by Adolfo Bioy Casares is The Invention of Morel, which is a science fiction novella I hadn't heard of either, but may try to track down at some point.
The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata is the story of Nicolas Almanza, a photographer who comes to La Plata in order to take photos of the city for a book. On his way he meets the Lombardo family, including Juan as well as his two daughters, both of whom decide to pursue Almanza. Almanza is supposed to be meeting his friend Mascardi, who is a police officer, but gets distracted by having to give blood to the elderly Juan. Mascardi warns him to stay away from the Lombardos, but with two beautiful women wanting to sleep with him, it's pretty hard to heed that advice. In the meantime, Almanza takes photographs of the city and desperately waits to get paid for the assignment.
Overall, The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata is a good book, although in no way shocking with its brilliance. It was just good enough that I enjoyed it, while understanding how it has vanished from public reading over the years. Bioy Casares has an interesting and precise way of writing; he distances himself from the characters and the very limited description is very matter-of-fact. The book contains intrigue and a little mystery, as well as taking place in a setting I was not familiar with and enjoyed for that reason. The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata won't shock or surprise you, but if you manage to find a copy somewhere, it might just be worth picking up. ***
You know you're reading an uncommon book when you can't even find an image of the cover online. There are probably two reasons The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata by Adolfo Bioy Casares is so rare, and neither of them have to do with the content. First, it's a translation of a Spanish book that takes place in a city I couldn't even find on a map without googling- turns out it's the capital city of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Secondly, it was written twenty-five years ago, published in 1985, which means that if the English reading world actually did know about it at one point, it was before the internet. The most famous book by Adolfo Bioy Casares is The Invention of Morel, which is a science fiction novella I hadn't heard of either, but may try to track down at some point.
The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata is the story of Nicolas Almanza, a photographer who comes to La Plata in order to take photos of the city for a book. On his way he meets the Lombardo family, including Juan as well as his two daughters, both of whom decide to pursue Almanza. Almanza is supposed to be meeting his friend Mascardi, who is a police officer, but gets distracted by having to give blood to the elderly Juan. Mascardi warns him to stay away from the Lombardos, but with two beautiful women wanting to sleep with him, it's pretty hard to heed that advice. In the meantime, Almanza takes photographs of the city and desperately waits to get paid for the assignment.
Overall, The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata is a good book, although in no way shocking with its brilliance. It was just good enough that I enjoyed it, while understanding how it has vanished from public reading over the years. Bioy Casares has an interesting and precise way of writing; he distances himself from the characters and the very limited description is very matter-of-fact. The book contains intrigue and a little mystery, as well as taking place in a setting I was not familiar with and enjoyed for that reason. The Adventures of a Photographer in La Plata won't shock or surprise you, but if you manage to find a copy somewhere, it might just be worth picking up. ***
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