dedazo's Journal: RIP Mario Benedetti (1920-2009)

Mario Benedetti died yesterday in Montevideo. He was one of the giants of Spanish-language literature, and he will be missed by millions of people who loved his poetry, stories and novels.

I had the privilege of meeting Benedetti at PUC Santiago in 1989 during a cultural event, where he gave a talk on historical fiction in South American literature. I have most of his work in my bookshelf, many of them read more than once. One of my most prized possessions is an original hardcover vellum-bound edition of his Proust essays from the 1950s. Printed on rice paper! I just realized it probably jumped in value overnight :)

Benedetti's life is a curious parallel to my family's in that he was forced to leave Uruguay and settle in Argentina, effectively going from one "dirty war" to another. My grandfather did the same thing, moving from Argentina to Chile - to another sort of dirty war in which his sons were not directly or indirectly involved and therefore safe from prosecution. Benedetti was eventually chased from Argentina and ended up living in Cuba, Peru and Spain (which he probably hated for reasons other than being in exile) for a long time. I'm glad he was able to return to his country later, once Bordaberry and Bollentini and all the other idiot Italianito Carlists were removed from power.

If you've never read Benedetti, I recommend La Tregua (The Truce) as a good starting point. In the original Spanish of course, although it's not hard to find English translations. That book was made into a movie that was actually nominated for an Oscar (best foreign film, I think).

Rest in peace, Mario.