Talking to Ourselves
Talking to Ourselves by Andrés Neuman, published by Pushkin in 2014, is a poignant exploration of family dynamics and personal introspection. This edition, written in English and spanning 158 pages, delves into the lives of Lito, a ten-year-old boy, and his father, Mario, who embark on a road trip in a truck named Pedro. As they travel through diverse landscapes, the narrative unfolds against the backdrop of Mario’s serious illness, intertwining themes of memory and the complexities of familial love.
Readers will encounter the distinct voices of Lito, Mario, and Elena, Lito’s mother, each representing different modes of self-communication: thought, speech, and writing. The story captures their individual struggles and the unspoken truths that shape their relationships. Through this family drama, Neuman examines the transformative nature of loss and how it influences perceptions of time and memory. The novel also reflects on the roles of reading and intimacy as forms of resistance, offering a nuanced portrayal of love, grief, and the solace found in words.
Official synopsis Publisher
A searing family drama from one of Latin America’s most original voices One trip. Two love stories. Three voices. Lito is ten years old and is almost sure he can change the weather when he concentrates very hard. His father, Mario, anxious to create a memory that will last for his son’s lifetime, takes him on a road trip in a truck called Pedro. But Lito doesn’t know that this might be their last trip: Mario is seriously ill. Together, father and son embark on travels that take them through strange georgraphies, ones that seem to unite the borders of Spanish-speaking world. In the meantime, Lito’s mother Elena looks for support in books, undertaking an adventure of her own that will challenge her moral limits. The narratives of father, mother, and son each embody one of the different ways that we talk to ourselves: through thought, speech, and writing. While neither of them dares to tell the complete truth to the other two, their solitary voices nonetheless form a poignant conversation. Sooner or later, we all face loss. Andres Neuman movingly narrates the ways the lives of those who survive loss are transformed; how that experience changes our ideas about time, memory, and our own bodies; and how the acts of reading, and of sex, can serve as powerful modes of resistance. Talking to Ourselves presents a tender yet unsentimental portrait of the workings of love and family; a reflection on death, sex, grief, and the consolation of words.
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