El préstamo de la difunta

Escrito por Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

Narrado por Rafael Baena Zapatero

"El préstamo de la difunta" narra la historia de Rosalindo Ovejero, un arriero pobre de un valle de los Andes argentinos que, por un incidente en Salta, debe huir cruzando la Punta de Atacama hasta las minas de sal de Chile. En su camino, adquiere una deuda con una difunta, que vendrá a reclamársela apareciéndosele meses después. El relato no solo resulta interesante por lo que cuenta sino por cómo lo cuenta y por el trasfondo que dibuja, desde las tradiciones andinas, al sincretismo cultural y religioso de los protagonistas. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez nunca deja un estilo de narración realista, pero según avanza la historia va recogiendo elementos sobrenaturales que ha ido sembrando en el relato, para terminar sumergiendo al lector en las ensoñaciones del protagonista. Una historia terrorífica y divertida a la vez.

Diseño de portada: David Rubiales Suárez.

"El préstamo de la difunta" tells the story of Rosalindo Ovejero, a poor muleteer from a valley in the Argentine Andes who, due to an incident in Salta, must flee across the Punta de Atacama to the salt mines of Chile. On his way, he acquires a debt with a deceased woman, who will come to claim it, appearing to him months later. The story is not only interesting for what it tells but also for how it tells it and for the background it draws, from the Andean traditions to the cultural and religious syncretism of the protagonists. Vicente Blasco Ibáñez never leaves a realistic narrative style, but as the story progresses he picks up supernatural elements that he has been sowing in the story, to end up immersing the reader in the protagonist's reverie. A terrifying and funny story at the same time.

Cover art design: David Rubiales Suárez.

• Idioma: Español
• Editorial: Encrucijada Editorial, S.L.U.
• Fecha de lanzamiento: 29 oct 2023
• ISBN: 9798868780424

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (1867-1928) was a Spanish novelist, journalist, and political activist. Born in Valencia, he studied law at university, graduating in 1888. As a young man, he founded the newspaper El Pueblo and gained a reputation as a militant Republican. After a series of court cases over his controversial publication, he was arrested in 1896 and spent several months in prison. A staunch opponent of the Spanish monarchy, he worked as a proofreader for Filipino nationalist José Rizal’s groundbreaking novel Noli Me Tangere (1887). Blasco Ibáñez’s first novel, The Black Spider (1892), was a pointed critique of the Jesuit order and its influence on Spanish life, but his first major work, Airs and Graces (1894), came two years later. For the next decade, his novels showed the influence of Émile Zola and other leading naturalist writers, whose attention to environment and social conditions produced work that explored the struggles of working-class individuals. His late career, characterized by romance and adventure, proved more successful by far. Blood and Sand (1908), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1916), and Mare Nostrum (1918) were all adapted into successful feature length films by such directors as Fred Niblo and Rex Ingram.