Onetti. Juan Carlos Onetti.

Ronald de Feo

Almost 40 years separates these two novels, and yet in their concerns, methods, and tone they often seem only a few years apart. Onetti established his world of hopeless dreamers and cynical losers early on in his career, when he was still in his early thirties. No Man's Land, which was first published in 1941, is set in Buenos Aires and focuses on a close-knit group of relatively young intellectuals; mostly artists and activists yet they seem to have prematurely taken on the disillusion and self-preoccupation of the middle-aged characters who will inhabit almost all of Onetti's future fiction. Although they appear to be more politically and socially active than their later burnt-out counterparts, they are equally caught up in futile pursuits and meaningless ritual. Love affairs animate their lives and often seem central to their existence;indeed, many scenes in No Man's Land take place in bedrooms but already these experiences are portrayed as sordid or doomed.