Publication
Planeta Publishing (2006), 287 pages
Original publication date
1976
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Description
In an Argentine prison, the growing friendship between a thirty-seven-year-old homosexual, Molina, and a young Marxist, Valentin, is threatened when police officials start pressuring Molina to spy against Valentin.
User reviews
LibraryThing member soniaandree
The storyline is very gripping: two political prisoners in an unknown Latin-American jail are forging an unlikely friendship amongst a background of torture, poisoning and psychological pressures. The fantastic background story is only an expression to one of the protagonist's fantasies. Readable,
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without being patronizing and intellectual, this book will be suitable for everyone and also for students who are interested in gender/queer studies. Show Less
LibraryThing member GlebtheDancer
Kiss of the Spider Woman is an unusual book, told only in dialogue, without any pointer text ('he said', 'she said' etc). It is almost entirely made up of conversations between two prisoners, Valentin and Molina. Valentin is a left-wing revolutionary, imprisoned as a terrorist, Molina is a
I thought that this book was great. The device of only using dialogue was not remotely disorientating, and gave a cramped claustrophobic feeling to the writing that reinforced the conditions the two men found themselves in. It was as if Puig described nothing because there was nothing to describe, just the same four walls and ceiling. But the book's strength was really in the relationship between the two characters. Born out of necessity, their friendship is awkward and forced, as each keeps the lid on the excesses of their personalities for the sake of the other. Eventually, something beautiful arises between them, a communion of minds that couldn't occur in any other situation. The last two pages were some of the most beautiful prose I could remember reading for a long time, and completely blew me away. Be warned though, some of the text is fairly dense, and the conclusion is ambiguous and obscure, which may not provide the sort of pat finish some readers may look for.
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homosexual, convicted of corrupting a minor. Molina keeps Valentin entertained by recounting the plots of films he watched on the outside. Molina is an aesthete, preferring ideals of beauty to ideas of right and wrong. Valentin is the opposite, seeing everything through the filter of his ideology. The two have an uneasy relationship, but a friendship of sorts is forged in the cell and, by the end of the book, each has taken on aspects of the other's personality, with serious repercussions for both men. I thought that this book was great. The device of only using dialogue was not remotely disorientating, and gave a cramped claustrophobic feeling to the writing that reinforced the conditions the two men found themselves in. It was as if Puig described nothing because there was nothing to describe, just the same four walls and ceiling. But the book's strength was really in the relationship between the two characters. Born out of necessity, their friendship is awkward and forced, as each keeps the lid on the excesses of their personalities for the sake of the other. Eventually, something beautiful arises between them, a communion of minds that couldn't occur in any other situation. The last two pages were some of the most beautiful prose I could remember reading for a long time, and completely blew me away. Be warned though, some of the text is fairly dense, and the conclusion is ambiguous and obscure, which may not provide the sort of pat finish some readers may look for.
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LibraryThing member sedeara
First off, I really, REALLY loved this book. I got it through paperbackswap.com, and I can't for the life of me figure out why the person who had it before got rid of it. I'm not parting with this book, EVER.
The story follows two cellmates, one in jail for being part of a political uprising,
Molina, one of the cellmates, loves movies, so he passes the time for both of them by relating the plots of movies in detail to his cellmate. These movies become a vehicle for the characters to talk about other things and reveal information about themselves and move the plot along. Once in a while the movie descriptions feel like they get a little long. The book is also peppered with footnotes, mainly academic footnotes explaining various theories of homosexuality. I could never quite make sense of these footnotes--I wasn't sure if they were somehow supposed to relate to the plot, or whether they were there because Manuel was writing at a time when homosexual characters were rare in literature and he felt that in order to justify the presence of Molina, he had to explain to his audience what homosexuality was all about. :: shrug ::
Anyway, a really, really beautiful book. ****.5
"The kind of woman who is most in need of liberation, and desperately so, is the "woman" which every man keeps locked inside the dungeons of his own psyche. Roszak points out that this and no other is the form of repression that needs to be eliminated next, and the same with respect to the man bottled up inside of every woman. Furthermore, Roszak has no doubt that all of the above would represent the most cataclysmic reinterpretation of sexual life in the history of humanity, inasmuch as it would involve a restructuring of all that concerns sexual roles and concepts of sexual normality that are currently in force." - footnote to Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
The story follows two cellmates, one in jail for being part of a political uprising,
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another for being gay and engaging in sexual activity with a minor. Almost the whole story is told in dialogue between the cellmates, with not a word of exposition or description. There are a couple things that are really amazing about Manuel's technique here. One is that he manages to convey EVERYTHING through dialogue alone--the setting, what the characters are doing, how they're feeling. The second is that even though the dialogue has to carry such a heavy load, not ONCE does it sound strained or unbelievable. There was not a single moment when I had trouble "hearing" what was being said.Molina, one of the cellmates, loves movies, so he passes the time for both of them by relating the plots of movies in detail to his cellmate. These movies become a vehicle for the characters to talk about other things and reveal information about themselves and move the plot along. Once in a while the movie descriptions feel like they get a little long. The book is also peppered with footnotes, mainly academic footnotes explaining various theories of homosexuality. I could never quite make sense of these footnotes--I wasn't sure if they were somehow supposed to relate to the plot, or whether they were there because Manuel was writing at a time when homosexual characters were rare in literature and he felt that in order to justify the presence of Molina, he had to explain to his audience what homosexuality was all about. :: shrug ::
Anyway, a really, really beautiful book. ****.5
"The kind of woman who is most in need of liberation, and desperately so, is the "woman" which every man keeps locked inside the dungeons of his own psyche. Roszak points out that this and no other is the form of repression that needs to be eliminated next, and the same with respect to the man bottled up inside of every woman. Furthermore, Roszak has no doubt that all of the above would represent the most cataclysmic reinterpretation of sexual life in the history of humanity, inasmuch as it would involve a restructuring of all that concerns sexual roles and concepts of sexual normality that are currently in force." - footnote to Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig
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LibraryThing member LynnB
Years ago, I feel asleep during the movie version of Kiss of the Spider Woman. Somehow, though, I knew there was a great story there.
Two men, Molina and Valentin, share a prison cell in Argentina. Molina, who is gay, is serving 8 years for "corruption of a minor" and Valentin is a political
The author makes these three styles work together to allow us to understand the two main characters and the strong bonds developing between them. As the story evolves, so does their relationship. The dialogue is true and realistic. This is a story about acceptance and loyalty. Excellent writing, great story.
Two men, Molina and Valentin, share a prison cell in Argentina. Molina, who is gay, is serving 8 years for "corruption of a minor" and Valentin is a political
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prisoner. The story unfolds mainly through conversations they have. The author has interrupted the dialogue with the retelling of movie plots by Molina to Valentin -- this is something the two men do to relax, to avoid thinking about darker issues. And, there are a series of footnotes, most of which explain various theories of homosexuality.The author makes these three styles work together to allow us to understand the two main characters and the strong bonds developing between them. As the story evolves, so does their relationship. The dialogue is true and realistic. This is a story about acceptance and loyalty. Excellent writing, great story.
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LibraryThing member Helenliz
I really don't know what to make of this. I particularly don't know what to make of the extensive footnotes describing the basis of homosexuality.
The two protagonists seem to have been brought together by random chance, but we discover that's not the case. Molina, it turns out, is a grass, tasked
The two protagonists seem to have been brought together by random chance, but we discover that's not the case. Molina, it turns out, is a grass, tasked
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with finding out information about Valentin in exchange for parole. But is it that simple? I'm not sure. Especially with what happens at the end, I'm not sure who is using who, who is trapped in who's web. Show Less
LibraryThing member orchid314
A beautifully written story about two men--one straight, one gay--who share a cell as prisoners during the Argentine military dictatorship in the early 1970s, and the relationship that develops between them. If you can, try to read it in Spanish, because the English translation is quite clunky and
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doesn't begin to capture the quicksilver nature of Puig's prose. The book is much better than the movie made of it in the 1980s. Show Less
LibraryThing member whernanm
A different book where you can find very entertaining stories within the principal plot which turns to be not as interesting. A political prisoner and a gay who share the same prison, tell their dreams and narrate movies. In the book there is still room for notes about homosexualism from a
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psychological view. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
The story of two men in a prison in Argentina. One Molina who is there for sexual crimes and Valentin, there for Marxist revolutionary activity. The story starts with another story; the story of the Panther woman. During the imprisonment, Molino tells Valentin various film stories; The Panther
First Sentence: --Something a little strange, that’s what you notice, that she’s not a woman like all others.
Quotes:
“In a man’s life, which may be short and may be long, everything is temporary, nothing is forever.”
“It’s a question of learning to accept things as they come, and to appreciate the good that happens to you, even if it doesn’t last. Because nothing is forever.”
Last words: “No, Valentin, beloved, that will never take place, because this dream is short but this dream is happy.”
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woman, the Leni the spy, the Spinster, the Ugly Maid, and Zombie Woman, and last the Singer. Structure wise, this is a uniquely written book. The author tells it with dialogue, using -- to indicate a change in speaker. He also uses the subplots with the various movies and he also uses footnotes both actual (Freud and not factual, Taub). There is also italicized words that represent stream of conscious.First Sentence: --Something a little strange, that’s what you notice, that she’s not a woman like all others.
Quotes:
“In a man’s life, which may be short and may be long, everything is temporary, nothing is forever.”
“It’s a question of learning to accept things as they come, and to appreciate the good that happens to you, even if it doesn’t last. Because nothing is forever.”
Last words: “No, Valentin, beloved, that will never take place, because this dream is short but this dream is happy.”
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LibraryThing member curious_squid
Totally unexpected. From the title (because that's a fabulous way to judge a book) I assumed it was some sort of Suspense, Noir, Mystery book.
Not even close. I enjoyed it but I am miffed at how it is a musical...can't even imagine how anyone would think of turning it into one, or what there is to
Not even close. I enjoyed it but I am miffed at how it is a musical...can't even imagine how anyone would think of turning it into one, or what there is to
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sing and dance about. I may just have to check it out to see. Show Less
LibraryThing member jonbrammer
The structure of this book is fascinating: long passages of dialogue interspersed with retellings of movie plots, along with stream of consciousness jags and footnotes detailing modern psychological views on gender and homosexuality. It is a novel that tries to encompass multiple modes of telling.
Valentin says something simple and profound towards the end of the story:
"It's a question of learning to accept things as they come, and to appreciate the good that happens to you, even if it doesn't last. Because nothing is forever."
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It is interesting that the details of the two main characters' crimes never really come to light - we don't understand much about the political situation or Molina's crime. It is almost as if the two men are on an island where their respective pasts are seen from a blurry distance, and that all that matters is love and forgiveness. Valentin says something simple and profound towards the end of the story:
"It's a question of learning to accept things as they come, and to appreciate the good that happens to you, even if it doesn't last. Because nothing is forever."
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Language
Original language
Spanish
ISBN
8432217271 / 9788432217272
Physical description
287 p.; 4.9 inches
Pages
287