THE SHIPYARD

by Juan Carlos Onetti ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 1968

The Shipyard is a decadent allegory of despair and decay written by a Uruguayan who has previously been published in Europe. In a slow, precise cadence, it tells the story of what happens to one Larsen, an enigmatic figure who returns to the town of Santa Maria after a five year exile. Larsen is five years away from a pinnacle he never achieved and he attempts now to grasp and maintain a new, secure level. But he finds himself trapped in an arena of dreams and self-delusion when he takes a job as the General Manager of a bankrupt shipyard which had once been the thriving enterprise of the community. There is madness in the games of the aging owner who has given himself over to the comfortable pretense and there is madness in his daughter, Angelica, an adult idiot child whom Larsen pretends to court. Somewhere there is the illusion of a fortune in inheritance, the dynamics of big business but the dream surpasses the reality of deserted dusty corridors and impending old age. Interesting, as the treadmill of meaningless forms and motions moves to the inevitable, futile ending. However the audience may be vitiated by the relative inertia of the proceedings.

Pub Date: April 25, 1968

ISBN: 1852424818

Page Count: -

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION