The Winners (novel)

The Winners
First edition
AuthorJulio Cortázar
Original titleLos premios
TranslatorElaine Kerrigan
LanguageSpanish
PublisherSudamericana
Publication date1960
Publication placeArgentina
Published in English
1965
Media typePrint (Paperback)

The Winners (Spanish: Los premios) is a novel by Julio Cortázar published in 1960. It was his first published novel (though not the first novel he wrote) and was also the first of his books to be published in English in its entirety.

Plot

The winners of a state lottery, a cross section of the citizens of Buenos Aires, have received tickets for a mysterious luxury cruise. Summoned to meet in a popular café and escorted under the cover of darkness to the secret location of their ship, they embark without knowing where they are headed. Within hours the ship stops; the passengers are informed that a disease has broken out among the crew and that they will be confined to a small section of the ship. In suspense, the passengers mull over their pasts and the future, form attachments and suspicions, tell secrets, explore desires. While some of them merely accept their confinement, others are increasingly driven to confront the crew, leading to an outbreak of violence.

Writing and publication

The novel was published in France under the name Les Gagnants in 1961.

It was published in English (translated by Elaine Kerrigan) in 1965 by Pantheon Books in the US. A UK edition was published in the 1980s by Allison & Busby.

The book was reprinted in 1999 as part of the inaugural catalogue of New York Review Books.

References

  1. ↑ Vidal, Juan (30 August 2014). "Hopscotching To 100: An Appreciation Of Julio Cortázar". NPR. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  2. ↑ Chapman, Arnold (1 March 1985). "Julio Cortázar's First Bow in English: The Winners and the American Press". Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures. 39 (1): 19–37. doi:10.1080/00397709.1985.10733576. ISSN 0039-7709. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Julio Cortázar: Los premios (The Winners)". The Modern Novel. Retrieved 30 October 2026.
  4. ↑ King, John (1985). "The Latin American Novel in Translation: Mapping the Field". Bulletin of Latin American Research. 4 (2): 129.
  5. ↑ Mantell, Suzanne (7 June 1999). "'NYRB' Launches Book Imprint". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.


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