By Colm Tóibín 
My thoughts as I was reading this novel were, why is an Irish writer setting a gay coming out story in Argentina in the 1980s? And what, I asked myself, does the title mean? I came to see the setting as a metaphor for the storyline.
In the story, Richard grows up in Argentina with his British
mother. We see him discover his interest in other men at an early age, although
in the homophobic culture of Argentina, he allows his identity to be repressed,
and expresses it only in secret. This parallels his coming to political
consciousness, discovering but repressing his knowledge of the brutal
dictatorship. As Argentina slowly opens to into a liberal democracy, he finds
more room to express his sexuality, although both are distorted by links to the
past and the corruption of the present. Richard and Argentina are challenged by
an existential threat, which, in Richard’s case at least, he is able to face
through the strength of his love. The future of Argentina is less clear.
“Argentina after the humiliation of the war and the
disappearances would have done anything to please the outside world, and
privatization was the price the outside world required. Everything the country
had that was valuable would be sold and this would tie Argentina to outside
interests so that it would never be able to behave badly again.”
Is this an illuminating metaphor? It describes a combined win
and loss that the gay community took on in the 1980s, a longing for acceptance
even at the cost of what made the community unique and valuable. It also works to
clarify the situation that Richard finds himself in. Richard, like Argentina
after the dictatorship, is very passive, which makes him somewhat unattractive
as a protagonist. He hangs around in a dead-end job in his mother’s apartment
until an Argentine politico and an American couple find his translation skills
useful, and bring him into their world. He gets some money and contacts in a
corrupt system, but they allow him to create a gay identity and find a loving
partner.
Richard feels alienated and humiliated as a repressed gay
men, and he lets other people tell him what to do. Later he becomes successful,
but is sick at heart. He pays the price for letting other people control his
life. I think this is what the story of the night refers to: the survival of
gay men in the darkness of a hostile world where they cannot show themselves.
The end feels like the coming of light, although it is a compromised future
that Richard faces.
As a novel set in the gay milieu of the 1980s, the story
reflects on the devastating impact of AIDS in the characters’ lives, but it’s
interesting that it does not define them or their relationship. It’s a hurdle
to overcome, but in spite of that the story ends on a positive note of hope.
I did quite like the depictions of Richard’s life, from his
first sexual experiences to his callow youth and his later growth in maturity. The
hopefulness and the alienation seem very true to the character and situation,
and even though they were set in Argentina, I related to them as real stories.
In fact, they appear so realistic that they made me think that Tóibín must have
spent some time there, although his bio doesn’t refer to any time in Argentina.
While wishing that Richard was not so passive, I also found his story offered
insight into gay life in a certain time and place.
I also admire Tóibín’s writing. It’s very descriptive and
creates an atmosphere that is easy to imagine. I come away with very clear
pictures of Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and the other settings in the story. I’ve
no idea how these images resonate with an actual Argentinian, but for me they
make the story real and relatable.
