El Matadero - Esteban Echeverría

Black Cat Spanish Graded Reader (Easy Reader): El Matadero - Esteban Echeverría

Black Cat Spanish Graded Reader (Easy Reader), 96 page fully-illustrated book + audio CD. Level B1 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

Beautifully designed and illustrated easy reader complete with grammar and comprehension exercises. The text includes an introduction in accessible Spanish containing interesting facts that place the story into context as well as a glossary at the bottom of the page which explains difficult terms. The audio CD contains both a complete reading of the text by a professional narrator and a set of pronunciation exercises. The combined package of book and CD work brilliantly together to create a wonderful, captivating learning resource for intermediate level learners of Spanish.

El Matadero by Esteban Echeverría - Summary

Considered to be the first realistic story coming from the Río de la Plata, El matadero describes Argentinean society in the first decade of the 19th century. Set in the area near Buenos Aires during Lent, the story starts during a heavy downpour, which makes the use of the slaughter house – the main business of the town – impossible, and thus creates a crisis in the town. In this story, Echeverría offers a critical insight into society at that time and its principal institutions: state and church.

---

Considerado el primer cuento realista del Río de Plata, este relato describe la sociedad argentina de la primera década del siglo XIX. El autor sitúa la acción en la provincia de Buenos Aires, durante la Cuaresma. A partir de un diluvio, que afecta la economía del país, llevándolo a la crisis e imposibilitando el uso del matadero, Echeverría propone un cuadro de la sociedad de la época y critica sus instituciones (Estado e Iglesia).