The Winners (novel)

The Winners  
Author(s) Julio Cortázar
Original title Los premios
Translator Elaine Kerrigan
Country Argentina
Language Spanish
Genre(s) Novel
Publication date 1960
Published in
English
1965
Media type Print (Paperback)

The Winners (Spanish: Los premios) is a novel by Julio Cortázar published in 1960.

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. But as some of them merely accept their confinement, others are increasingly driven to confront the crew, leading to an outbreak of violence that seems both inevitable and pointless.