Ghosts, originally known as Los Fantasmas (Literally translated as The Phantoms) is a 1990 novel by César Aira.
Ghosts takes place in an unfinished luxury apartment complex in Buenos Aires that is shared by a family of squatters and a cadre of ghosts that haunt its floors. While most of the construction workers and family members react to the ghosts with detachment, the family's teenage daughter becomes fixated on the specters. As the story weaves away and back again towards the date set for the opening of the apartment complex, the daughter's obsession with the ghosts becomes more complex and nefarious, and ultimately threatens her life.
Should not be confused with the novel Ghosts (1993) by John Banville.
This book provides examples of:
- Allegory: The story is an explicit one on materialism and class.
- Invisible to Normals: Everyone knows that the ghosts are there, but Elisa and Patri are the only ones, who can see them.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Almost everyone treats the ghosts as this, except for the teenage daughter.
