i look into the night and have the following feeling: the vertigo of peril
after stepping down from the dais that fateful january day (some seven a
i look into the night and have the following feeling: the vertigo of peril
after stepping down from the dais that fateful january day (some seven and a half horrifyingly long years ago), george w bush was overheard by at least three people to have commented on trump's inauguration: "that was some weird shit." after concluding juan emar's ten (diez), i was reminded of his canny quip.
originally published some eighty-seven years ago (in 1937, two years after his funtastic debut novel, ayer (yesterday)), the pseudonymous chilean author's only story collection is an uneven descent into avant-garde experimentalism. divided into four parts: "four animals," "three women," "two places," and "one vice," emar's short fiction is at times most impressive and, at others, nearly indecipherable. a few characters appear and reappear in several stories (as does the author himself), but there is otherwise no link between the tales, save for emar's idiosyncratic imagination. despite ten's inconsistency, a few of the stories are quite extraordinary: "damned cat" and "the trained dog" stand out, but, most especially "the green bird," the book's first entry and by far its most dastardly entertaining.
"this dread was in turn a deeper and more distant echo. dread born not, like the former, of a sudden instant, but slowly incubated by the stupefying life of the sex within you. dread at the mystery of that sensitivity, that movement, which cannot be fully described as 'i'; which, fearful and disturbed, we call 'it.' terror that—dozing, almost latent—remains by our side in life, making us vaguely ponder a strange duality, at times accepted, at others denied. dread made pact. permanent dread. dread of what our destiny, thus coupled, must be."
*translated from the spanish by megan mcdowell (enríquez, schweblin, zambra, meruane, fonseca, et al.)
one of the firemen went into the office and came out with a bag: he smiled at me as if he was carrying a bologna sandwich.
an electrifying, bizarre
one of the firemen went into the office and came out with a bag: he smiled at me as if he was carrying a bologna sandwich.
an electrifying, bizarre, genre-shifting collection of seven stupendous stories, liliana colanzi’s you glow in the dark (ustedes brillan en el oscuro) is like reading with one hand fixed upon a plasma globe. the bolivian author (and 2017 bogotá39 honoree)’s short fiction melds reality with a dark luminescence all her own. in colanzi’s realms, a thrum of the foreboding and the sinister resonates with a tone and timbre just a shade brighter than terror itself — yet she somehow manages to infuse it all with a balancing lilt (which may well but the opening hum of a siren song). the second of her story collections to be appear in english [after our dead world (nuestro mundo muerto)], you glow in the dark is as disorienting as it is sober. it’s wild, it’s weird, and it’s altogether wondrous (to say nothing of the nonchalant humor that hits like an unexpected side effect after you’ve already swallowed the plenty-potent dose).
“the cave” and the title story are the most rewarding, but each offers an uncommon and compelling magnetism.
are we afraid of cancer? listen, the police are going to take us out before the cancer does.
*translated from the spanish by chris andrews (bolaño, aira, et al.)
a solid, satisfying collection of horror and dark unusuality, each story inhabits its own singular realm of the blackly fantastical. enríquez’s “that summer in the dark” and ojeda’s “soroche” scream loudest.
the city was small but it seemed huge to us, mostly because of the cathedral, monumental and dark, that loomed over the plaza like a gigantic crow.
*translated from the spanish by sarah moses, megan mcdowell, sarah booker & noelle de la paz, ellen jones, tim gutteridge, joel streicker, joaquín gavilano, lisa dillman, julia sanches & johanna warren, and kit maude / edited by sarah coolidge...more
the circus is the world condensed. like condensed milk — kind of artificial, but much sweeter. us folk learn to laugh. learn to laugh to combat the
the circus is the world condensed. like condensed milk — kind of artificial, but much sweeter. us folk learn to laugh. learn to laugh to combat the pain.
the eighth of josé eduardo agualusa’s books to appear in english translation, a practical guide to levitation is the first to collect the angolan author’s short fiction. offering thirty stories (many drawn from his 2005 collection, manual prático de levitação), a practical guide to levitation contains writing smart, funny, lively, and occasionally doleful. agualusa flirts with magical realism, but mythologizes a realm all his own. though most of the stories are but a few pages in length, they’re long on perspicacity, playfulness, and prodigious imagination. “borges in hell,” “how sweet it is to die in the sea,” “k40,” “the interpreter of birds,” “on the perils of laughter,” and “the outrageous baobab” are among the collection’s finest entries (though there really isn’t a single weak one). agualusa is always an absolute delight to read!
“there’s so much scrub in you, you can no longer even see the road.”
*translated from the portuguese by daniel hahn (halfon, tavares, saramago, millás, villalobos, saavedra, et al.)
he has seen, materialized in painful illusions, memories of a happiness that should not resurge from the nothingness it imprisons itself in.
urugua
he has seen, materialized in painful illusions, memories of a happiness that should not resurge from the nothingness it imprisons itself in.
uruguayan author horacio quiroga was so surrounded by tragedy and loss — his father was killed by gunfire, his stepfather shot himself, he accidentally shot a friend, his wife and both children committed suicide, and he himself would drink cyanide to end his suffering from cancer — that it's no wonder his fiction was so filled with death (and madness). beyond (más allá), quiroga's last book, was published in 1935 (he passed in '37) and collects eleven stories. most of the stories contain elements of death, suicide, madness, accidents, ghosts, and other darkly tinged themes, while a couple, however surprisingly, focus on love and romance. much of quiroga's writing is set within the jungle (where he often lived), shading his tales with an awe for nature and a yearning/sympathy for the living world (despite the brutal, sometimes hallucinatory aspects of his work).
despite penning over a dozen books (with stories being taught in argentine primary schools), much of quiroga's work remains sadly untranslated into english. another collection, the decapitated chicken and other stories, includes tales from throughout his career and offers, overall, a better scope of his talents. beyond's strongest entries are "the son" (the only story also included in the decapitated chicken), "the express train conductor," "the call," and the collection's title story.
the first (and heretofore only untranslated one) of five short stories included in cortázar's third collection, 1959's las armas secretas (secret weapthe first (and heretofore only untranslated one) of five short stories included in cortázar's third collection, 1959's las armas secretas (secret weapons), "letters from mom (cartas de mamá)" is a tale of (unresolved) grief, (unspoken) guilt, and epistolary unease — published as a handsome standalone by seattle's sublunary editions. slim but mighty, "letters from mom" limns the boundary between remembrance and forgetting, shining just enough light to espy the ever-present specter of past-not-past.
what he had understood as pain was now revealed to him as something else, something that held a rancorous mistrust, the expression of an animal that feels it's going to be abandoned in a vacant lot far from home, to be got rid of.
*translated from the spanish by magdalena edwards (lispector, parra, jaffe, et al.)...more
literature is always an expedition in search of truth. we approach truth, we try to fence it off, we write, giving order on paper to our ideas, to
literature is always an expedition in search of truth. we approach truth, we try to fence it off, we write, giving order on paper to our ideas, to ourselves, and as a result we exist. we approach truth through someone who writes, but who's moving just as we are on a genuinely endless voyage, since truth is literature itself, both the end and the means, which is perpetually moving and we, poor unfortunates, can only hope to be kafka's insignificant, humble successors.
divided into two parts — "far from the irish sea" and "autobiography of someone else" — carlos maleno's the irish sea (mar de irlanda) collects a dozen short stories, six in each portion. the first section contains linked tales of hallucinatory grief, sorrowful obsession, and anguished ingenuity, with the second offering more standalone-ish but equally engaging entries. the spanish author's strange and superb writing flows over with literary allusions, as well as an existential resignation. the book's first half is relentlessly tantalizing, full as it is of disorienting irreality and an impressive approximation of the mental/emotional toll of loss in all of its depersonalizing rationalizations and reconstructions. a wild ride from a thrilling imagination.
*translated from the spanish by eric kurtzke (maleno's the endless rose)...more
their principle dogma is that if earth is flat, and if the garden of delights that is the world is a reflection of the same formula on which the re
their principle dogma is that if earth is flat, and if the garden of delights that is the world is a reflection of the same formula on which the rest of the universe is modeled, then earth must exist for the benefit of something else. like sustenance. earth as a host wafer, a tortilla, a cracker traveling through the universe, just awaiting an encounter with the mouth of the creator. and we are what imparts the flavor. earth, to them, is concrete proof of divine cosmic pleasure.
with three of yuri herrera's novels and a non-fiction work already available in english translation, a collection of short stories is a most welcome addition. ten planets (diez planetas) features twenty stories from the talented mexican author, ranging in length from two to eleven pages. quite the departure from his earlier books, ten planets finds herrera orbiting a richly imagined milieu earthbound and beyond. science fictiony and other worldly (and indeed inhabiting realms familiar to both borges and calvino), the stories within ten planets further display the broad range of herrera's talent and inventiveness. while many of the pieces could have benefited from a longer treatment, each offers something to marvel over — with perhaps "the cosmonaut" shining brightest of the bunch.
*translated from the spanish by lisa dillman (barba, quintana, halfon, del árbol, et al.)
other people can boast all they like about having read don quixote. i can say i studied with him.
an uneven yet still intriguing selection of seven sho
other people can boast all they like about having read don quixote. i can say i studied with him.
an uneven yet still intriguing selection of seven short stories, rodrigo blanco calderón's sacrifices (los terneros) is the venezuelan writer's second book rendered into english (after the night). the bogotá39 (2007) author's stories range in scope, but each focus on an outsider character of one sort or another, most tinged with the darkness of modern-day reality (the dictatorial and political history of venezuela looms large in some; the 2015 bataclan terrorist attack is the background of another). blanco calderón's short fiction has a sketch-like quality, offering glimpses into moments plucked from a larger scene, like tavern-told tales recounted out of phase, with enough detail, exposition, and revelation to keep you curiously engaged but not wholly convinced. sacrifices's strongest selections are "the mad people of paris" and "the new dialogue of the dogs."
*translated from the spanish by thomas bunstead (halfon, millás, villoro, gainza, fernández mallo, et al.)...more
they part who exchange promises of eternity as surely as they who have the honesty to remain silent. last year's beloveds are the same as this year
they part who exchange promises of eternity as surely as they who have the honesty to remain silent. last year's beloveds are the same as this year's. it is only the lovers who have changed. love is constant, only the lovers change. i sometimes picture the whole thing as a great game of musical chairs. when the music stops, a few, very few unfortunate ones, cannot continue in the game; the rest find a place to sit before the music starts again. in the scramble, of course, there are bruised knees and hearts, even an assault or a murder, and literature is composed of these casualties but usually one chair is as good as another.
comprised of the titular novel, 15 short stories, and a single playscript, a ballet of lepers is the second posthumous collection of writing by canadian singer-songwriter and author leonard cohen — following 2018's the flame. written between 1956 and 1961, when cohen was in his early and mid-twenties, these previously unpublished pieces find the young wordsmith exploring themes that would later define both his poetry and music, including sex and romantical yearning, individuality and life without limitation, violence and brutality. cohen's black humor is present throughout and a certain youthful vigor (that matured into a sagely enlightenment over the decades to come) lend these early writings a perhaps less-perfected quality when compared to his exacting, precise lyrical compositions. "a ballet of lepers" is the book's strongest and most impressive entry, but several of the stories — including "saint jig," "signals," "polly," and "mister euemer episodes" — are excellent. ...more
her second story collection (and fourth book overall) translated into english, samanta schweblin's seven empty
"what kind of madness was all that?"
her second story collection (and fourth book overall) translated into english, samanta schweblin's seven empty houses (siete casas vacías), published in its original spanish in 2015, offers seven new tales disquieting and unsettling. six short stories and a longer 80-page one, seven empty houses finds the berlin-based, buenos aires-born, booker-beloved author once again flirting with the fringes of irreality.
while none of the new stories quite match the tenor, tension, or terror of fever dream, each nestles squarely into the strange milieu that has become schweblin's sweet spot. "none of that" and "breath from the depths" are the standouts, but each of the seven amply demonstrates schweblin's talents. hopefully her 2002 debut collection, el núcleo del disturbio, is rendered soon as well.
*translated from the spanish by megan mcdowell (zambra, enríquez, meruane, fonseca, emar, et al.)...more
faced with whatever happens, the world is impassive, no matter how unusual, horrible, or cruel it may be. the world, from this perspective, doesn't
faced with whatever happens, the world is impassive, no matter how unusual, horrible, or cruel it may be. the world, from this perspective, doesn't really have much to do with us at all.
the fourth of sara mesa's books rendered into english, bad handwriting (mala letra) is the first to feature her short fiction. offering eleven stories in a vein similar to her phenomenal full-length novels (four by four, among the hedges, scar), the spanish author's new collection distills her many talents into a more concentrated form.
mesa, with subtle ambiguity and dark insinuations, writes with a verve all her own. deftly exploring the fringes of acceptability, tussling with taboos, and utterly upending expectations, mesa is like an unabashed and astute social critic happy — even eager — to engage with subjects most would just as soon leave alone. therein lies the magnificence of mesa's writing: her topical intrepidity, her emotional acumen, and her uncanny aptitude for forcing a reader's (perhaps uncomfortable) confrontation with their own assumptions and biases.
all eleven stories in bad handwriting shine in their own way, but "mármol,"just a few millimeters," "'creamy milk and crunchy chocolate,'" "white people," and "what is going on with us" are simply exceptional.
sara mesa is crafting some of the finest fiction of our forlorn, fractured age. read every single thing she writes.
*translated from the spanish by katie whittemore (serena, agirre, moreno, coll, et al.)...more
the heart, a trawl net in deep waters, hunts without knowing what it's caught: equal things in different places or different things in the same pla
the heart, a trawl net in deep waters, hunts without knowing what it's caught: equal things in different places or different things in the same places.
the first book from peruvian writer katya adaui to appear in english, here be icebergs (aquí hay icebergs) is a collection of a dozen short stories, most about familial dysfunction (and several with dead fathers). indifference, longing, guilt and blame, disappointment, humiliation, loss, and other such dynamics populate adaui's stories, where even the daily and the mundane reveal the betrayals, dissatisfactions, and hidden violences of family relations. "seven waves," "this is the man," "alaska," and "the hunger artist" are the best of the bunch.
i read; it's the same as running away. i find a spot. my bed. the treehouse. eighty days around the world. a room of one's own. and if i don't understand what i read (this happens a lot), i seethe.
*translated from the spanish by rosalind harvey (villalobos, nettel, vila-matas, et al.)...more
peruvian-born, norwegian-based author claudia ulloa donoso was included on the (second) bogotá39 list of promising young latin american writers (alongperuvian-born, norwegian-based author claudia ulloa donoso was included on the (second) bogotá39 list of promising young latin american writers (along with the likes of valeria luiselli, samanta schweblin, laia jufresa, brenda lozano, and others). in her first story collection to appear in english, little bird (pajarito), ulloa donoso offers thirty short tales daydreamy, wondrous, sometimes somber, and occasionally magical. with a seemingly autobiographical or diaristic bent to her fiction, ulloa donoso lends her varied stories a vulnerability, innate curiosity, and rich imagination.
i've decided to stop writing. my books are in every bookstore in the country, but i live alone and i drink too much. i eat out of cans, and i smoke more than ever. some people might find this bohemian. they might think it helps me pick up women, or sell books, but the truth is, i'm a sad son of a bitch. all i want is to go back to my old ways. i want to do the things i did before i started to write. collect screws, for example.
but maybe what i was feeling was that strange sensation, so very contemporary, that sort of code of our time besieged by images and violence, or by
but maybe what i was feeling was that strange sensation, so very contemporary, that sort of code of our time besieged by images and violence, or by the violence of images: the sensation, derived from uncertainty, that everything could be fiction or, which is worse, that everything could be true.
a collection of nine new stories (originally published in 2019), juan gabriel vásquez's songs for the flames (canciones para el incendio) finds the talented colombian author offering more of this trademark fictional fusion of entangled history, memory, violence, reconstituted autobiography, and excavatory sleuthing. vásquez's tales are taut, impassioned, and marked by a mixture of sorrow, longing, and reckoning. the legacy of time elapsed and reverberations of the past inform the lives of vásquez's characters, rendering them lifelike, more as subjects in a documentarian's recounting than imaginary people in a made-up story. vásquez writes beautifully and his fiction is always both edifying and engrossing. while each of the nine stories in songs for the flames stands well on its own, "woman on the riverbank," "bad news," and the title story (which is perhaps more novella-like) burn brightest.
...because this is the only consolation we have, the children of this inflamed country, condemned as we are to remember and investigate and lament, and then to compose songs for the flames.
*translated from the spanish by anne mclean (vila-matas, cercas, cortázar, rosero, et al.)...more
debut story collections don't come any finer than maría ospina's variations on the body (azares de cueroi). the colombian author's first work of fictidebut story collections don't come any finer than maría ospina's variations on the body (azares de cueroi). the colombian author's first work of fiction contains six short pieces, each unique and memorable in their own way. with colombian women as her protagonists, ospina's leads yearn at the margins, crave connection, discover and explore their own agency, and seek growth, change, or amelioration of their outsider status.
ospina writes with poise, profundity, and enviable emotional intelligence. her characters, perfectly imperfect, are imbued with authenticity and the cunning wherewithal to navigate a senseless world of violence, disregard, and neglect. variations on the body is an outstanding collection of short fiction and maría ospina is definitely a writer to watch (and await more from). "policarpa" and "occasion" are the best of the six.
when she reached that age of abstract yearnings that concentrate in and cloud the body, not long after she moved to the united states with her parents, aurora used to scrape the bottom of her yogurt cup in desperation, ashamed of her desire for so much more when it was clear there was nothing left, sensing that her distress meant something else, something wretched and essential she couldn't put into words.
*translated from the spanish by heather cleary (chejfec, larraquy, girondo, bellatin, et al.)
along with the original bogotá39 list (2007), granta's 2010 best young spanish-language novelists issue (a new collection is forthcoming this year) haalong with the original bogotá39 list (2007), granta's 2010 best young spanish-language novelists issue (a new collection is forthcoming this year) has proven to be the one of the most impressive resources for english readers looking to immerse themselves in new fiction from latin america and spain.
at long last, argentine author federico falco (included on the granta list) finally has a full-length work in translation. a perfect cemetery (un cementerio perfecto) is a 2016 collection of five stories, several of which are much longer than traditional short stories (thankfully so). with confident prose, storytelling verve, and remarkable consideration for both character and landscape, falco writes impressively well. though plights of fancy embroil each of falco's characters, they are conveyed with a compassion and authenticity that make them seem utterly lifelike.
a perfect cemetery is a solid collection of short fiction and the first three entries, "the hares," "silvi and her dark night" (finalist for the garcía márquez short story prize), and the title story, are the work's strongest. hopefully falco's three other story collections will soon be rendered into english, along with his two novels, one of which, los llanos, was recently a finalist for the prestigious herralde prize (in 2020).
you'll see what i mean down the road, he said. it's all a matter of time. you'll see.
*translated from the spanish (and afterworded) by jennifer croft (tokarczuk, et al.)...more
our actions in life are not many. and then one day it's all over.
collecting three longish short stories (one of which appeared previously in the n
our actions in life are not many. and then one day it's all over.
collecting three longish short stories (one of which appeared previously in the new yorker under a different name), sevastopol (sebastopol) is the first book-length work from brazilian writer emilio fraia to appear in english. each of the book's stories, "december," "may," and "august," though otherwise unconnected, convey a personal tale of loss, resignation, memory, change, and perhaps a frustrated yet ultimately undefeated hope. fraia is a talented storyteller (as evidenced by the tales his main characters tell too) and reading sevastopol is like listening to a friend relate a recent anecdote interesting in and of itself, but all the more so because it's told with a certain emotional weight or earned wisdom that makes you feel fortunate to hear it in the first place.
fraia has (so far) written three books (this being his third), including a co-written novel and a graphic novel. too, he was included in granta's best young brazilian writers issue (2012).
if you don't think, it's nothing much. it mostly comes from thinking.
*translated from the portuguese by zoë perry (souza leão, coelho, et al.)
as with her first story collection translated into english, things we lost in the fire, mariana enríquez's the dangers of smoking in bed (los peligrosas with her first story collection translated into english, things we lost in the fire, mariana enríquez's the dangers of smoking in bed (los peligros de fumar en la cama) finds the argentine author crafting short fiction frightening, fantastic, and not infrequently unsettling (if not outright lurid). enríquez's latest book (published in its original spanish in 2009) features a dozen new tales, one of which is long enough to be a novella ("kids who come back").
the stories in this collection seem to perhaps be a little darker than in her other book, less macabre and eerie and maybe more tinged with death and dismemberment. nonetheless, enríquez's tales thrill with uneasy delight. overall a strong collection, though not without some unevenness (or formulaicity). "angelita unearthed," "our lady of the quarry," "meat," "no birthdays or baptisms," and "kids who come back" are the work's strongest pieces. hopefully, one (or all!) of enríquez's four novels will be forthcoming in translation, as it would be wonderful to see her at work in a longer format.
clearly, carrying a dead baby around everywhere i went had affected my mind.
*translated from the spanish by megan mcdowell (schweblin, zambra, meruane, fonseca, zúñiga, et al.)...more
marie ndiaye must have one of the most singular voices in modern literature and reading her fiction, even at its most enigmatic or obscure, is always marie ndiaye must have one of the most singular voices in modern literature and reading her fiction, even at its most enigmatic or obscure, is always a satisfying thrill. all my friends (tous mes amis) collects five short pieces (four novellas and a short story?) originally published in 2004. ndiaye can set a tableau like no other and it's never long before a portent of some kind wafts along and your hackles rise. sly, seductive, and utterly irresistible.
what did she have to do, she wondered, her head spinning, to turn regret and nostalgia into indifference?
*translated from the french by jordan stump (toussaint, chevillard, simon, mukasonga, volodine, et al.)...more
Loading...
