Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Natural Histories (original 2013; edition 2015)by Guadalupe Nettel (Author), J. T. Lichtenstein (Translator)
Work InformationNatural Histories by Guadalupe Nettel (2013)
Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A collection of very clever stories where the human character's troubles are mirrored by creatures in their lives. It's a concept that sounds quirky but works really well, with this author at least. These are richly layered and believable tales. ( ) Un libro de cuentos impecablemente armado. A pesar de que cualquiera de las piezas que lo componen funcionan individualmente, se complementan entre sí: todos parecen variaciones del mismo tema, la relación simbólica entre los animales y los humanos. Insectos, hongos, peces, gatos, humanos, todos compartimos una esencia inexplicable, "subterránea". Aunque me parece que todos los personajes narradores de este libro tienen una voz demasiado parecida, se perdona por el carácter unitario de las narraciones. Comparten todos los cuentos, hasta cierto punto, un ambiente muy propio de la literatura fantástica, sin salirse de los confines de la narrativa realista. Un experimento literario verdaderamente bien logrado. Aún así, tengo la sensación de que lo mejor que puede ofrecer Guadalupe Nettel está aún por llegar a mis manos. It is always a delight to come across a unique literary concept. Guadalupe Nettel, a Mexican author, has written a small collection of fascinating stories in which each protagonist's life crisis is paralleled by another living creature. Imagine having your life crisis compared to that of a poisonous Chinese viper, a Siamese fighting fish, a cockroach, a feral cat, or even a toe fungus. I told you the stories are unique! Nettel's prose is taut and engaging. I would recommend this collection for anyone who enjoys thinking outside the box, or can at least tolerate it! no reviews | add a review
Notable Lists
Fiction.
Literature.
Short Stories.
HTML:Siamese fighting fish, cockroaches, cats, a snake, and a strange fungus all serve here as mirrors that reflect the unconfessable aspects of human nature buried within us. The traits and fates of these animals illuminate such deeply natural, human experiences as the cruelty born of cohabitation, the desire to reproduce and the impulse not to, and the inexplicable connection that can bind, eerily, two beings together. Each Nettel tale creates, with tightly wound narrative tension, a space wherein her characters feel excruciatingly human, exploring how the wounds we incur in life manifest themselves within us, clandestinely, irrevocably, both unseen and overtly. In a precise writing style that is both subtle and spellbinding, Nettel renders the ordinary unsettling, and the grotesque exquisite. Natural Histories is the winner of the 3rd Ribera del Duero International Award for Short Narratives, an important Spanish literature prize. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)863.7Literature Spanish and Portuguese Spanish fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |