Irene Solà (2) (1990–)

Perhaps all the praise raised my expectations unreasonably but I think that although Sola shows great promise, this isn’t the masterpiece it is often said to be. When she is “on,” she is excellent. When she is not, it can be embarrassing or difficult to follow. The book opens with the vividly depicted death of Domenec, high up in the Pyrenees. The rest of the novel consists of many brief chapters in the form of monologues by other people, inanimate objects (such as mushrooms or show more clouds), witches (or were they ghosts, or both?), and animals. Those chapters create the world of Domenec’s family and his village. Even so, the novel is not particularly a linear narrative, but that’s fine given Sola’s talent. Nature plays a significant role and Sola’s voice ranges from the sad to the rapturous to the mesmerizing. One chapter that I had high hopes for is told in the voice of Lluna, a dog. As was often the case, it took a moment to understand who the narrator was, but Sola’s writing is so good that the story began quite promisingly. Until it turned into little more than the dog watching two people having sex and, eventually, being led out of the room. There was nothing illuminating, nothing inventive, nothing impressive, about the scene and it added virtually nothing to the book. I thought its inclusion highlighted what was wrong with the novel as a whole: Sola too often ranges from highly creative and deeply thoughtful on the one hand to merely silly or overly tangled on the other hand. Fortunately, much of the novel is the former and I truly look forward to her next book. Sadly, there was enough that distracted from the lyrical and remarkably inventive to ruin an otherwise excellent reading experience. show less

These short, punchy violent poems come onto the page without apology and leave when they are finished. It's always hard for me to rate poem collections poorly because it is such a subjective judgement. But for me, these poems were not compelling.

I'm not sure if primary fault lies with the author or with the translator or some combination of the two, but I didn't enjoy them much and worse than that, they didn't hold much meaning or cause for reflection.

Favorite poems: They pulled me out show more like an onion; Recollections are dangerous show less

Una novel.la colpidora que recrea la nissaga d'una família de dones que han viscut mig amagades a un mas perdut per les Guilleries. L'autora ens apropa a la realitat de les pràctiques de bruixeria presentsper aquestes contrades tot situant-les en diferents espais temporals que van des de finals del segle XIX fins a l'actualitat. Cal fer-ne una lectura molt atenta per seguir el fil, perquè els salts entre intrahistòries són constants, però les descripcions dels personatges i les seves show more relacions intrafamiliars, amb l'entorn i el "més enllà" són fantàstiques. show less

Inicialmente me atrapó sus descripciones grotescas pero tiene un sinfín de matices, temociones e historias, que ocurren durante mucho tiempo a generaciones de mujeres y niños en esa casa. Me gustó que los capítulos, nombrados como los tiempos de un solo día y sus personajes vivieron todos esos tiempos a la vez durante años, muchos amaneceres, atardeceres, anocheceres