Selva Almada

This short novel was really good. I've never read Almada before. It had a swirling, looping quality, moving back and forth in time like a dream where different events would rejoin in spots bouncing between with dual narratives. I could feel the humidity, smell the smoke, hear the water. The characters seemed trapped in their world, revolving in circles much like the narrative with little hope of breaking free. Even though she is Argentine, this book actually brings to mind southern writers, show more especially Faulkner. I was impressed. show less

‘’Being a woman meant being prey’’

There are books that are impossible to review. The words 'visceral', 'haunting', 'harrowing’...they are acute and accurate but sound inadequate. A society that doesn't care. Police who resort to amateurism. How can you express the powerful writing, the horror, the array of suspects that includes family members? How can you express the terror of walking alone in the dark, looking over your shoulders just because you are a woman? How can you express show more the injustice, the lack of punishment? How can you trust institutions that seem partial in their zeal (or lack of it...) to solve femicides?

This is a book my limited abilities cannot do justice to. Read it. It should be mandatory reading in every school of our world...

‘’Do you know the story of the Bone Woman?
I shake my head.
She’s an old, old woman and she lives deep in her lair of lairs. A wild old woman who clucks like a hen, sings like a bird and makes noises that are more animal than human. Her task is gathering bones. She collects and looks after everything that’s in danger of being lost. Her hut is full of all kinds of animal bones, but wolf bones are her favourite. She’ll cover miles and miles, scale mountains, wade through streams, burn the soles of her feet on desert sands to find them. Back in her hut, with her armful of bones, she pieces together the skeleton. When the final bit is in place and the figure of the wolf stands splendid before her, the Bone Woman sits by the fire and decides which song she’s going to sing.’’ show less

Found it interesting to read so many GR reviews after I finished the book where people felt that the story was non-judgemental to its characters & some who think the preacher is shown to be a good person in his faith. Sure, Rev. Pearson seems to have true faith (mostly), but it is mentioned multiple times how he left his wife on the side of the road years before & never looked back; a glaring question mark about his character. The book also shows his manipulation of Gringo Brauer in show more conversations, approaches taken, etc. I couldn't really trust that Rev. Pearson was fully on the up-and-up throughout the story &, whenever the writing lens was focused on him, I felt wary & suspicious (justified by the end, imo) of his methods & motives.

While the storm was awe-inspiring & beautiful, it also felt a bit heavy, metaphorically-speaking. If it was a religious metaphor, definitely heavy-handed. If it was a nature metaphor of inevitability of things happening that you cannot change, it fits a little more smoothly. Most likely the storm's function was a mix of the two (or more).

The writing is well-crafted & I admire the spareness of the narrative as well as the setting. Some classic themes are covered. Generally, though, it's a book I appreciated more than I enjoyed. show less

Quando ouvi pela primeira vez sobre o que retratava este livro, pensei imediatamente no glorioso e monumental capítulo sobre os feminicidios mexicanos no 2666 do Bolaño, mas foi um erro meu à primeira vista, o livro da Almada é menos pungente no horror, mas igualmente necessário para entender os meandros do patriarcado.
E vou contar, mesmo eu tendo trabalhado numa delegacia da mulher acolhendo mulheres em situação de violência, relatos sobre essa constante violência contra mulheres show more só pelo fato de o serem, ainda é impactante e revoltante a menor sombra dessas violências, mas a escrita de Almada torna essa experiência ao menos passível de uma poesia do desespero, da revolta, do trágico.
Uma das passagens mais bonitas do livro é quando a autora compara uma das garotas mortas do título à Ofélia de Hamlet, tendo como intermédio o famoso quadro de Millais e a forma que o corpo fora encontrado, o que certamente demonstra a magnitude tétrica de sua escrita. show less