Quim Monzó

Un trompetista consigue el sueño que ha acariciado durante semanas: salir con la vedette del teatro donde trabaja. Durante la cena bebe demasiado, y se da cuenta de que está tan borracho que, si realmente consigue llevarse la vedette a la cama, lo más probable es que pegue gatillazo. Pero, a la mañana siguiente de cumplirse el temido fiasco, al trompetista le sobreviene una erección permanente, que no cesará en toda la novela. Esto es La magnitud de la tragedia, una novela sobre el amor, el odio, la soledad, el paso del tiempo y la inevitabilidad de la muerte. Las ambiciones y las enfermedades desmesuradamente expresionistas de los personajes son una caricatura grotesca y deshumanizada de los deseos,las pasiones y las contradicciones cotidianas.… (more)

Quim Monzó has produced a fine collection of (very) short stories. Quirky, even bizarre, they focus on relationships, the choices we make in life, and how one seemingly small decision can snowball into something quite out of control.

The characters are often unnamed, and so become a symbol or general figure for us to explore: the man who never falls in love, the mushroom picker, a man and woman in a furtive telephone conversation, and so on. Some of the latter stories take a delightfully playful twist with fairy tales, including a prince kissing a frog, and Cinderella - now married to the prince who has since ascended to the throne - who is convinced her husband is having an affair and gets the shock of her life when she finds out the truth.

Coming in at no more than a few pages each, it is best to ration yourself to 2 or 3 at a time. The risk of them blending into one amorphous mass is real, and they deserve attention and time to reflect. As with all the best short stories they focus on particular moments, or read like fables.

Excellent and wryly comic, this deserves a wide audience for this well-respected Catalan author. Definitely recommended.… (more)

3.4 stars. Short stories that show it takes all kinds... of morons. This thin collection contains short stories and very short stories about all sorts of sad and absurd people. I particularly enjoyed "Mr. Beneset," about a man in an old folks home, and "Praise" about a writer who inadvertently generates problems for himself by mentioning a book he enjoyed.

(There's more on my blog about A Thousand Morons rel="nofollow" target="_top">here.)… (more)