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Loading... Seven Empty Houses (2015)by Samanta Schweblin
   No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) beaujoe | Sep 9, 2023 |   ) Kiramke | Jul 22, 2023 | I got to the second house. That was enough. TobinElliott | Apr 10, 2023 | Schweblin takes the home as a starting point; what is commonly seen as simple, prosaic, and safe she spins off its axis ever so slightly. She tilts the angle of our lens just enough to make these spaces feel off-balance, peculiar, and vulnerable. In doing so she illuminates the truth that no matter how picturesque the view is from the street, behind every closed door is a microcosmic world full of emotions and traumas that only the inhabitants know. The grief, loss, confusion, desperation is palpable; it fogs the air and envelops the reader. In these stories we find a daughter accompanying her mother as she scouts out upscale homes that are in need of her surreptitious aesthetic fixes, a search for children who have gone missing with their grandparents last seen joyously dancing naked in the backyard, a woman who walks out of her home in the middle of a difficult conversation clad only in slippers and a robe, and an elderly woman trying to exert some control as she is dealing with the deterioration of her mind and body, among others. Despite the brevity of most of these stories, the characters are full, well-defined, and knowable. They take up space and they are begging to be seen. Honestly, I was blown away by this collection. It's not horror, these aren't scary stories in a traditional sense but they destabilise and stir. I immediately wanted to read more by this author and happily there's more to read. ( ) Jess.Stetson | Apr 4, 2023 |  ) Cr00 | Apr 1, 2023 | no reviews | add a review
"The seven houses in these seven stories are empty. Some are devoid of love or life or furniture, of people or the truth or of memories. But in Samanta Schweblin's tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back in: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child's first encounter with a dark choice or the fallibility of parents. This was the collection that established Samanta Schweblin at the forefront of a new generation of Latin American writers. And now in English it will push her cult status to new heights. Seven Empty Houses is an entrypoint into a fiercely original mind, and a slingshot into Schweblin's destablizing, exhilarating literary world. In each story, the twists and turns will unnerve and surprise: Schweblin never takes the expected path and instead digs under the skin and reveals uncomfortable truths about our sense of home, of belonging, and of the fragility of our connections with others. This is a masterwork from one of our most brilliant writers"-- No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)863.6400Literature Spanish and Portuguese Spanish fiction 20th Century 1945-2000LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.6)
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