My Christina & Other Stories

I felt these short (very short) stories started off in interesting ways, but ended abruptly without me really caring about the protagonists. Maybe I'm guilty of thinking to myself "THIS is supposed to be the best Catalan author ever?" while reading them. "The Salamander" opens the book on a bit of a shocking note, not unlike Jerzy Kosinski's book The Painted Bird (one of my least favorite books ever). "The Elephant" is one of the most pointless things I've ever read. There was a pretty good story about someone turning into a fish, but, as with the others, it ended quickly out of the blue. The author seems to like to write from the viewpoints of marginalized, lonely, outsider type people who are withering away in a society that couldn't show more care less about them. Several involve grown men who for some reason are infantilized / have obsessions with dolls or toys.
(Update a few weeks later: I decided to bump my rating up half a star just due to the author's great use of words; then again, I'm reviewing the English translation, so take that with a grain of salt. And I was gonna sell it, but there's something so strangely unique about her writing style that I decided I had to keep it.) show less

Setze contes publicats al 1967, en alguns d'ells reconeixes el mateix estil d'escriptura que apareixerà en La mort i la Primavera, es pot entendre ja que aquesta obra va ser escrita al llarg de molts anys , reescrita i revisada i publicada després de la seva mort. Em refereixo a La Salmandra, per exemple, on una dona enamorada, ès acusada de bruixeria i condemnada a ser cremada a la foguera, ella es transforma en salamandra per intentar seguir veient al seu amor, que és casat. El senyor i la lluna també desborda imaginació. En la fulla del gerani blanc parla del maltractament a la dona, on el protagonista arriba a matar a la seva dona, Balbina, per gelosia perquè està convençut que la seva dona està enamorada d'un altre home. show more Tanca el recull La meva Cristina, on un mariner sobreviu a un naufragi refugiant-se dins la boca d'una balena, que ell bateja amb el mateix nom de la barca que va naufragar, Cristina.
La mainadera, és curtet però un exercici d'expressió molt interessant. El mateix es pot dir de Zerafina, on la narradora papissota, es presenta a una senyora per demanar-li feina.
Es un recull de contes agradable de llegir i dona gust trobar expresions i maneres de dir que no acostumem a utilitzar actualment i que em recorden les converses de casa quan era petita. show less