Masterworks of Latin American Short Fiction

Reviewed by VonBek

For anyone wishing to explore the gamut of modern Latin American fiction and to judge its impact upon the literary world, Masterworks of Latin American Short Fiction is the perfect compilation to have.

Edited by Cass Canfield, Jr., it includes an introduction by Ilan Stavans and novellas by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ana Lydia Vega, G. Cabrera Infante, Alavaro Mutis, Alejo Carpentier, Julio Cortazar, Joao Guimaraes Rosa, and Felisberto Hernandez.
Several distinctive styles are present in this volume so that the reader can be fully exposed to what has been called by some the most influential body of literature in the twentieth century. For writers attempting to tackle one of the most challenging types of fiction, the novella, this book is a must-have, along with the works of Henry James.

I will now examine each of the eight novellas separately, commenting on their plot, structure, style, and overall effect.

The Incredible and Sad Tale of

Innocent Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother

by:    Gabriel Garcia Marquez

For fans of the magical realism that Garcia Marquez introduced to the world, this story is a shining example. For those not familiar with his style, this novella is an excellent introduction. It follows the story of Erendira, who is her grandmother's slave until she accidentally burns down their manor. Her grandmother punishes her by forcing Erendira to prostitute herself until she makes up the balance of eight-hundred seventy-two thousand three hundred fifteen pesos that her grandmother believes is owed to her.

Erendira becomes very popular in the desert that they travel through despite her grandmother's stinginess and repeated attempts by the religious establishment to rescue her from her perpetual whoredom.

A young smuggler named Ulises falls in love with Erendira and it is his willingness to do anything for her that is the main focal point of the story. And when I say anything, I mean anything. To tell you anymore would be to spoil what I believe to be one of the most entrancing pieces of short fiction to ever be written.

This book is worth buying for this story alone. Garcia Marquez has a way of weaving words into flawless sentences that are dream- like and evoke images of another world. Anyone who has not read anything by this author should sprint to the nearest bookstore and pick up this volume or One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Memorable Quote:

" 'What I like about you,' she said, 'is the serious way you make up nonsense.' "

MISS FLORENCE'S TRUNK

by:    Ana Lydia Vega

This story is the most recent of the eight and is based in nineteenth century Puerto Rico. The majority of this novella is in epistilary form, meaning it is composed of letters and diary entries by Miss Florence.

A private tutor arrives in Puerto Rico to teach the grandson of Samuel Morse. This story explores the relations between teacher and student, master and slave, husband and wife, and father and son. This is a very strong tale of unrequited love and the self-destruction of a family as witnessed by an outsider, Miss Florence. The author has used the epistilary form perfectly to convey the different moods and shifts in the narrative.

Memorable quote:

" 'You should know, even if you would rather not know, that Selenia's belly is swelling, and it's not from eating green mangoes.' "

I HEARD HER SING

by:    G. Cabrera Infante

This is an exceptionally well-told tale about the rise and fall of a bar singer in 1950's Cuba. It is also scathingly funny and tragically sad. Told in first-person stream of consciousness, this story follows Estrella, a grotesquely obese black woman, and her rise to stardom and her feverish attempt to possess the love and admiration of everyone.

Full of local-color humor and stories that have gone on to become urban legends, such as the barfly who removes her wig, her padded bra, her makeup, etc., this novella is an honest and brutal look at Cuba and the hypocrisy, which rivals that of Hollywood, that permeates Havana.

Memorable Quote:

"...I get up to go out and fall into the missing table between two tables and with the help of the captain of waiters I reach the patio and give him a military salute and say permission to go overboard sir, before going off, permission granted."

THE SNOW OF THE ADMIRAL

by:   Alvaro Mutis

A novella in diary form, this story traces Maqroll the Gaviero's journey up the Xurando River, in which he meets the guilt-wracked Captain, a staunch major of the army, and other unforgettable characters. The river is symbolic of life and at the disappointing end, Maqroll has learned some important lessons about himself and humanity in general.

Alvaro Mutis has penned a very entertaining novella with a very relevant message to those of us who plod along the river of life. This is a must-read for anybody who feels that there is something missing from their existence.

Memorable Quote:

"There's a dryness inside us we shouldn't get too close to. It's better not to know how much of our soul it occupies."

THE ROAD TO SANTIAGO

by:    Alejo Carpentier

This is the shortest of the stories in this volume and also one of the strangest and most satisfying when you reach the end. Though it starts slow, the ending alone is well worth the read.

It is the story of Juan, who takes on many titles, such as soldier, pilgrim, and others which are too surprising to ruin here. His journey and exile in the Caribbean is a trial of the human spirit and when he returns to Europe, Juan is a changed man.

Carpentier writes in a brisk method, employing many of those elements of magical realism that popularized the style in the sixties; the abrupt changes in fortune of major characters, the seemingly inability of man to change his fate, and the juxtaposition of the fantastic and the realistic.

Memorable Quote:

"But they found nothing but gossip there, nothing but scandal and scheming, letters going to and fro, mortal hatreds and boundless envy, all contained within eight stinking streets, deep in mud the whole year round, where a few black hairless pigs rootled happily in heaps of filth."

THE PURSUER

by:    Julio Cortazar

The setting for this novella is France and its subject is the self-destruction of a jazz star, who is torn between the spectres that haunt his genius for music and his heroin and alcohol addiction.

This is perhaps the least Latin American of the eight novellas at first glance, its story going nowhere near the humid heat of Central America and its style a first- person narrative with none of the elements of magical realism. But, the ideas and themes that are submerged just beneath the printed words are those that are found in many other Latin American writers, the hopelessness of life and the inability for people to really connect until it's too late.

I thought this story was the weakest in the book, but anybody who is a jazz aficionado or interested in the demons that produce genius would probably like it.

Memorable Quote:

"When one is not too sure of anything, the best thing to do is to make obligations for oneself that'll act as pontoons."

MY UNCLE, THE JAGUAR

by:    Joao Guimaraes Rosa

This surprising novella is probably the most enjoyable and informative in the volume. It is about a jaguar hunter who lives in a shack in the woods and has befriended a traveller and is telling him about jaguars. Both funny and shocking, this is a must-read for everybody.

As you descend into the hunter's madness, you begin to become infected by it. The reader may very well find themselves being turned into a jaguar. The end is perfect, leaving it up to the reader's imagination to decide what the truth is.

Memorable Quote:

"Afterwards, all I said to black Bijibo was, we couldn't have been in a more dangerous spot, all around us were dens of spotted jaguars. Ih, the black man stopped eating at once, the black man took a long time to get to sleep."

THE DAISY DOLLS

by:    Felisberto Hernandez

This novella could easily be made into an episode of the Twilight Zone. It deals with Horace, who has a strange fetish for life-size dolls, and his unaware wife, Mary.

When Mary learns of Horace's dementia, she leaves him and thus begins one of the most chilling novellas I've read in a long time. On par with Henry James' Turn of the Screw, Felisberto Hernandez keeps the reader guessing at what will occur next as he explores the relationships between a man and his wife and his dolls.

Memorable Quote:

"Next to a garden was a factory, and the noise of the machines seeped through the plants and trees."

* * The only other thing I can say about this collection is "Find it and buy it. It is well worth it."

VonBek

Sign Our Guestbook

View Our Guestbook