Symmetries

By Luisa Valenzuela

Book Overview

Valenzuela's view of life in Latin America is set far from reality, where cops in Buenos Aires are afraid of dogs. In the tradition of Calvino and Cortazar, these stories are parables on the art of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1852425431
• ISBN13: 9781852425432
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail
• Length: 167 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Short stories from one of Latin America's best writers

Some of the best writing of the late 20th century has come from Latin America, and Luisa Valenzuela keeps up that tradition with "Symmetries," a stunning collection of short stories. This gifted writer from Argentina writes stories that can be nightmarish, comic, disturbing, erotic, playful, Kafkaesque, brutal and witty.Valenzuela takes us to many different places, and introduces us to many different people. The mind of a suicidal five year old, a young couple's visit to Venice, the twisted rites of a religious cult, the lonely gaiety of a dance hall, a torturer's chamber--these are a few of her narrative arenas. In many of her stories, Valenzuela plays with the conventions of the art of fiction. In one cluster of stories, she revisits and reimagines the female protagonists of traditional fairy tales; in the remarkable final story, she juxtaposes a tale of sexual violence with a bizarre, bestiality-tinged love story. At times, Valenzuela's writing brings to mind the fictional achievements of Jorge Luis Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa, and some of the other experimentalists of Latin America. But Valenzuela's is a wholly original voice. Check out "Symmetries" and prepare your brain for an odd mixture of pleasure and shock.