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Snapshots Of Belize, An Anthology Of Short Fiction
Belize's rich cultural diversity is brought to life in this new anthology of Belizean writers. Spanning a creative period of 40 years, the work is a wonderful sampler of the literary development and unique character of Belizean life, exploring the colourful tapestry of the region's most diverse country.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 5, 2024
I’ve got two pretty lengthy non-fiction books on the go just now, and I am interspersing them with short works of fiction. This collection met the criterion of being short, and I hadn’t previously encountered any examples of the literature of Belize. The nine stories in this anthology are by a variety of authors, and the collection was published in 1995.
It opens strongly with Elastic Gold, by Leo Bradley, set during WW2. This was during the colonial period when Belize was known as British Honduras. In the story, a poor fisherman and his teenage son discover pieces of rubber washed ashore into a mangrove swamp. The rubber is from a freighter sunk by a U-Boat. The fisherman knows that the authorities in Belize City pay good money for rubber salvaged in this way, but that fact has also attracted thieves who prey on the fishermen trying to cash in. This is a straightforward story, but excitingly told. Bradley has one other story in the collection, The Day of the Bridge, which I thought was only so-so.
An author called Colville Young also contributes two stories. The Representative is a sort of a character study of a cynical politician. I’m not sure when the story was written, but the idea of a politician being self-serving didn’t really strike me as revelatory. I preferred his other story, Sugar, which features an argument between a café owner and a penniless customer.
The title of A Conscience for Christmas, by Evan X. Hyde, tells the reader much about the next entry. A somewhat unpleasant character who believes in “looking after No.1” finds himself with a moral decision to make on Christmas Eve. I could see from about half-way through how this one was going to develop, but it’s a perfectly decent entry.
I thought The Teacher, by Zoila Ellis, was one of the two best stories. The title character lives and work in an out-of-the-way village, and we learn he has retreated there to escape something in his past. A really effective tale.
Crab Seasin, by Evadne Garcia, is told from a child’s perspective. This story is written entirely in the local Creole, and for that reason I found it a bit of a struggle. The Third Wish, by Lawrence Vernon, is a variation on the traditional three wishes story. Lastly we have Bitter-Sweet Revenge, by John Walter. It’s an amusing, light-hearted tale to finish with.
A variable collection, as might be expected. For me Elastic Gold and The Teacher were the stand-out stories.
It opens strongly with Elastic Gold, by Leo Bradley, set during WW2. This was during the colonial period when Belize was known as British Honduras. In the story, a poor fisherman and his teenage son discover pieces of rubber washed ashore into a mangrove swamp. The rubber is from a freighter sunk by a U-Boat. The fisherman knows that the authorities in Belize City pay good money for rubber salvaged in this way, but that fact has also attracted thieves who prey on the fishermen trying to cash in. This is a straightforward story, but excitingly told. Bradley has one other story in the collection, The Day of the Bridge, which I thought was only so-so.
An author called Colville Young also contributes two stories. The Representative is a sort of a character study of a cynical politician. I’m not sure when the story was written, but the idea of a politician being self-serving didn’t really strike me as revelatory. I preferred his other story, Sugar, which features an argument between a café owner and a penniless customer.
The title of A Conscience for Christmas, by Evan X. Hyde, tells the reader much about the next entry. A somewhat unpleasant character who believes in “looking after No.1” finds himself with a moral decision to make on Christmas Eve. I could see from about half-way through how this one was going to develop, but it’s a perfectly decent entry.
I thought The Teacher, by Zoila Ellis, was one of the two best stories. The title character lives and work in an out-of-the-way village, and we learn he has retreated there to escape something in his past. A really effective tale.
Crab Seasin, by Evadne Garcia, is told from a child’s perspective. This story is written entirely in the local Creole, and for that reason I found it a bit of a struggle. The Third Wish, by Lawrence Vernon, is a variation on the traditional three wishes story. Lastly we have Bitter-Sweet Revenge, by John Walter. It’s an amusing, light-hearted tale to finish with.
A variable collection, as might be expected. For me Elastic Gold and The Teacher were the stand-out stories.
May 20, 2025
Picked this up in a bookstore in San Ignacio, Belize!! Enjoyable collection of short stories that felt very informative of the culture. It felt like a correct experience to read these on a Belizean day too hot to move, laying in a hammock with a cold Coke in hand.
My favorites were "Elastic Gold" (father and son search for rubber bulks The-Old-Man-and-the-Sea-style) and "The Day of the Bridge" (sentient bridge!) both by Leo Bradley. My friend and I were discussing this story in the taxi on the way to the airport and our driver overheard and offered to drive us past the Swing Bridge from the story! That was special. There is one story in Kriol that I was unable to read but I would like to tackle it at some point.
My favorites were "Elastic Gold" (father and son search for rubber bulks The-Old-Man-and-the-Sea-style) and "The Day of the Bridge" (sentient bridge!) both by Leo Bradley. My friend and I were discussing this story in the taxi on the way to the airport and our driver overheard and offered to drive us past the Swing Bridge from the story! That was special. There is one story in Kriol that I was unable to read but I would like to tackle it at some point.
May 4, 2018
En antologi over belizeanske noveller. Sjov nok at læse som netop et par snapshots fra Belize. Nogle af novellerne er også fine nok i sig selv, men noget større indtryk er der nu ingen af dem, der gør.
Læs hele boganmeldelsen på K's bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/05/04/michael...
Læs hele boganmeldelsen på K's bognoter: http://bognoter.dk/2018/05/04/michael...
December 27, 2025
Was very interesting to know a little bit of Belizean reality through these short stories.
Quote: "Life is made up of chances."
*Got it on my cruises stop at Belize on January of 2025
Quote: "Life is made up of chances."
*Got it on my cruises stop at Belize on January of 2025
January 7, 2024
Per il Belize ho trovato questa breve raccolta di racconti che mi è arrivata dall’America proprio l’altro giorno (santo AbeBooks!). Secondo il curatore sono fra i racconti più rappresentativi del Belize, scelti però solo fra quelli scritti in inglese o creolo, escludendo dunque lo spagnolo. Ne risulta che uno dei racconti non l’ho potuto leggere, in quanto era l’unico interamente scritto in creolo, mentre gli altri li ho letti tutti, perché sono scritti in inglese e sono a volte solo alcuni dei personaggi a parlare in creolo. Tuttavia capirli non è difficile, tutto sommato, anche grazie al contesto e all’interazione con gli altri personaggi.
Ho trovato la raccolta un po’ insipida, e me ne dispiace, perché se questo è il meglio della narrativa breve belizeana, allora la letteratura belizeana è messa un po’ male. Non che siano racconti brutti, per carità, però sono insipidi, che a volte può essere forse anche peggio. Perché non lasciano niente, né in positivo né in negativo.
Ne salverei solo tre (su nove) che sono discreti: A Conscience for Christmas di Evan X. Hyde, che tra l’altro è a tema con il periodo, The Third Wish di Lawrence G. Vernon e Bitter-Sweet Revenge di John A. Watler.
Il primo è la storia di un uomo che, per la vigilia di Natale, decide di andare a una festa alcolica post-lavoro, che pare sia la normalità in Belize. Mentre sta andando alla festa sventa uno scippo e conosce così un’anziana signora che gli scalda il cuore. Va poi alla festa, dove va palesemente in cerca di donne, e conosce una ragazza che scopre essere la nipote della signora conosciuta prima. Il racconto è scritto molto bene e al di là della trama è buono anche solo per lo stile.
Il secondo narra di un ragazzo che trova una pietra ritenuta magica e la porta a casa. La magia consiste nel fatto che, se la si tiene in mano esprimendo un desiderio, questo verrà avverato. Il ragazzo ha paura del potere della pietra e vuole riportarla via, ma il padre la prende di nascosto ed esprime il desiderio di avere i soldi che gli serviranno per estinguere il mutuo sulla casa. I soldi arriveranno il giorno dopo sotto forma di compensazione per la morte del figlio, perito in un incidente sul lavoro. La moglie decide poi di riprendere la pietra per esprimere il desiderio che il figlio sia ancora vivo, e quella sera stessa i coniugi sentono bussare alla porta nel modo caratteristico del figlio. La donna va ad aprire, ma non c’è nessuno: proprio in quel momento infatti il marito aveva espresso un terzo desiderio che non viene mai esplicitato ma che possiamo immaginare.
Infine, l’ultimo racconto è piuttosto divertente, ed è la storia di un ragazzo che si innamora di una ragazza, il padre li osteggia perché li vede baciarsi, e lui per ripicca gli ruba tutti i vestiti mentre sta facendo il bagno nel lago. So che detta così non è tanto divertente, ma a leggere il racconto lo è.
Ho trovato la raccolta un po’ insipida, e me ne dispiace, perché se questo è il meglio della narrativa breve belizeana, allora la letteratura belizeana è messa un po’ male. Non che siano racconti brutti, per carità, però sono insipidi, che a volte può essere forse anche peggio. Perché non lasciano niente, né in positivo né in negativo.
Ne salverei solo tre (su nove) che sono discreti: A Conscience for Christmas di Evan X. Hyde, che tra l’altro è a tema con il periodo, The Third Wish di Lawrence G. Vernon e Bitter-Sweet Revenge di John A. Watler.
Il primo è la storia di un uomo che, per la vigilia di Natale, decide di andare a una festa alcolica post-lavoro, che pare sia la normalità in Belize. Mentre sta andando alla festa sventa uno scippo e conosce così un’anziana signora che gli scalda il cuore. Va poi alla festa, dove va palesemente in cerca di donne, e conosce una ragazza che scopre essere la nipote della signora conosciuta prima. Il racconto è scritto molto bene e al di là della trama è buono anche solo per lo stile.
Il secondo narra di un ragazzo che trova una pietra ritenuta magica e la porta a casa. La magia consiste nel fatto che, se la si tiene in mano esprimendo un desiderio, questo verrà avverato. Il ragazzo ha paura del potere della pietra e vuole riportarla via, ma il padre la prende di nascosto ed esprime il desiderio di avere i soldi che gli serviranno per estinguere il mutuo sulla casa. I soldi arriveranno il giorno dopo sotto forma di compensazione per la morte del figlio, perito in un incidente sul lavoro. La moglie decide poi di riprendere la pietra per esprimere il desiderio che il figlio sia ancora vivo, e quella sera stessa i coniugi sentono bussare alla porta nel modo caratteristico del figlio. La donna va ad aprire, ma non c’è nessuno: proprio in quel momento infatti il marito aveva espresso un terzo desiderio che non viene mai esplicitato ma che possiamo immaginare.
Infine, l’ultimo racconto è piuttosto divertente, ed è la storia di un ragazzo che si innamora di una ragazza, il padre li osteggia perché li vede baciarsi, e lui per ripicca gli ruba tutti i vestiti mentre sta facendo il bagno nel lago. So che detta così non è tanto divertente, ma a leggere il racconto lo è.
March 28, 2016
I bought this book while I was holidaying in Belize. I like to complement my visits to a country by reading some local writters, and I have to admit that I didn't know much about Belizean writters to begin with (OK, I didn't know much about Belize at all before going there).
This was a nice discovery. The stories are short, rather simple, but it really allows us to enter into the daily life of the people there. I bought all the books in the series, except for the third one, the one on poetry, that I didn't find. It is quite a pity since I would have gladly explored the different type of Belizean works.
Note: the stories are in English, except for one short story that is written in Creole. I found it totally understandable despite that, but I studied both English and Spanish, and I live abroad and am quite used to people adapting English language to their own.
This was a nice discovery. The stories are short, rather simple, but it really allows us to enter into the daily life of the people there. I bought all the books in the series, except for the third one, the one on poetry, that I didn't find. It is quite a pity since I would have gladly explored the different type of Belizean works.
Note: the stories are in English, except for one short story that is written in Creole. I found it totally understandable despite that, but I studied both English and Spanish, and I live abroad and am quite used to people adapting English language to their own.
February 13, 2016
Nice stories, passable writing, with hints at local life.
April 2, 2016
I enjoyed this little collection of stories. I felt like most of them lasted one sentence too long. But if you ignore the last, tie-up sentence, then you had some nicely told stories about Belizeans.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews