Symmetries: Stories

by Luisa Valenzuela, Margaret Jull Costa

Stories that capture the absurdity of life. Valenzuela's view of life captures our imagination because we know how far it is from reality - cops in Buenos Aires are not afraid of dogs, latin lovers in cafes do make moves in the game of courtship, hotels in Venice overlook canals.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Luisa Valenzuela is a post-'Boom' novelist and short story writer. Her writing is characterized by an experimental, avant-garde style which questions hierarchical social structures from a feminist perspective. She is best known for her work written in response to the dictatorship of the 1970s in Argentina. Works such as Como en la guerra (1977), Cambio de armas (1982) and Cola de lagartija (1983) combine a powerful critique of dictatorship with an examination of patriarchal forms of social organization and the power structures which inhere in human sexuality and gender relationships.

Reviews

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are tempting fruits in these latitudes Many are within reach of her hand. There are men who are like fruit: they are sweet, tasty, juicy, irritating.
It's a question of tasting them one by one.

How many frogs does one have to kiss before finding the prince?
How many wolves, I ask, will we meet in a lifetime?

There's only one wolf. The other wolves we meet are merely its shadow.

This is a book of short stories by an Argentine author I haven’t heard of before. Some of the stories were more magical realist than others, and the book included some rewritten fairy tales, and a few stories with political themes which were possibly the best of all. Although I quite liked the first few stories, they seemed to get better and better as the book progressed. My favourites were "Journeys", "The Charm Against Storms", "If This is Life, I'm Red Riding Hood", and especially "The Key", because of the entirely unexpected slant to the ending.

Another 30p book from the library sale, which I initially picked up because I liked the cover, but took home because I like both short stories and South American authors. I'll definitely be adding her other books to my wish list.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

these short stories were brilliant and beautifully written. each one had me hooked and hungry for the next. full of plot twists and surprises. i have been wanting to read great fiction for so long and luisa delivered. i will be keeping this anthology close by for the rest of my life

[Irena Stracenski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Valensuelina zbirka kratkih priča iz 1993. godine otvara se utiskom popodnevne kafe sa prijateljicom. Stil je pitak, humorističan, lagan i pun doživljaja. Rečenicama dominiraju digresije koje to u suštini i nisu, nego se ispostavljaju kao ključan deo teksta (razgovora), te iz njih izranja sve ono što autorka zaista želi da prenese. Takvim stilom umešno nas vodi iza zastora metafora, gde se kriju argentinska politička stvarnost dvadesetog veka i feministički napor da se uspostavi ravnoteža. Zato Valensuela izlazi iz okvira stvarnosti, udaljava se i prikazuje simetričnost sveta koju ne vidimo ako smo potpuno prisutni sa samo jedne strane događaja. U ovoj zbirci ponovo iščitavamo bajke čiji su akteri savremeno svesni i menjaju tok priče, podsećamo se važnosti jezika i svakog govora pojedinačno (nezavisno od pola). Valensuela daje slobodu tako što podstiče umove čitalaca da posmatraju stvari simetrično, da vide ono što se ne može videti iz jedne perspektive, a sve to lagano, fantastično, ozbiljno i nepoterećeno kao u razgovoru uz kafu.