La tormenta

by Cynan Jones, Matías Battistón (Translator)

En los cuentos de Cynan Jones la pregunta sobre la esencia de quiénes somos emerge con urgencia, casi como un golpe, en un encuentro que no admite demora. Los protagonistas se encuentran con su propio límite: alienados de sus familias y viviendo en comunidades donde falta el trabajo, en las que nadie parece cuidar el prójimo y donde la justicia se busca enloquecidamente y por mano propia. La trama avanza implacable mientras estos hombres cuelgan de precipicios sobre el mar, persiguen osos hambrientos en la nieve o lidian con las descargas eléctricas de una tormenta que sacuden el piso y los cimientos de su propia vida. No hay tiempo para la reflexión pero un solo instante pone en escena los terrores más íntimos, las culpas del pasado y la impotencia frente a las fuerzas naturales y la fatalidad de las cosas. El autor logra, con una economía del lenguaje admirable, articular vidas enteras y pintar una escena universal en la cual espejarnos.

Cada relato es un choque del que no es posible escapar y que reclama una respuesta inmediata. La tormenta reúne por primera vez los cuentos de Cynan Jones y confirma que estamos frente a uno de los grandes escritores sobre la naturaleza y la masculinidad de nuestro tiempo.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

164 pages, Paperback

Published June 8, 2026

About the author

Cynan Jones was born in 1975 near Aberaeron, Wales where he now lives and works.

He is the author of five short novels, The Long Dry, Everything I Found on the Beach, Bird, Blood, Snow, The Dig, and Cove.

He has been longlisted and shortlisted for numerous international prizes and won a Society of Authors Betty Trask Award (2007), a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize (2014), the Wales Book of the Year Fiction Prize (2015) and the BBC National Short Story Award (2017).

His work has been published in more than twenty countries, and short stories have appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in a number of anthologies and publications including Granta Magazine and The New Yorker. He also wrote the screenplay for an episode of the BAFTA-winning crime drama Hinterland, and Three Tales, a collection of stories for children.

The Independent on Sunday declared "There is no doubt that Jones is one of the most talented writers in Britain” and he is frequently
acknowledged as one of the most exciting voices of his generation.

His most recent work, Stillicide, is a collection of twelve stories commissioned by BBC Radio 4 that aired over the summer 2019.

He is also responsible for 'The Fart'.

Reviews

[Andy Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Jones’s writing and this is some of his best writing to date.

His trademark spare prose and brutalist dialogue suits these scenarios perfectly. They concern struggling working-class people of small rural Welsh communities (with the exception of Reindeer), their bleak existence interrupted by moments of sublime invention that concern the landscape, or the animals that inhabit it.

His characters, many of them men, are sooner or later made small and beleaguered when faced with the untameable forces of fauna, the climate and other whims of nature.

Peregrine 5 / 5 - Two men attempt a daring night raid on a peregrine’s nest on a cliff face.

Reindeer 5 / 5 - A hunter baits a trap for a dangerous bear in a snowy wilderness. With a twist. In light of the last couple of pages it’s necessary to go back and read it again. Phenomenal.

Cow 5 / 5 - A family farm struggles with illness during lambing at the same time a cow is calving.

Stock 5 / 5 - About a local shop in a rural farming community in Wales. Dark indeed..

White Square 4 / 5 - A father tries to improve the relationship with his young son who he not allowed contact with.

Pulse 5 / 5 - Trees threaten power lines near an isolated cabin in a storm. Jones writes particularly well about storms.


These are dark tales of nature with just the slightest suggestion that something is not as it should be.
From one of our very best modern writers.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories; rural goings on; gory and spare. Cynan Jones is a writer I now adore. This book was a complete surprise (this is why you need to shop in bookshops, people).

[Wessel Mulder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit vond ik erg mooi, met veel plezier gelezen. Één verhaal (stock) pakte mij niet echt, maar de rest vond ik super!

[Adna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jones is an amazing writer of farm life in all the exciting, tender, gory ways - never read better prose about this topic. For this reason, Cow was the standout story of the collection for me and not the titular Pulse. But be warned that all stories do end up messing with your heart-rate momentarily…

I would have happily read Reindeer as a longer novella! Looking forward to re-reading it during the Christmas break.

[Stella Starlight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik houd van al het werk van Cynan Jones.
Later kom ik nog terug met betere woorden, ik ben weggeblazen door het laatste verhaal in dit boek!

En lees zijn eerdere boek 'Stillicide' als je tijd hebt. Hij sprak het ook in als feuilleton op de Britse radio. Meesterlijk.

[Pedro]

I went in hungry for good stories, but there wasn’t much meat on offer — just a lot of bone-chewing in the end.

[Fransien Vandeweghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 *

[John Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sparse, staccato style at work here will suit some readers more than others. Jones does succeed in presenting an intriguing, and at times captivating, portrayal of his central concern: our relationship with, (and too often struggle against), nature. The depictions of rural life in Wales are among the strongest elements of the collection, and the undercurrent of discomfort, angst, and occasional gore is often handled with real deftness.

“Cow” stands out as the clear high point for me. Its visceral force is compelling and electric, and left me wishing more of the collection reached the same calibre. Elsewhere, I often found myself frustrated by the extremity of Jones’s minimalism. Promising ideas and subtexts are frequently introduced only to be abandoned, as the narrative shifts without warning and refuses to linger. I wanted more space, more prose, and more time to properly absorb what Jones was gesturing toward.

The result, for me, was a reading experience that could feel abrasive and disjointed, though not without intermittent bursts of energy and inspiration. While this made parts of the book feel like a slow trudge, a more careful or perceptive reader may well derive greater satisfaction from it than I did. I can speak only to my own experience. A worthwhile experiment, but an uneven one. 2.5

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pulse is a collection of 6 short stories, all of them excellent and exactly what you’d expect from Jones. I don’t want to spoil any of the stories as they definitely work best going in blind. Unless you’re a short story connoisseur I’d start with one of his longer form pieces (the Cove, the Dig etc). If you know you like his sparse, bleak style and often painful look at rural masculinity, you’ll love these. It’s a master class in evoking strong narratives and emotions in minimal words… and there’s always a point to be made, or a feeling to be drenched in. They are immersive and reflective in the way current crop of ‘vibes over plot’ gentle reads want to be, but without the tedious wading through treacle sensation. A cold sharp plunge to revive, opposed to a warm slow descent to brain death (or ecstasy, depending on your thing). Please just read his work, it’s an absolute crime I never see him recommended!

[T P Kennedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's some good writing in this collection and some of the stories are quite brave. I'd give the writer kudos for the sense of place and the harsh rural settings. One or two of the stories such as Pulse worked for me. However, the odd punctation and the sparseness marred my reading experience. Without all the double spacing this book could be half the size. Some of the tales are a little far fetched - kidnapping a delivery man to protest the impact of supermarkets! There's a tone of estrangement which is conveyed but didn't do much for me. From my perspective, it's a misfire but a brave, totally committed one.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

"... a collections of viscerally powerful short stories in which man is pitted against nature, agianst sircumstance, and against himself." according to the blurp. You can add: "and the reader is pitted against the stories." A completely new reading experience for me, these raw, sometimes brutal or strangely familiar tales. If you like a challenge, these compact, poetical and almost story-board-like stories will serve y ou well.

[Martin Veysey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Cove and enjoyed the minimalism of Jones’ writing, homing in on small yet significant moments that flow and link together to create a story.
And I wasn’t disappointed by these four compelling stories, which I read through twice.
Human tensions are palpable in each, played out within the Welsh (I’m guessing) hill country; wind swept, cold, muddy, damp, hurricane battered and snowbound.
Reluctant brutality inflicted on animals, flailing in gore and shit, quietly observed by birds and creaking leafless trees.
Teetering shamed, abstract moments of human interactions sans resolution.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest stunning work of fiction by this wonderful Welsh writer, six short stories of varying length, but all with a starkness and reality that leaves you on the edge of your seat. Sparse crisp writing, mostly farming/ rural related. Cow, a tale of lambing and a difficult carving is astonishing and surely confirms my belief Jones comes from a farming background.

[Daren Kearl · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a few good stories here. They are very gritty and grim. I particularly enjoyed the off-kilter turn that Reindeer took and the radical Stock where a man is highjacking Grocery delivery vans to feed the local oldies. White Squares was another short story where it led the reader one way, then took an unexpected turn. 3 out of 6 hit for me.

[Rhodri ap Dyfrig · Rating 3 out of 5]

So sparse it's an intense read, that probably rewards a more careful reading than I did. A bit too sparse for my personal taste. Cow and Pulse were electric and captured a small scene pregnant with an extended story world with a sharp vivid light.

[Juan Grana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved all his previous books. But this collection of short stories was hard work. Not as enjoyable, despite the great writing.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark rural tales full of regret - well written, just not particularly my cup of tea

[Bente Verbeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ik weet het niet. Niet mijn soort type boek denk ik

[Salty Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broken into six parts, these are bleak tales of farming life. Brutal, endearing and dark, the protagonists are all heroes in their own, unassuming fashion.

[Johan Gevers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Onvoldoende verhalen kunnen smaken omdat ik een te groot gevecht moest leveren met de Engelse taal. Wellicht in vertaling te herlezen om het schrijven meer naar waarde te schatten.

Ook in vertaling bleef het een moeizame rit. Niet alle verhalen vond ik even sterk. Wel wat jammer want ik ben een grote fan van deze auteur, maar nu ben ik toch wel wat op mijn leeshonger blijven zitten. Dus eerder een 2,5⭐️

[Karine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5