Cuentos reunidos

by Cynthia Ozick, Eugenia Vázquez Nacarino (Translator)

Al hablar de la condición humana en general se corre el riesgo de caer en la frivolidad, pero basta con leer cualquiera de los cuentos de Cynthia Ozick para olvidarse de las frases hechas y asumir lo que es ajeno como nuestro.

En esta recopilación de cuentos descubrimos a hombres y mujeres que a primera vista podrían parecer seres patéticos, pero que en el fondo conservan y muestran su dignidad, a menudo gracias a la ironía, siempre tan oportuna. Si, como decía Mark Strand, vivir consiste en estar alerta y prestar atención al mundo, Cynthia Ozick es el testigo que buscábamos.

«El estilo más logrado y elegante de la narrativa contemporánea.»

The New York Times

Genres: Short Stories, Literature, Fiction, Jewish, 20th Century, The United States Of America

720 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Recipient of the first Rea Award for the Short Story (in 1976; other winners Rea honorees include Lorrie Moore, John Updike, Alice Munro), an American Academy of Arts and Letters Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award, and the PEN/Malamud award in 2008.

Upon publication of her 1983 The Shawl, Edmund White wrote in the New York Times, "Miss Ozick strikes me as the best American writer to have emerged in recent years...Judaism has given to her what Catholicism gave to Flannery O'Connor."

Reviews

[Joni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ozick escribe tan bien que cada cuento es un mar de tecnicismos prodigiosos, así como reza en la fajita que trae el libro, ella pelea con cada frase y se nota. Pero se tan rebuscado todo le quita frescura. Sus cuentos son grandes experiencias literarias que se disfruta mejor dosificada.

[Alvaro Muñoz Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ozick és una de les millors narradores avui dia!

[Sean]

Prickly, irritated, disjointed, POV-jumping, full of angry people either too young or too old, hyper-intellectual, the sort of stories that include letters and the characters' own journals inside them-- you want to simultaneously share it with everyone and keep it a secret as you read.

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection was a surprise. Never thought I could be totally entranced by such capacious short stories. I hung on every word, all 484 pages. So much more to Ozick than "The Shawl" (not included here for some reason yet not missed as it's been anthologized to death and in a league of its own). These tales remind me so much of I.B. Singer, yet they're unique to Ozick, who must not be allowed to fall into the neglect of under-appreciation and relegation to some sort of Jewish literary ghetto.

David Foster Wallace cited Ozick as one of only a handful of writers who influenced him in no less than three interviews I read. Now I get it. Beautiful language, powerful images, timeless sophistication. You will not be disappointed.

[Alec]

#18
'A great big girl, how about that. Viking stock. You may be interested to know that I've included a certain uncommon Scandinavian diphthong in my work. Zamenhof didn't dare. He looked the other way. He didn't have the nerve.' Behind his glasses Simon was grinning. 'Any friend of my niece Vivian I intend to like. But never an Esperantist. You're not an Esperantist, are you?'

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ozick is a brilliant writer but I couldn't finish this collection - too heavy for me at this time in my life.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inventive, hilarious. An incredibly talented writer. My favourites in this collection were The Pagan Rabbi; Envy (which has forever ruined Isaac Bashevis Singer for me!); Virility; An Education; Actors; and the very funny literary parody Dictation. The stories are dense and demanding, some, to be candid, too clever for me. Virility is one I would curate in my personal favourite short stories collection.