CLARA.

by Luisa Valenzuela, Jorge Castello & Hortense Carpentier (Translator)

Thirteen Short Stories and a Novel by Valenzuela, Luisa; tr. by Hortense Carpentier et al.. 8vo. 2d ptg.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

233 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1976

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

[jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

luisa valenzuela's clara collects the argentine author's debut novel and first short story collection (hay que sonreír and los heréticos), each originally published about a half-century ago now. despite some interesting themes in both the stories and the titular novel(la), valenzuela's writing leaves much to be desired. many of the subjects (most revolving around sexuality in some regard) were likely shocking in the mid 60s, yet now seem somewhat banal and not thoroughly fleshed out. valenzuela, however, apparently grew up in the company of some rather esteemed authors (her mother was also a writer), including borges, bioy casares, and sabato.

the corpses had been snuffed out with the last note of his song. it took me a long time to get over the visceral sensation of horror and loathing they produced in me. but then i realized how alone i was in the night and in the world, and i began to feel all the pain that had been his, the breaking of his dark body. at some time that dark body will soar back up into the mountains—that is, if someone like him, with a voice capable of raising the dead, comes to my city.

i am still waiting.

*translated from the spanish by hortense carpentier (onetti's a brief life) and j. jorge castello

[Sylvia Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read Clara but could not find this title in the Goodreads archive, at least by itself. Clara is a story about a young, naive woman whose life falls into the hands of one man to another. Her fate is bound to the desires of each man, who progressively get worse throughout the novel. I think, Valenzuela uses the novel to reevaluate the tradition of marriage from the perspective of a woman and Clara seems to be more free and independent as a prostitute than as someone's girlfriend or someone's wife. Overall, I felt the story was interesting and well written. I find Luisa Valenzuela's later work to be stronger, indicative of her growth and her maturity, but she is a very talented writer and it shows through in this earlier work.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually only read "Clara"--I had a different version. The story was dumb, and the unfinished ending, when you have no idea of what happens to Clara, angered me.