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Adultery and Other Choices
“The title story alone will make it worth your while to go out and get the book.”―The New York Times Book Review This second book of short stories by Andre Dubus (now included in his three-volume Collected Short Stories & Novellas ) established him as a master of the genre in the lineage of Hemingway and Chekhov, even as its gritty truths and spiritual attentiveness served to set his voice apart. The opening stories focus on the fragile nature of youth, exemplified in struggles with a father, a friend, an enemy. In part two, Dubus contends with the military, the police, and fate―and then leaves us with the most wrenching of all emotional challenges in the final novella, Adultery . Poignant as parables, alive as fiction, and compelling as pure narrative, these familiar stories never fail to entertain while, at the same time, leaving the reader breathless with the immediacy and depth of real life in the real America.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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1023 people want to read
About the author
Andre Dubus
93 books268 followersAward-winning author Andre Dubus II (1936–1999) has been hailed as one of the best American short story writers of the twentieth century. Dubus’s collections of short fiction include Separate Flights (1975), Adultery & Other Choices (1977), and Dancing After Hours (1996), which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. Another collection, Finding a Girl in America, features the story “Killings,” which was adapted into the critically acclaimed film In the Bedroom (2001), starring Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, and Marisa Tomei. His son Andre Dubus III is also a writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
July 31, 2019
I racconti di Dubus non si limitano a registrare istanti o eventi dell’esistenza dei protagonisti. Con un’attenzione ai gesti, alle ombre, ai pensieri più nascosti, i personaggi prendono vita, sembrano incarnarsi davanti a noi. Ne scopriamo le debolezze, l’infelicità, una certa religiosità da cui l’autore non prescinde mai, in una visione della fede che spesso supera le regole di una religione severa e consolidata, in una concezione del peccato come di qualcosa di estremamente personale, impossibile da giudicare. Nei tre movimenti del libro - l’infanzia, la giovinezza e la maturità - Dubus tratta i rapporti interpersonali, il dolore per la fine di un amore, il senso di vuoto e di perdita, l’insoddisfazione, la memoria con una partecipazione che coinvolge e commuove il lettore.
Particolarmente belli per me “La ragazza grassa”, “Andromaca” e “Adulterio”.
Particolarmente belli per me “La ragazza grassa”, “Andromaca” e “Adulterio”.
March 27, 2025
“Il gin accresceva la sua amarezza, facendola sentire al di là delle lacrime, nella profondità di un qualche abisso dove non c’era nessuna emozione che potesse salvarla dalle ginocchia tremanti, dallo stomaco in subbuglio e dal cuore avvolto nel gelo che continuava a ripeterle che era tutto finito.“ [da Adulterio]
È una raccolta di racconti del 1977 e dipinge un’America molto distante da quella che oggi (ma forse anche prima di oggi) si mostra tonante e vincente.
Come spiega Manuppelli nella sua illuminante postfazione, il percorso di Andre Dubus è lo stesso di un romanzo di formazione: attraversa i drammi dell’infanzia, le inquietudini e le turbolenze dell’adolescenza e della giovinezza per arrivare alle questioni proprie dell’età adulta.
Oltre ai temi, la vera grandezza di questi racconti sta nella scrittura di Dubus: equilibrata, intensa, semplicemente perfetta. Con la sua penna agile entriamo nelle circostanze della vita scivolando inavvertitamente lungo i sentieri impervi e precari del nostro barcollare umano. Ci riconosciamo e insieme prendiamo le distanze dai personaggi e da noi stessi, perché la scrittura è in grado di farci da specchio e renderci nel contempo imparziali osservatori di quegli eventi interiori che sono potenti e silenziosi come esplosioni atomiche.
“Noi siamo i personaggi marginali delle grandi storie, sembra dire Dubus. Noi siamo rimasti a casa. Noi ci siamo fatti sconvolgere dalle vibrazioni che venivano da lontano. Noi abbiamo dovuto affrontare noi stessi. Noi siamo i veri eroi.” (Nicola Manuppelli)
È una raccolta di racconti del 1977 e dipinge un’America molto distante da quella che oggi (ma forse anche prima di oggi) si mostra tonante e vincente.
Come spiega Manuppelli nella sua illuminante postfazione, il percorso di Andre Dubus è lo stesso di un romanzo di formazione: attraversa i drammi dell’infanzia, le inquietudini e le turbolenze dell’adolescenza e della giovinezza per arrivare alle questioni proprie dell’età adulta.
Oltre ai temi, la vera grandezza di questi racconti sta nella scrittura di Dubus: equilibrata, intensa, semplicemente perfetta. Con la sua penna agile entriamo nelle circostanze della vita scivolando inavvertitamente lungo i sentieri impervi e precari del nostro barcollare umano. Ci riconosciamo e insieme prendiamo le distanze dai personaggi e da noi stessi, perché la scrittura è in grado di farci da specchio e renderci nel contempo imparziali osservatori di quegli eventi interiori che sono potenti e silenziosi come esplosioni atomiche.
“Noi siamo i personaggi marginali delle grandi storie, sembra dire Dubus. Noi siamo rimasti a casa. Noi ci siamo fatti sconvolgere dalle vibrazioni che venivano da lontano. Noi abbiamo dovuto affrontare noi stessi. Noi siamo i veri eroi.” (Nicola Manuppelli)
March 6, 2019
Gli istanti in cui si nasconde l'amore
In questa seconda raccolta ritroviamo alcuni personaggi di Voli separati ,nella bellissima novella finale Adulterio e il tema che sarà poi sviluppato in Non abitiamo più qui
Dubus con grande maestria riesce a sottolineare dei gesti minimi, un sospiro, uno sguardo da sopra il giornale, una mano messa dietro la schiena , riesce a fissare quegli istanti ,sfuggenti, innocui nel momento in cui accadono ,che sembrano piccolezze, e invece contano, sono momenti unici ,preziosi , che formano la nostra vita .
Come quando senti che finalmente quella è la cosa giusta da fare ,o il momento in cui all'improvviso tutto appare chiaro, sai che è finita e sai che è un addio
o l'istante in cui un padre lascia andare il sedile della bicicletta del figlio e poi lo osserva ,mentre prova a tenere dritto il manubrio, da solo (nel racconto Andromaca , da 6 stelle, uno dei suoi migliori ,credo)
Racconti che esplorano i microcosmi che noi siamo, le incertezze ,le paure, la solitudine ,la libertà, gli inganni , la seduzione, la trasgressione, il calore di un tocco ,la vertigine
, che ti scombussolano a livello emotivo e... va bene così :)
4 stelle !
In questa seconda raccolta ritroviamo alcuni personaggi di Voli separati ,nella bellissima novella finale Adulterio e il tema che sarà poi sviluppato in Non abitiamo più qui
Dubus con grande maestria riesce a sottolineare dei gesti minimi, un sospiro, uno sguardo da sopra il giornale, una mano messa dietro la schiena , riesce a fissare quegli istanti ,sfuggenti, innocui nel momento in cui accadono ,che sembrano piccolezze, e invece contano, sono momenti unici ,preziosi , che formano la nostra vita .
Come quando senti che finalmente quella è la cosa giusta da fare ,o il momento in cui all'improvviso tutto appare chiaro, sai che è finita e sai che è un addio
o l'istante in cui un padre lascia andare il sedile della bicicletta del figlio e poi lo osserva ,mentre prova a tenere dritto il manubrio, da solo (nel racconto Andromaca , da 6 stelle, uno dei suoi migliori ,credo)
Racconti che esplorano i microcosmi che noi siamo, le incertezze ,le paure, la solitudine ,la libertà, gli inganni , la seduzione, la trasgressione, il calore di un tocco ,la vertigine
, che ti scombussolano a livello emotivo e... va bene così :)
4 stelle !
February 1, 2019
La cosa bella con Dubus è che è un piacere leggere anche i racconti meno riusciti (quando nessuno, comunque proprio pochi).
Un pomeriggio con il vecchio ★★★★
Rimorso ★★★★★
Il bullo ★★★
Diploma ★★★★
La ragazza grassa ★★★
Ritmo ★★★★
Caporale di artiglieria ★★
La sparatoria ★★
Andromaca ★★★
Adulterio ★★★★★
Cit.
Un pomeriggio con il vecchio ★★★★
Rimorso ★★★★★
Il bullo ★★★
Diploma ★★★★
La ragazza grassa ★★★
Ritmo ★★★★
Caporale di artiglieria ★★
La sparatoria ★★
Andromaca ★★★
Adulterio ★★★★★
Cit.
April 17, 2013
More great stories from a master of the genre. This collection, written in the mid '70s, contains three sections: the first is a group of semi-related stories; most follow the young life of Paul Clement, although the last story of the bunch "The Fat Girl" stands on its own and is the best of the group.
Part 2 of the collection are narratives with the Marines as a common element. "Corporal of Artillery" and "Andromache" are both superb.
The final section of the book is the novella "Adultery" - a connected story to two other novellas of Dubus which are presented in choronology in We Don't Live Here Anymore.
For first time Dubus readers I wouldn't recommend starting with this choice (his collected short stories is the place to start). But it is still a great collection by one of the best short fiction authors.
Part 2 of the collection are narratives with the Marines as a common element. "Corporal of Artillery" and "Andromache" are both superb.
The final section of the book is the novella "Adultery" - a connected story to two other novellas of Dubus which are presented in choronology in We Don't Live Here Anymore.
For first time Dubus readers I wouldn't recommend starting with this choice (his collected short stories is the place to start). But it is still a great collection by one of the best short fiction authors.
January 29, 2010
Finished in one day. Could not put this book down for longer than a few minutes. Character driven short stories which tell intimate tales of loss, betrayal, unrealized dreams. All of Dubus' individuals are fractured in some way--self, family, community--which make the stories painfully raw and yet all the more real.... The title story alone is enough for you to get hold of this book.
February 23, 2024
Me gustó, pero me costó harto porque con este libro retomé el hábito de la lectura y me propuse leer cada palabra y entender cada frase. No es un libro difícil, pero tampoco fácil, es medianito. A rato me dejaba con una sensación que no logro describir. ¿Desesperanza? ¿Perplejidad?. Si ven por ahí una ruleta de emociones, regálenmela porque no logro nombrar la sensación. Es un libro que habla de las relaciones humanas, amorosas, con uno mismo. Cotidiano y medio crudo.
July 2, 2024
Los leí lento y pausado, como debía ser. Disfruté cada uno de los relatos, incluso aquellos en donde sentí poca o nula empatía por los personajes, porque su humanidad no podía ser pasada por alto. Quiero leer más de Dubus.
November 28, 2025
Seconda raccolta di racconti di Dubus, e quarto titolo per me dell'autore, e davvero non c'è bisogno di dire tante parole al riguardo.
I suoi racconti sono dei piccoli quadri della piccola America, della provincia cheta e un po' grigia, ma piena di vita.
La struttura di questa raccolta è suddivisa in tre parti, e possiamo notare lo sviluppo dei temi (e dei personaggi) con il progredire della lettura: all'inizio c'è l'infanzia, ci sono desideri più frivoli che però sembrano occupare lo spazio del mondo intero; in mezzo ci sono i giovani adulti che vestono abiti troppo grandi e scarpe troppo larghe, che tentano di trovare la propria strada, tra lavoro e amore e sofferenza; e alla fine c'è la vita adulta, quella in cui, in un giorno qualunque, senza grandi fanfare, ci accorgiamo tutti di essere approdati, e da dove possiamo guardarci alle spalle con affetto e malinconia, e da dove possiamo guardare in avanti, ancora con un mezzo sorriso sulle labbra.
Ogni racconto racchiude una lezione di vita, un consiglio, un pensiero capace di affondare i denti nei punti più nascosti della nostra anima: ci sono i giovani soldati lontani dai campi di battaglia, che cercano un modo per dimostrare al mondo il proprio valore; c'è un bambino spaventato da un padre la cui ombra sembra occupare tutto il vano della porta e incombere sulla famiglia seduta a tavola, che ricorda le carezze e i giochi sulla neve; c'è una ragazza obesa schiacciata dalla famiglia e dalle aspettative della società; c'è una vedova che riguarda, con il cuore a pezzi, il filmato del marito che insegna al figlio ad andare in bicicletta; c'è una coppia che, lentamente, uno sguardo alla volta, una parola taciuta alla volta, ha finito per separarsi definitivamente.
I temi di Dubus ritornano qui, come in molte altre opere: la vita militare, la religione, la coppia, la perdita, sì, ma soprattutto l'amore.
I suoi personaggi non si muovono col passo sicuro dell'americano medio a cui siamo più abituati ai giorni nostri, ma sembrano quasi barcollare, cadono e si rialzano, sbagliano e imparano dai propri errori, oppure no, ma vanno comunque avanti.
Recensione completa sul blog:
https://legolegimus.altervista.org/ad...
I suoi racconti sono dei piccoli quadri della piccola America, della provincia cheta e un po' grigia, ma piena di vita.
La struttura di questa raccolta è suddivisa in tre parti, e possiamo notare lo sviluppo dei temi (e dei personaggi) con il progredire della lettura: all'inizio c'è l'infanzia, ci sono desideri più frivoli che però sembrano occupare lo spazio del mondo intero; in mezzo ci sono i giovani adulti che vestono abiti troppo grandi e scarpe troppo larghe, che tentano di trovare la propria strada, tra lavoro e amore e sofferenza; e alla fine c'è la vita adulta, quella in cui, in un giorno qualunque, senza grandi fanfare, ci accorgiamo tutti di essere approdati, e da dove possiamo guardarci alle spalle con affetto e malinconia, e da dove possiamo guardare in avanti, ancora con un mezzo sorriso sulle labbra.
Ogni racconto racchiude una lezione di vita, un consiglio, un pensiero capace di affondare i denti nei punti più nascosti della nostra anima: ci sono i giovani soldati lontani dai campi di battaglia, che cercano un modo per dimostrare al mondo il proprio valore; c'è un bambino spaventato da un padre la cui ombra sembra occupare tutto il vano della porta e incombere sulla famiglia seduta a tavola, che ricorda le carezze e i giochi sulla neve; c'è una ragazza obesa schiacciata dalla famiglia e dalle aspettative della società; c'è una vedova che riguarda, con il cuore a pezzi, il filmato del marito che insegna al figlio ad andare in bicicletta; c'è una coppia che, lentamente, uno sguardo alla volta, una parola taciuta alla volta, ha finito per separarsi definitivamente.
I temi di Dubus ritornano qui, come in molte altre opere: la vita militare, la religione, la coppia, la perdita, sì, ma soprattutto l'amore.
I suoi personaggi non si muovono col passo sicuro dell'americano medio a cui siamo più abituati ai giorni nostri, ma sembrano quasi barcollare, cadono e si rialzano, sbagliano e imparano dai propri errori, oppure no, ma vanno comunque avanti.
Recensione completa sul blog:
https://legolegimus.altervista.org/ad...
February 12, 2023
Es una maravilla!! Hay un antes y después luego de leerlo e Interpelarnos acerca de las relaciones con otros seres como nosotros, quizá no tan vulgares pero que sufren igual. Quiero leer más relatos de Dubus! Ya!
May 25, 2024
Muy bueno. 3.9
March 5, 2023
Estos son cuentos.
October 2, 2011
Adultery is a choice…among many others.
Andre Dubus
Adultery & Other Choices
Open Road, New York, 2010
Adultery and Other Choices consists of nine short stories and a novella. The book is broken into three parts, in which Dubus skillfully depicts the strifes and challenges of real life, and at the same time, mirrors the progression of complex obstacles as we age through each part. Part one contains five short stories with the theme centering around the struggles of the characters in their youth. An Afternoon with the Old Man, Contrition and The Bully focus on Paul Clement, a young boy who lives in Louisiana, and shows his struggles transitioning into manhood. In An Afternoon with the Old Man, the mother says to Paul, “You should talk more with Daddy. He loves y’all very much, but he doesn’t know how to talk to children,” (p.8). This depicts the relationship between them, and what the three short stories ultimately center around.
Graduation focuses on a girl, Bobbie, struggling with her reputation, as well as her high school relationships. Her problems center on her learning about boys, and getting through high school as a misunderstood girl, and reinventing herself when she goes to college.
The Fat Girl was by far my favorite short story in this book. It follows Louise and her struggle with obesity since childhood, through college, and after. It really captures a problem that is prominent in society today.
Part two has four short stories, focusing on military stories and the characters’ struggles, which are more adult in nature. In Cadence, the reader once again sees Paul Clement, but as a young man entering the Marine Corps. The story follows him and his decision to enter the marines and his having to stick to his decision, even though he wants to quit.
The other three stories, Corporal of Artillery, The Shooting and Andromcahe all center on married life in the military. Andromache is the only story in this section that follows mostly the wife. Ellens pilot husband dies, and she recalls times before her husbands death “Her memories of Joe were alive: he was talking, he was smiling at her, he was stern, he was walking on the cold beach at Whidbey Island, or kissing her and going to the plane.”(p.103).
The final part of the story, Adultery, is a novella about Edith, a wife who commits adultery with an ex-priest and her internal struggle along the way.
The immediacy Dubus writes with is incredible. He portrays his characters--all ordinary people in ordinary places--with ease. This book is most appropriate for young adults or older, because the diction is easy to follow, but every word used in each story was tactfully placed and holds meaning. Everything said is done so on purpose, and Dubus doesn’t add any fluff to clutter his short stories. Dubus’ writing is clean, and his sentences vary in structure, adding to the books tempo. In each story, he narrates as an observer, which says even more about his writing. Without allowing the reader directly into his characters minds, the reader still understands so much about them through their small, revealing moments. This book was one unlike any other I have read. The stories work together in the recurring theme of distant relationships, and keep the reader intrigued until the end.
Andre Dubus
Adultery & Other Choices
Open Road, New York, 2010
Adultery and Other Choices consists of nine short stories and a novella. The book is broken into three parts, in which Dubus skillfully depicts the strifes and challenges of real life, and at the same time, mirrors the progression of complex obstacles as we age through each part. Part one contains five short stories with the theme centering around the struggles of the characters in their youth. An Afternoon with the Old Man, Contrition and The Bully focus on Paul Clement, a young boy who lives in Louisiana, and shows his struggles transitioning into manhood. In An Afternoon with the Old Man, the mother says to Paul, “You should talk more with Daddy. He loves y’all very much, but he doesn’t know how to talk to children,” (p.8). This depicts the relationship between them, and what the three short stories ultimately center around.
Graduation focuses on a girl, Bobbie, struggling with her reputation, as well as her high school relationships. Her problems center on her learning about boys, and getting through high school as a misunderstood girl, and reinventing herself when she goes to college.
The Fat Girl was by far my favorite short story in this book. It follows Louise and her struggle with obesity since childhood, through college, and after. It really captures a problem that is prominent in society today.
Part two has four short stories, focusing on military stories and the characters’ struggles, which are more adult in nature. In Cadence, the reader once again sees Paul Clement, but as a young man entering the Marine Corps. The story follows him and his decision to enter the marines and his having to stick to his decision, even though he wants to quit.
The other three stories, Corporal of Artillery, The Shooting and Andromcahe all center on married life in the military. Andromache is the only story in this section that follows mostly the wife. Ellens pilot husband dies, and she recalls times before her husbands death “Her memories of Joe were alive: he was talking, he was smiling at her, he was stern, he was walking on the cold beach at Whidbey Island, or kissing her and going to the plane.”(p.103).
The final part of the story, Adultery, is a novella about Edith, a wife who commits adultery with an ex-priest and her internal struggle along the way.
The immediacy Dubus writes with is incredible. He portrays his characters--all ordinary people in ordinary places--with ease. This book is most appropriate for young adults or older, because the diction is easy to follow, but every word used in each story was tactfully placed and holds meaning. Everything said is done so on purpose, and Dubus doesn’t add any fluff to clutter his short stories. Dubus’ writing is clean, and his sentences vary in structure, adding to the books tempo. In each story, he narrates as an observer, which says even more about his writing. Without allowing the reader directly into his characters minds, the reader still understands so much about them through their small, revealing moments. This book was one unlike any other I have read. The stories work together in the recurring theme of distant relationships, and keep the reader intrigued until the end.
November 11, 2022
"The Bully" - 8.5
- It might not go anywhere, but it’s not anywhere you’d expect. Partially an examination of callousness, partially of the cascading pains we all cause each other, and partially a consideration of comparative moral compasses. Not reading these one after the other, I lose track of the general thrust of Dubus’s collection, and only belatedly realize that his true interest here is in the adolescent psyche (most often masculine), and the rough stuff of which it’s made and unmade. Especially evident in Paul’s diffident response to his own bullying — he’s vengeful but placid, angry at the pain but accepting it nonetheless. His pleasure at imagining his tormentors demise mirrors that of the guilty, submerged glee he feels at realizing he’s about to do the cat in. Strangely, all the same, not as dark a story as all that. STORY: we meet a middle school boy and watch him torture a cat, realizing after that he’s not actually the bully, that would be his older tormentor at school, who drowns in the bayou at story end.
"Graduation" - 8
- Dubus is never an unpleasant read, especially when he’s plumbing the depths of minor moral ambiguities. Indeed, exploring the ways in which small-time pains lead to small-time inflictions of the same seems to be one of his strong points. Here, a high school girl gets a reputation for “sleeping around”, which out of spite she lives up to in the moment and runs from when first possible, living life as a “virgin” in college, and finally telling her fiancé that she had actually been raped by a relative at 12, which she hadn’t. Unfortunately, however, the story does little more than this, which both places too much narrative weight upon the supposed moral “conundrum” (the “soiled” girl), and also underscores any subsequent reverberations (we start in San Diego, in married life, and never return to them there).
- It might not go anywhere, but it’s not anywhere you’d expect. Partially an examination of callousness, partially of the cascading pains we all cause each other, and partially a consideration of comparative moral compasses. Not reading these one after the other, I lose track of the general thrust of Dubus’s collection, and only belatedly realize that his true interest here is in the adolescent psyche (most often masculine), and the rough stuff of which it’s made and unmade. Especially evident in Paul’s diffident response to his own bullying — he’s vengeful but placid, angry at the pain but accepting it nonetheless. His pleasure at imagining his tormentors demise mirrors that of the guilty, submerged glee he feels at realizing he’s about to do the cat in. Strangely, all the same, not as dark a story as all that. STORY: we meet a middle school boy and watch him torture a cat, realizing after that he’s not actually the bully, that would be his older tormentor at school, who drowns in the bayou at story end.
"Graduation" - 8
- Dubus is never an unpleasant read, especially when he’s plumbing the depths of minor moral ambiguities. Indeed, exploring the ways in which small-time pains lead to small-time inflictions of the same seems to be one of his strong points. Here, a high school girl gets a reputation for “sleeping around”, which out of spite she lives up to in the moment and runs from when first possible, living life as a “virgin” in college, and finally telling her fiancé that she had actually been raped by a relative at 12, which she hadn’t. Unfortunately, however, the story does little more than this, which both places too much narrative weight upon the supposed moral “conundrum” (the “soiled” girl), and also underscores any subsequent reverberations (we start in San Diego, in married life, and never return to them there).
January 9, 2020
#adulterio es una recopilación de relatos, donde la mujer y la familia son el hilo conductor ante diferentes escenarios y realidades que discurren como diarios pautados.
#AndreDubus nos presenta una sociedad llena de personajes que no entienden lo que deben hacer, lo que es la vida y vivir. Personajes que de repente se encuentran con un punto de inflexión en el que se despiertan y ven con claridad, y toman las riendas, y actúan, o deciden quedarse inmóviles.
En #adulterio conocemos la experiencia vital de una pareja de estudiantes universitarios ante un embarazo inesperado, el rechazo de la sociedad ante las personas con sobrepeso que están fuera de los cánones establecidos, el maltrato hacia las mujeres, el conocimiento y aceptación del adulterio de un matrimonio, el dolor del asesinato de un ser querido, el abandono del hogar y los hijos por parte de una madre...En resumen, estamos ante numerosas parábolas en que nos explora la juventud y en contraposición la madurez que se enfrenta a sus miedos y debiludades.
VALORACIÓN:
Esta obra es fácil de digerir pero todos los relatos tienen un trasfondo que se aparece como un arevelación conforme se avanza en la lectura, que nos muestra el mensaje que el autor quiere que conozcamos y compartamos.
El lenguaje es cuidado, adecuado y el autor da velocidad y lentitud en los momentos adecuados, que hace que su lectura sea interesante y necesaria a partes iguales.
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.
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@galloediciones #adulterio #AndreDubus #lecturas #leeresvivir #leerdavida #editorialesindependientes #lecturacalidad #recomendaciones #retolector2020 #segundalectura
March 20, 2021
3/5.
Me gustaría recalcar la importancia de informarse sobre los libros que vamos a leer, y meditar si estamos en el momento oportuno para devorarlos. En mi caso, con ‘Adulterio’, no fue así.
La verdad no me puedo quejar, porque iba sobre aviso. Leí la contra cubierta y sabía que iba a leer historias donde la soledad y el desamor juega un papel importante, pero jamas imaginé hasta tal punto.
La narrativa es hermosa, la forma que tiene Dubus de contar sus historias me parece muy peculiar, personal, y bella. Ahora, todo el libro me transmitió una horrible sensación de soledad que a día de hoy no estoy preparada para afrontar. No la soledad entendida como estar sin personas al rededor, si no de verse rodeado de gente y sentir que a uno nadie le entiende. Y sin decirlo directamente, tan solo describiendo escenas y sensaciones; así de bien escribe Andre Dubus.
En fin, sí lo recomendaría, pero hay que ir sobre aviso. Quizás mi error estuvo en tomarme demasiado literal la frase de la contra cubiera, “relatos (...) que nos ayudan a comprendernos”. Puede que, al fin y al cabo, sí nos ayuden a comprendernos. Pero desde luego las claves para gestionar lo que sale a la superficie después de leer a Dubus, si es que las da, están muy metidas en el libro, y hay que sacarlas con pico y pala.
Me gustaría recalcar la importancia de informarse sobre los libros que vamos a leer, y meditar si estamos en el momento oportuno para devorarlos. En mi caso, con ‘Adulterio’, no fue así.
La verdad no me puedo quejar, porque iba sobre aviso. Leí la contra cubierta y sabía que iba a leer historias donde la soledad y el desamor juega un papel importante, pero jamas imaginé hasta tal punto.
La narrativa es hermosa, la forma que tiene Dubus de contar sus historias me parece muy peculiar, personal, y bella. Ahora, todo el libro me transmitió una horrible sensación de soledad que a día de hoy no estoy preparada para afrontar. No la soledad entendida como estar sin personas al rededor, si no de verse rodeado de gente y sentir que a uno nadie le entiende. Y sin decirlo directamente, tan solo describiendo escenas y sensaciones; así de bien escribe Andre Dubus.
En fin, sí lo recomendaría, pero hay que ir sobre aviso. Quizás mi error estuvo en tomarme demasiado literal la frase de la contra cubiera, “relatos (...) que nos ayudan a comprendernos”. Puede que, al fin y al cabo, sí nos ayuden a comprendernos. Pero desde luego las claves para gestionar lo que sale a la superficie después de leer a Dubus, si es que las da, están muy metidas en el libro, y hay que sacarlas con pico y pala.
December 17, 2021
My guess is this book is semi-auto-biographical just by reading the back cover on Dubus' background in the army.
The somewhat-connected short stories are split into three chapters/sections.
1. The first section is spectacular. "Contrition" and "The Fat Girl" are simple yet emotionally complex; they're timeless. It bumps up my rating from 3-ish stars to 4-ish stars.
2. The second section's military premise... was a let-down. I do like that it focused more on the home front (wives and returning soldiers, etc.), but I felt I never really got to know or care about any of these characters.
3. The third section is really just one long short story: almost a novella, as it is split into four "chapters" of its own. This was alright; but for some reason I couldn't really connect with the characters (whom I felt all acted unexplainably weird).
Some other thoughts:
* The jumping to past tense was used for backstory, but went on so long without much character development (felt counterintuitive)
* Some out-of-the-blue philosophical monologues that didn't really seem to help connect the dots to anything else
* Often and vaguely introducing characters' names all at once; I'm lost (can't tell who I should be caring to remember/not?)
* Just a lot of words in general... that felt unnecessary and misdirecting: less is more
But I'll give some more of his short stories a read.
The somewhat-connected short stories are split into three chapters/sections.
1. The first section is spectacular. "Contrition" and "The Fat Girl" are simple yet emotionally complex; they're timeless. It bumps up my rating from 3-ish stars to 4-ish stars.
2. The second section's military premise... was a let-down. I do like that it focused more on the home front (wives and returning soldiers, etc.), but I felt I never really got to know or care about any of these characters.
3. The third section is really just one long short story: almost a novella, as it is split into four "chapters" of its own. This was alright; but for some reason I couldn't really connect with the characters (whom I felt all acted unexplainably weird).
Some other thoughts:
* The jumping to past tense was used for backstory, but went on so long without much character development (felt counterintuitive)
* Some out-of-the-blue philosophical monologues that didn't really seem to help connect the dots to anything else
* Often and vaguely introducing characters' names all at once; I'm lost (can't tell who I should be caring to remember/not?)
* Just a lot of words in general... that felt unnecessary and misdirecting: less is more
But I'll give some more of his short stories a read.
July 4, 2021
A somber and masterfully constructed piece of human life. I'm not sure how Dubus does it, but his characters feel so real and his prose is so detailed and filled with little nuances no other writer would write down that I find myself entrapped. The title novella is a tie in to the novella "We Don't Live Here Anymore" from his first collection of short stories Separate Flights, though I consider this one superior. With a simple change in point of view character Dubus' masterful character work gives a feeling of sonder, melancholy, understanding, and elation at the title character escaping a life she never wanted. The other stories within are also brilliant, with the first part of the book being mostly coming of age stories following a boy in Louisiana and his distant father up to his entrance into the Marines. Other separated stories such as "The Fat Girl" and "Graduation" elevate this novel even further. Giving us strong female voices dissenting the roles and stigma that society has forced onto them in an era where that would be unheard of. Of what I've read of his work so far, it seems Dubus truly understands his fellow humans, and even more so what it means to be unhappy.
February 3, 2022
I picked this up at a record shop on a whim and decided to give it a read, and as I was reading I learned more about Andre Dubus. The writing is obviously very high quality and many sections were very stunning to read. The subject matter was outside of what I would normally read (growing up Catholic, family life on a military base). The first stories, mainly about childhood, were the most interesting to me in the kinds of strange ethics that exist in them. One about a child who reveres the school bully (The Bully) really stuck with me for the way it defied my expectations. His treatment of female characters seemed to be uneven across the stories -- some seemed very real to me while others much less so.
April 3, 2022
‘Adulterio’, Andre Dubus. Gallo Nero, 2019. 212 páginas. Después de leer ‘Vuelos Separados’ del mismo autor, me lanzo a por este. Tiene unos cuantos relatos dentro pero ninguno me entusiasma hasta que llego al del título del libro: Adulterio. Por suerte el más largo. Está bien escrito al estilo de Carver, que es lo que busco. He disfrutado mucho mucho este relato de 80 páginas. Misterioso, humano y profundo. ¿Sacará Gallo Nero más Dubus?
January 29, 2024
Hermoso libro. Los cuentos hablan sobre temas de vínculos y sociales. En especial el cuento que le da nombre al libro, adulterio. Es hermoso, tiene una descripción fantástica de la historia de los personajes y habla de un tema muy actual pero del que no creo que se hablará tanto en el momento que fue escrito.
October 29, 2019
Not my first choice for reading. My fault not authors. Will always not criticize to others.
Did not hold my attention. Well written but short stories not my favorite venue. Author obviously talented. Mary Hope others like the book.
Did not hold my attention. Well written but short stories not my favorite venue. Author obviously talented. Mary Hope others like the book.
April 4, 2019
Neat, clear, concise writing that just never really took me away. Can\t really put my finger on it, but it was interesting enough but not more. 3 stars
May 27, 2023
Yea, read into my readings
June 26, 2024
Una prosa exquisita y breves relatos que enganchan.
February 17, 2025
El nombre no engaña. Mucho adulterio y mucha humanidad, y un tiempo muy distinto al actual.
June 19, 2025
Couldn’t get thru the first story. Unlikable characters. Why this book is so highly rated is a mystery to me.
April 25, 2020
Well, that was a bummer. Like Ibsen but in post-war America -- crumbling domestic dramas. Quiet decay -- but still holding onto Protestant, middle class values. Always ending with a flop.
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