Azares del cuerpo

by María Ospina Pizano

Los cuerpos de este libro migran, se buscan, a veces también se pierden. Son intérpretes, voces que revelan historias sobre el deseo de encontrar a otros. Aquí todo cuerpo es un cuento.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, International, Feminism, Contemporary, Latino

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

María Ospina Pizano (Bogotá, 1977) es profesora de la Universidad de Wesleyan, en Estados Unidos. Es una reconocida estudiosa de la cultura latinoamericana contemporánea, y escritora de ficción.

Reviews

[Juliana Abaúnza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le pongo 3.5. Estos cuentos están narrados por mujeres que guardan secretos pero sobre todo deseos de vidas nuevas. Una es una reinsertada que llegó a Bogotá a trabajar en Olímpica y a conectarse con sus hermanas, otra es una empleada doméstica que tiene una relación muy cercana con la niña a la que cuida (y que come tierra), también está la que volvió de Nueva York y se obsesiona con una adolescente que vive en el convento del frente, otra es la que vive con pulgas y cuenta dónde y cuántas veces la han picado, también está la que heredó una clínica de muñecas, y por último están la manicurista y la señora que no quiere morir de corazón roto. Todas tienen una voz diferente y a todas les sentí la nostalgia y las ganas de vivir cosas nuevas.

[jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

debut story collections don't come any finer than maría ospina's variations on the body (azares de cueroi). the colombian author's first work of fiction contains six short pieces, each unique and memorable in their own way. with colombian women as her protagonists, ospina's leads yearn at the margins, crave connection, discover and explore their own agency, and seek growth, change, or amelioration of their outsider status.

ospina writes with poise, profundity, and enviable emotional intelligence. her characters, perfectly imperfect, are imbued with authenticity and the cunning wherewithal to navigate a senseless world of violence, disregard, and neglect. variations on the body is an outstanding collection of short fiction and maría ospina is definitely a writer to watch (and await more from). "policarpa" and "occasion" are the best of the six.

when she reached that age of abstract yearnings that concentrate in and cloud the body, not long after she moved to the united states with her parents, aurora used to scrape the bottom of her yogurt cup in desperation, ashamed of her desire for so much more when it was clear there was nothing left, sensing that her distress meant something else, something wretched and essential she couldn't put into words.

*translated from the spanish by heather cleary (chejfec, larraquy, girondo, bellatin, et al.)

4.5 stars

[Ashish Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The first time she saw them, Aurora felt an urgent need to save them. They were leaving the old mansion framed by her picture window in gray uniforms and white shirts. She had a burning desire to know if they faced their suffering with resignation or rebellion, and whether they really aspired to take their vows or if that was just what the nuns who presided over their hermetic three-story residence were hoping.”

For me personally a short story collection only works when they have a dark edge to them, when they manage to strangle me down and place a punch at the end of every story. But Variations On The Body is a more meditative, more a-slice-of-life kind of collection and to my surprise I enjoyed it more than I thought.

There are in total six stories, all exploring in minute details the obsessions, desires and idiosyncrasies of women and girls from different strata living in or around Bogota. Out of these six, I enjoyed all except the one called Fauna Of The Ages which was about insect infestation in an apartment. I thought it was all a bit pointless and absurd. But the rest were exquisite, especially two of my personal favorites Saving Young Ladies and Collateral Beauty.

Saving Young Ladies was about a woman who moves into an apartment opposite a nunnery and gets obsessed with one of the girls living there. And the other one, Collateral Beauty was about a woman who runs Reyes Family Doll Clinic. This creeped the hell out of me.

All in all, it was quite a good collection and I’ll recommend it if you are looking to read something that is astonishingly written and quite short in length.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stellar debut collection that narrows in on the lives of different women in Colombia around the early to mid aughts. Some stories are loosely related with familiar characters stepping in to take the story in a new direction. The focus, as the title intimates, is centered on women’s bodies, the ways in which they’re used, lusted after, age, refuse to age, etc. How the women perceive themselves and are perceived by the people around them is a common thread throughout.

The backdrop to these personal stories is a country coping after decades of increased violence. The juxtaposition of the personal and political is always a favorite of mine (particularly when set in other countries), I feel I always come away having learned something.

This was a quick, but great read. “Policarpa” was my favorite of the collection.

[Jaye Viner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vibrant and varied collection of short stories that build well and explore the quiet nuances of relationships and individual choices. I especially enjoyed the final two stories. One is occupied with a collection of antique dolls. Another, a woman who collects scissors. They always end too soon, leaving me wondering about these characters and what they did next.

[Rambling Raconteur · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/mGjctmreKRU?si=IQVNC...

[G. Munckel · Rating 5 out of 5]

No había escuchado de esta autora. Tampoco había escuchado de este libro. Di con él por fidelidad a una editorial. Me lo llevé porque la probabilidad de encontrar algo de Laguna Libros en mi país es menos que mínima.

En “Policarpa”, Marcela, una exguerrillera, atraviesa el difícil proceso de reinserción a la sociedad, marcado por ausencias: las cosas que extraña de la selva sumadas a las que extraña de su vida familiar anterior a la violencia, las cosas que no puede decir. En “Ocasión”, se muestran el cariño y la complicidad entre Isabela, una niña de clase alta, y Zenaida, la empleada doméstica que la cuida, así como las consecuencias de la ingenuidad infantil. En “Salvación de señoritas”, Aurora pasa el tiempo mirando desde su ventana a las adolescentes que viven en un internado para chicas, y se obsesiona con una de ellas, Jessica, la única que alguna vez le devuelve la palabra. En “Fauna de las eras”, una mujer lleva un diario en el que registra su combate contra las pulgas que invaden su departamento. En “Collateral Beauty”, Estefanía trabaja en una clínica de muñecas, herencia de su abuelo, cuyo cierre es inminente, y pronto encuentra un misterioso comprador interesado en todas esas partes sueltas, repuestos inhallables y muñecas viejísimas que, espera, caigan en buenas manos. En “Azares del cuerpo”, se narra la amistad entrañable entre Martica, una manicurista, y Mirla, una mujer mayor que acaba de enviudar y que tiene que decidir qué hacer con su vida.

Son seis cuentos que dejan un resabio de melancolía incluso antes de haberlos terminado, historias que conmueven por la sutileza y la ternura con que Ospina deja entrever la tristeza y la soledad de sus protagonistas. Sé que voy a releerlos en algún momento. Sé que voy a buscar más libros de esta autora.

Mis favoritos: “Salvación de señoritas”, “Ocasión” y “Policarpa”.

[Areeb Ahmad (Bankrupt_Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The next morning, Aurora saw a few young ladies in the front yard, sheltered in their prison of love, chatting as they weeded between the bushes, watered the lilies, and swept the dirt from the sidewalk. It troubled her, it exasperated her, that they were all so happy, that they embraced their mysteries unfazed."

It does say six subtly connected stories but I could only see a link between 1 and 2 as well as 5 and 6. Thematically, they all explore the (female) body, both as physical and spiritual. How it transforms and gets transformed. Its needs, wants, desires. How it is subjugated, regulated, and controlled. It connects us as a species but it also separates us. Voice & autonomy are directly linked to how we are inhabiting our bodies, the bodily acts socially permissible to us, our little rebellions, occurring in a time of great upheaval and upset.

Unfortunately, I did not fully warm up to this collection. I did appreciate all six stories but none of them really wowed me or stood out, except maybe "Fauna of the Ages" about fleas and I wanted more. "Saving Young Ladies" fascinated too. It looks at obsession borne of uprootedness and salvation in an interesting way. I obviously cannot comment on fidelity, but Heather Cleary's translation is smooth. I am interested in reading more Ospina, perhaps a longer and meatier work.



(I received a finished copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

[carmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023

un libro muy bello, detallado en ausencias, en sujetos que buscan y pierden.

2025

Hay algo en la escritura de María tan sugerente y discreto. Creo que sabe muy bien cómo moldear el lenguaje para construir la esfera solitaria a la que cada personaje de estos cuentos está sujeta.
Me encanta este libro, es todo.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story collection that I would read again and would buy to have on my shelves.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

María Ospina's debut collection of fictional short stories, originally published in Spanish as Azares Del Cuerpo, deals with the bodies of women in Bogotá, Columbia. The stories are striking and unusual, with some interconnectedness in between. Collateral Beauty about a doll repair shop owner Estefanía and an overseas religious customer was to me the most direct in its allegorical comparison of the expendable doll parts and actual women's bodies. The doll restorer is also very direct in calling her aunt who has undergone plastic surgery "the other doll in her life." There's an undercurrent of danger and violence throughout, whether in oblique references to the burgeoning cocaine trade or the clash between government forces and guerrillas. Policarpa is about a former marxist guerilla fighter Marcela who is being rehabilitated back into a disorientating capitalist society by working at a Carrefour supermarket. She has a very visceral experience to an elderly lady customer due to PTSD flashbacks of a hostage that she established a relationship with. Marcela has also written a book about her guerrilla fighter experiences but her editor is constantly transforming and deleting parts of her story to increase its commercial popularity. I very much appreciated translator Heather Cleary's notes at the beginning of the book, especially regarding the contextual reference of Saving Young Ladies to the sixteenth century poem by San Juan de la Cruz. Her observations of polyvocality of the stories, like in the slippage of narrative between Marcela's sister Zenaida and her young charge Isabela in Occasion , are useful for accentuating the lack of agency and privacy for Zenaida. Young Isabela deals with her lack of control of events in the adult world with pica. The titular story is about an grieving widow who takes to the road by herself with her empowering collection of scissors, snipping off all that's unruly and shaggy.

The quality of the stories is consistent. Thanks to Coffee House Press for bringing it to English readers. For those reading it in the original Spanish, I am intensely curious as to whether the dictionary word arise defined in the story Occasion would correspond to levantar?

[Gianni · Rating 4 out of 5]

È un libro al femminile, con sei racconti legati tra loro in cui altrettante donne di Bogotà si trovano ad un certo punto della loro vita a dover ricominciare. È una ricostruzione che può partire da una fuga dal passato o dall’età, dalla solitudine o dal dispiacere (”nonostante gli scompensi cardiaci, comuni a quell’età, Mirla soffriva di un male molto più sfuggente, ma non per questo meno incisivo. L’aveva chiamata sindrome del cuore infranto”), dal disagio o dal senso di inadeguatezza, ma è una fuga che mitiga, che cerca risposte, che necessita di stabilire ponti e relazioni con altri e trova delle soluzioni, a volte anche piccole e consolatorie, ma le trova, ”Il gatto mi salverebbe da nuove pulci […] e di sicuro le sopporterebbe con più dignità di me. Mentre io mi prenderei cura di lui con un buon brodo di carne e altre attenzioni. Così si chiuderebbe quel circolo di dipendenze che ci inchioda e tiene prigionieri”.
E il corpo funziona da interfaccia tra il dentro e il fuori; con le sue manifestazioni, le sue reazioni (”Si gratta con piacere la nuca, dove l’etichetta della divisa le tortura il collo”), la sua decadenza (”Stava perdendo la sua voluttà delle sue carni di un tempo. Si vide ossuta e con l’inguine rosso e irritato”), il suo linguaggio che spesso solo le donne sanno esprimere e interpretare.
È una piacevole scoperta, questo libro, mi sbilancio a dire consigliatissimo.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

En esta colección de cuentos de María Ospina Pizano destaca una curiosa observación del cuerpo y el silencio de las mujeres. Las protagonistas guardan o se guardan, escriben o dibujan o cuentan picaduras de pulga como una manera de encontrar(se) y habitar(se).

Digamos que las mujeres que habitan este libro guardan secretos.
O son, ellas mismas, secretos.

Encuentro en la autora una búsqueda de nombrar, indagar, poner el dedo en esas heridas resultado de la soledad, el abandono, la fuga, la violencia que pequeña acecha el descuido de toda o de cualquier mujer.

Hay al menos tres cuentos aquí, absolutamente agudos bellos por dolorosos, o al revés. Hay aquí una narradora dispuesta a decirnos que (no) todo es azar.

[Marc Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1baeN...

[Purrfectlypatti · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[geo · Rating 3 out of 5]

favs: policarpa, saving young ladies, and collateral beauty

[Lindsey King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some unsettling but often relatable emotions in here.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A melancholy collection of short stories with some beautiful imagery and a good ability to infuse seemingly ordinary things with sadness. The stories feel intensely personal in the sense that they grapple with the resulting fallout of life in Colombia after its tumultuous internal conflicts, and the author clearly holds an acute and nuanced understanding of the conflict and its impacts on the minds and bodies of Colombia’s women. Unfortunately, the pain and trauma and suffering of such a conflict is missing almost entirely for me, which makes the writing of these short stories beautiful but largely empty of the real emotion that underscore them. This is not the author’s fault of course, but simply a fact of an international audience. While I found Policarpa to be an extremely compelling story (with a fair amount of helpful context), some of the other stories, like Collateral Beauty or Fauna of the Ages, failed to capture my attention even though their initial premises were interesting. It felt like the stories wandered sadly through their landscapes, hinting at sadness and trauma but never fully conveying the emotion. I was more unsettled than anything else after reading Saving Young Ladies, and while Occasion was sad, I didn’t feel like Zenaida was developed enough to really understand her situation or her emotions. If the intent was to focus on the blending of trauma and the body’s physical response to it, I may have to do some rereading because the point felt too subtly for me to fully understand.

[Bárbara Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro es entretenido, se lee fácilmente. Me gustó como se enlazaban algunas historias y que en todas (si no me equivoco) se hiciera mención a alguna perrita callejera. Sin ser experta, me gustó la forma de escribir de la autora, me hizo reír (sobretodo con la niña del batido de tierra), emocionarme y angustiarme con la primera historia.
Leí la edición en español del libro y fue bastante agradable la experiencia, es una bonita edición, con buen tamaño de letra.
Me gustaría leer más de esta escritora.

[Arcesio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seis viñetas enlazadas por la enramada narrativa de María Ospina, exploran las relaciones de mujeres inmersas en el complejo mundo de las amistades y realidad de una Bogotá gris y adusta. Desde una exguerrillera, una niña caprichosa, una "extranjera" y una mujer en plena madurez, ejercen de protagonistas en medio de una comunidad femenina que sobrepasa las barreras de las interacciones sociales y las maridas masculinas de la sociedad moderna.

Calificación: 4,1/5

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a set of interlinking stories about life in Colombia, regarding the war and how people kept on living. I liked the first story very much but couldn't get interested in the others. The first story is about a former guerilla who lives in Bogota and how she is able to go on with her life.

[Catalina Acero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preciosos relatos acerca de maravillosas mujeres!

[David Gargallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

“La situación es lo que nos acaece, lo que nos cae encima.”

[Persaefone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carino da alternare ad altre letture.

[Marian P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violence seeps into the marrow of Colombian writer Maria Ospina’s captivating collection of short stories Variations on the Body translated by Heather Cleary. A type of violence grounded in place and time—1980s-1990s Colombia caught in the throes of the drug trade that engenders anxiety, fear, and PTSD in the lives of the women populating the stories. The collection shrewdly captures socio economic problems plaguing Colombia, especially in the wake of the Medellin drug cartel of the 1970s-1980s: violence thrums on the margins of the stories and has consequential impact on the mental health of the central characters. But, women manifest violence circumstances differently than men.

The crux of the book, as aptly indicated by the titular story, addresses the ways in which women grapple with daily life through their bodies. In one story (“Policarpa”), a woman who had been a guerilla fighter (presumably enlisted as a FARC soldier), reintegrates into Bogota society as a cashier at Carrefour. Marcela--so-named Poli after the Revolutionary freedom fighter Policarpa Salavarrieta during her tenure in FARC--tries to make a go of it in a “legitimate” job at Carrefour but she endures frequent bouts of PTSD brought on by her former life. To make matters worse, she is penning a memoir with a heavy-handed editor who seems to be more interested in her own agenda and less so in Marcela’s actual experience. The author inventively captures the two-fold aggression Marcela endures both as a product of her PTSD and of the appropriation of her story by her editor.

Other stories highlight the insistence that Colombian women do not necessarily control their own bodies. For example, in “Occasions,” Zenaida, sister to former-FARC guerilla fighter Marcela, works as a domestic for a middle-class family. The little girl she cares for essentially treats Zenaida like an object despite her growing pregnancy and need for solitude. Similarly, in “Saving Young Ladies,” Aurora, a recently transplanted Colombian-American who returns to downtown Bogota, becomes obsessed with Catholic girls attending a nearby convent school. Like so many of the other stories, chaos borne from violence permeates the story: “Her companions took a step forward, revealing the primal distrust of anything that happens in the street that is drilled into Bogota’s children from infancy.” (51) Complicating this story, Aurora herself is both hyper focused on the young women but also aware of a cohort of young neighboring men trying to reintegrate into Bogota much like Marcela’s plight.

In the titular story, “Variations on the Body,” Mirla spends hours primping herself with her stylist, Martica, an aesthetician and manicurist who trims her client’s stray body hair. Mirla, a recent widow grieves the loss of her husband Pepe , an avid collector of objects including stopwatches, match boxes, and Hollywood movie posters. In his absence, she also begins collecting objects--scissors. Mirla associates the scissors with the physical act of cutting people out of her life as she has anemic relationships with her daughter and granddaughter. Meanwhile, Martica pampers Mirla for an upcoming vacation but wonders if the older woman will, indeed, vacation solo. The efforts Mirla takes to beautify her body is a common theme in the collection and perhaps suggests a society where women are valued mainly for their outward appearances. As translator Cleary notes, “These are bodies searching for connection and completion in a world that tends to slice up and serve: catcalls hail tits or ass; gender norms deride a muscular leg or arm; . . .”

[Jaylynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Policarpa: Marcela has escaped and has a new job as a cashier. She is writing a book about her experience that we see glimpses of throughout as she discusses with her editor about what to include. She lies, is secretive, and has no close relationships though she is trying to get back in touch with her sisters Zenaida and Nubia. The editor pushes for Marcela to write more about her personal life, especially after returning. She ends up burning her manuscript, not able to stomach having her life published. At the end she sees someone she thinks is Zenaida with her son.
Occasion: Zenaida dropped out of 5th grade and struggles with spelling in her job. A girl, Isabela, often asks Zenaida questions. Zenaida is pregnant and Isabela finds out.
Saving Young Ladies: Aurora observes the world, especially young girls. She writes letters back and forth with a neighbor girl, Jessica, who goes to the Catholic school. Aurora wishes Jessica could leave and stay with her.
Fauna of the Ages: A woman keeps diary entries of her constant battle against mosquitoes. They bite her dozens of times everywhere on her body. She creates dialogues against these bugs.
Collateral beauty: Follows Estefanía and Martica, who has had plastic surgery. Talks of dolls.
Variations on the Body: Martica is a manicurist who waxes Mirla. After Mirla's husband died, she has started to collect scissors. At the end she leaves, and thinks about how to get manicures and waxes, and who will do that for her.

I loved this collection of short stories. I was a little worried since it is a translation and I believe a lot can be lost in translation, but thankfully the poetic writing and the sentiments carried over nicely. I was immersed in these stories that seemed very realistic but also with a tinge of fiction at the same time. These are all about different women, but there is a string of connection between all of them (including the obvious Marcela and Zenaida). They live in Bogota, and they all have strong voices that are captured in the writing.

[Monica Mojica · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Dónde queda tu locura grabada ? En el cuerpo ! En los azares del cuerpo. Y es que cada vida, cada locura que se incrusta en la cabeza de cualquier persona, sólo tiene una escapatoria y es el cuerpo. El cuerpo que pica, el cuerpo que ruge, el cuerpo que incomoda, el cuerpo que se anhela, el cuerpo que pide a gritos mostrarse.

De todas estas historias encuentro fascinante la obsesión de una mujer por encontrar una relación con la vida de una joven que está internada en un claustro de monjas. Y como esa obsesión puede llegar a ser tan intensa pero a la vez tan banal. Simplemente puede cambiarla por la obsesión a un perro callejero.

Pero Zenaida es aún más fascinante, porque su mirada sobre la vida, llena de conocimientos de una realidad de país me deja sin palabras. Cuantas mujeres así habitaron mi casa? Cuánto sabían ellas de lo importante que era su historia, su cuerpo, sus labores para este país?

[Celeste · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 —
I think this was objectively the most thematically perfect pick for Women in Translation month. Each short story focuses on the daily lives of women in Colombia, from an ex-guerilla fighter readapting to ordinary life to the owner of a doll restoration clinic writing to a priest in New York to a woman obsessed with saving the girls living in a group home run by nuns next door. Unfortunately I think I was expecting something a little darker and stranger than what we got (with a cover like that!!) and I also don't really click with such slice-of-life stories very often. I also kept feeling like something was missing from each story, like they ended when they weren't quite ready to. However I really liked the details and I think this would be a great book for the right person. My favorites were Occasion and Collateral Beauty.

[Pala Hux · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sprawling collection of stories from female perspectives that give characters space to unfold, speak, and become familiar to us. By centering the physicality of human experience, Ospina Pizano manages to breathe life in a wide cast of women at different points in their lives that overlap in some way or another, while never losing sight of her core ideas: holding. How bodies hold trauma, skin holds bites, hands hold letters, mouths hold food. A series of intimate portraits of women and girls in the city of Bogotá.

[Victor Hernández A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Se trata de un conjunto de relatos que giran en torno a la deshumanización de los cuerpos, con un énfasis particular —aunque no exclusivo— en los cuerpos de las mujeres. No es un libro que plantee una protesta ni que exponga de manera directa una denuncia; más bien, busca representar y dejar testimonio de circunstancias y acciones sociales sin emitir juicios de valor ni declaraciones categóricas.

Los cuentos exploran diversos escenarios: el peso del capitalismo en el pasado y el presente, la vida marcada por el trabajo doméstico y las tensiones de clase, el simbolismo del cuerpo a través de las muñecas, la religiosidad de señoritas enclaustradas y los criterios socioculturales que se proyectan sobre los personajes.

El resultado es una obra coral que revela la soledad y la violencia simbólica que atraviesan las vidas narradas, con mayor o menor intensidad según cada relato.

Más que ofrecer respuestas o señalar culpables, Azares del cuerpo propone al lector un espacio de introspección para pensar en estas problemáticas desde la sutileza y la huella que dejan los cuerpos en la memoria individual y colectiva.