Humiliation

by Paulina Flores, Megan McDowell (Translator)

The nine mesmerizing stories in Humiliation, translated from the Spanish by Man Booker International Prize finalist Megan McDowell, present us with a Chile we seldom see in fiction: port cities marked by poverty and brimming with plans of rebellion; apartment buildings populated with dominant mothers and voyeuristic neighbors; library steps that lead students to literature, but also into encounters with other arts—those of seduction, self-delusion, sabotage.

In these pages, a father walks through the scorching heat of Santiago’s streets with his two daughters in tow. Jobless and ashamed, he takes them into a stranger’s house, a place that will become the site of the greatest humiliation of his life. In an impoverished fishing town, four teenage boys try to allay their boredom during an endless summer by translating lyrics from the Smiths into Spanish using a stolen dictionary. Their dreams of fame and glory twist into a plan to steal musical instruments from a church, an obsession that prevents one of them from anticipating a devastating ending. Meanwhile a young woman goes home with a charismatic man after finding his daughter wandering lost in a public place. She soon discovers, like so many characters in this book, that fortuitous encounters can be deceptions in disguise.

Themes of pride, shame, and disgrace—small and large, personal and public—tie the stories in this collection together. Humiliation becomes revelation as we watch Paulina Flores’s characters move from an age of innocence into a world of conflicting sensations.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Latin American, Latinx, Cultural

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Estudió literatura en la Universidad de Chile. En el 2011 obtuvo la beca de creación literaria del Fondo del Libro y la Lectura. El año 2014 ganó el Premio Roberto Bolaño, en la categoría cuento, por el relato “Qué vergüenza”.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘When a person lives through intense experiences, he has the illusion of understanding many things.’ Across a slow-burn intensity of nine stories in Paulina Flores premier story collection, Humiliation, is an examination of the way this illusion of understanding fades through time and retroactive examinations of life. Disillusionment, futility, and class oppression are central themes connecting these stories in a book that is as disquieting as it is beautiful. Marvelously translated by Megan McDowell (who has translated Alejandro Zambra, Samanta Schweblin, and Lina Meruane among others) Flores’ prose is delivered as one of raw power and psychological probing that--despite avoidance of many frills--has a deeply emotional impact on the reader. While the themes are heavy, the book never bogs the reader down as the narratives are often delightfully sprinkled with humor and intrigue that will keep your attention even after closing the book. Flores builds tension and executes twists in stories about everyday reality that would make even seasoned high-stakes-mystery writers salivate. Often told from the perspective of children, Flores places the narrative in a place of extreme vulnerability that emphasizes the way we flounder to understand the hierarchies of societal and interpersonal relationships, particularly when those who are charged with caring for us are negligent or harmful. While slightly uneven, these stories form an extraordinarily impressive debut that examines the lasting damage done from the failures of men, the destruction of an authoritarian regime, self-defeating behavior, and the scars we carry through life.

This translation for English-speaking audiences is timely, as it was released during a period of massive protests against neoliberalism in Chile that brought up the same themes of class and poverty that permeate these stories. The socio-political backdrop of these stories are the same issues that culminated in the protests, and the violence against protesters is systemic to the same power dynamics oppressing the characters, or coaching them into a self-defeating cycle of resignation, in Humiliation. While Pinochet is rarely mentioned directly in the book, the legacy of violence and neoliberalism that plagued Chile looms like a shadow over every paragraph. ‘They killed a lot of people,’ the narrator’s cousin says in Last Vacation when he expresses his interest in joining the military, ‘Under Pinochet’s dictatorship. Do you know who Pinochet was, even?’ She tells him the depressing truth that the commercials he sees about the pride of the Chilean military and legacy of patriotism is but propagated farce to dismiss their role in the mass executions under the former dictatorship that had left the country reeling and in ruins and reminds us of what (and who) is forgotten and shouldn’t be. While Pinochet is the focus in this statement, it also reflects that thousands died under him and they must not be forgotten. Flores’ stories concern youths growing up in the aftermath of this destruction and already inheriting the scars from the former generation’s failures.

An understanding of this political landscape is not necessarily essential, but it is helpful in understanding the undercurrents of the collection as well as the logic behind the current Chilean protests. A CIA-backed junta stormed the Chilean capital to overthrow democratically-elected Socialist president Salvador Allende on September 11th, 1973 and placed Pinochet in power over a military dictatorship. Following a method political analyst and writer Naomi Klein terms the “Shock Doctrine of making sweeping economic reform in the face of major disaster or unrest, Pinochet’s implemented the largest neoliberal government experiment, privatizing every aspect of Chile such as schools and hospitals. His cabinet was staffed primarily of those educated in Milton Friedman’s Chicago School economics which pushed extreme capitalism, removed welfare spending and opened up major markets that US corporations were able to exploit. Workers rights all but disappeared and a massive class divide ensued. Anyone who spoke out was “disappeared”, any negative press was denounced as propaganda and removed, and mass executions became commonplace. While Pinochet is gone, the neoliberal legacy is still cancerous to the class divide. In 2019 studies, the top 10% in Chile make 26.5 times the average income and Chile has the largest income inequality of any OECD member countries. Roughly 50% of Chileans have a monthly income of $550 or less. These social conditions and the aftermath of authoritarian rule are foundations upon which Flores’ stories construct themselves.

‘My whole life I thought that Talcahuano was a tough place, but the truth was, it was just sad.’

There is a front of bravado and toughness to these stories that are built up if only to deconstruct and disillusion them over the course of a few pages. The settings are all barren and urban decay, towns ‘that no one liked: gloomy skies, factory soot that turned everything gray, and air that stank famously of fish.’ and the characters are all mostly resigned to fate or succumbing to the futility of fighting against it. In the opening story, winner of the Roberto Bolaño prize and from which the collection gets its name, we follow a young daughter named Sonia and her sister walk through the sweltering streets with their father on his way to hopefully find work. The father has been out of work for awhile, causing a massive rift in the family due to marital arguments and an overwhelming sense of defeat that keeps him distant from his daughters. Here, Sonia has found an agency looking for a model and convinces her dad to audition, convinced he is very handsome and it will boost his self-esteem. What results leaves him feeling humiliated and irrelevant and the story ends lingering on a precipice of total self-defeat that threatens to pull us all down into it.

‘Children don’t lie. But adults are the ones you believe.’

This uncomfortable agony of defeat lurks in every corner of the book. Flores dredges up raw feelings of powerlessness in her characters, which is doubly impactful through the eyes of the children in these stories who feel powerless to assuage the existential futility plaguing the adults in their lives. ‘Simona was sure that her father loved her,’ Flores writes in the titular story, ‘but she could also tell that something was making him feel lonely, and that all the love she could give him didn’t help.’ In stories such as Lucky Me--a 90 page novella with a wonderfully sustained tension and well executed. intricate, timeline weaving plot that hints at glorious novels this author could create in the future--Flores explores how the traumas of childhood are carried throughout all of life and the ways defeat is passed down through generations. It is incredibly tragic to see the juxtaposition of an innocent, caring and optimistic young girl with the sad, resigned adult she becomes as the narrative slowly creeps to a moment that is indicative as to how this change in her occured. In almost every story it is the failing of men that bring the family and those around them down with them. Through affairs, alcoholism, neglect, or just general inability to stand up in the onslaught of reality, Flores finds her characters reeling from the disillusionment of fathers, lovers or authority figures. Once learning that a janitor had assaulted a classmate, the narrator in Forgetting Freddy remarks how she ‘stopped believing in Santa Claus and started believing in rapists,’ which succinctly encompasses the loss of innocence and reaction to the shortcomings of men that afflict the world. And in each story Flores explores the social hierarchies and power dynamics that sow the soil for these issues.

‘Sacrifices, I told myself, and I went on with my life, a life that back then I thought belonged completely to me.’

The ways society corrals people into class standings creates a sort of Original Sin for the lower classes brought up in a system where even power over your own body and destiny is strangled by the long and numerous tentacles of capitalism. The story Last Vacation explores the hierarchy of social class and how a sense of class-saviorism from those who have financial mobility registers more like disdain for the lowest classes. The main character, Nico, is taken in for a summer from his often absentee addict mother by his middle-class aunt who believes she can save him through integration into middle-class company and mannerisms. However, a feeling of solidarity to his mother builds after an act of betrayal: embarrassed of his family, Nico claims his older cousin as his mother and instantly sinks into despair at having denied his mother. The story also looks at how resignation is socially coached into the poverty class, with Nico repeating a cycle of mediocrity and destitution he claims is due to his unwillingness to betray his mother again by trying to rise above his status but is also likely because of a learned behavior that he simply does not belong above his status. Only rarely in this collection do we see characters stand up and tear down the oppression around them, as we do in American Spirit, but even then there is a lingering sense that maybe doing so was out of line--the social structure has been so violently enforced for so long and rebelling so socially connotated with criminality and wrongdoing that people simply cannot bring themselves to do anything outside the status quo. For those oppressed in society, figures such as Aunt Nana--a woman who lives her life totally in servitude of her family--are held in highest esteem because they can get through life in a subservient role without making waves.

The theme of resignation and learned subservience is most bluntly examined in Laika. The shortest of the nine stories, it also lands the strongest punch in one quick blow to the gut. A young girl is sexually assaulted by an older boy--an authority figure at the camp she is attending. The girl is convinced this is romantic and the story plays out from her perspective as a willinging lover eager to please when in reality she is coerced in what is nothing short of sexual abuse. His status is used to overpower her and her willingness is exploited. The notion of the illusion of control and understanding is delivered on the hinge between the girl’s perspective and the discerning reader processing the information to see the vulgar truth lurking under the veil of seduction akin to the abuse and exploitation by the dominant class.

Arguably the best story in the collection, however, is the third story, Telcahuano. Titling the story after the town--theruinous place we called home--offers both a localized feel but also one of universality as we are all in this nowhere town and their fates are our fates. While Humiliation won the Bolaño Prize, it is here that the spirit of Bolaño really seems to leap with joy across the pages in this tragicomedy of adolescents grappling with the conditions around them and beleaguered by a coming dread they can’t quite yet understand. The story follows a 14 year old boy and his friends over the course of one summer. They are “tough” boys who spend their days smoking cigarette butts and listening to The Smiths. They had stolen English dictionaries from their school to translate the lyrics into Spanish, charmed by the band's working-class rebelliousness.

Morrissey had named the band the Smiths because it was one of the most common and unrefined last names in England, and he thought it was time to show the vulgar side of the world. Our eyes shone when we heard stories like this. We wanted to be like Morrissey. We felt just as common and just as superior.

Inspired by punk music and fueled with a need to prove themselves in a collapsing world, they decide they will start a band like Morrissey did but first they need to get instruments to learn to play them. The devise a plan: they will train all summer to steal the musical equipment from the local church.

Most charming in this story is their dedication to their goal. They decide they must train to be ninjas because ‘the only condition for becoming a ninja was that you had nothing to lose’ whereas a samurai was something you came into through family lineage. Ninjas are like them, they decide. However, the main character’s family life is decomposing in the background like a slowly collapsing society. His father has been long laid off of work and has no desire to find more but rather lay about with drink and dream of times irrevocably lost to the past and in the wake of his disillusionment with life the mother has packed up the sisters and moved away leaving the boy on his own for the summer. Plans to rise above and succeed are often sabotaged from within and the unexpected is always crouching in the shadows around any corner waiting to strike. The story, much like one from Bolaño, playfully builds toward an incredible and disastrous climax that is more entrenched in emotion than action which leaves everything forever altered. Dreams are dashed, hopes harden and lives drift apart on the unexpected currents of the future. The story is truly devastating and rewarding in ways only the best of literature can deliver.

Paulina Flores has surely written herself into the Chilean literary canon with her debut collection and it has the power to resonate with people the whole world over. Winner of both the Circle of Art Critics Prize and the Municipal Literature Prize, this work was able to make a name for itself to inspire publishers to fund a translation that could bring it to English-speaking readers. It is a good reminder how art prizes have a responsibility in helping elevate voices that would otherwise be less likely to be heard, especially voices such as Flores that speak directly to the woes that capitalism and dictatorships can strew on a population that cause harm for generations to come. This is an important and incisive collection that sheds light on many socio-political struggles and the pains of humanity in a world where the ones we rely on are also those most likely to let us down. It is also utterly engaging and blissful to read. An incredible debut that promises a strong career to come.
4.5/5

Note: I was offered a free copy of this book for an honest review and it did not disappoint.

‘I went into debt to study, and I worked twelve hours a day and spent two more riding buses, and I did all the things that people do to achieve a certain well-being, and I got tired, I became a tired person...'

[Guille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comentaba en el libro “Manual para mujeres de la limpieza” el atractivo de la autora, la forma en la que su mirada atrapa, no solo por sus ojos, preciosos, sino por como esos ojos miran, por como esos ojos nos miran. Algo parecido tengo que decir aquí de Paulina Flores.

Me han gustado los enfoques elegidos, su sencillez a la hora de retratar personajes y situaciones complejas; su capacidad para transmitir emociones y hacernos sentir como propia la vergüenza de los hombres fracasados que por aquí transitan y el desvalimiento de aquellos hijos que presencian su deterioro; la facilidad con la que ha sido capaz de desconcertarme en algunos de los relatos; la habilidad con la que cuenta historias, las importantes, mientras relata otra cosa.

Relatos cortos (excepto el último) que fluyen con una gran facilidad a pesar de la mucha tristeza que transmiten. No sé si será su edad, cercana a la adolescencia, lo que explica su insistencia en remarcar la urgencia y la necesidad de sus personajes por abandonar la niñez, la fragilidad por antonomasia, y, con ella, los orígenes, la familia, los amigos, buscando inútilmente modificar su destino; los remordimientos que siempre acaban por alcanzarles y atormentarles; lo poco que se gustan, lo mal que se aceptan, la dureza con la que se juzgan; la vulnerabilidad del ser humano ante el mundo, su pesimismo sin esperanza, el dibujo de un pasado que nos define y que nos delimita y que, por malo que nos parezca, no es peor que el futuro que nos espera.

Un libro interesante de una interesante escritora, aunque tengo que terminar el comentario tal cual lo empecé, repitiendo algo que ya dije en relación con Lucia Berlin y sus relatos: quizás los cuentos que me gustaron mucho han tenido como daño colateral el que otros me hayan parecido menos buenos de lo que quizás sean, una impresión que quizás fue amplificada por el hecho de encontrar los mismos temas y preocupaciones en buena parte de ellos. Aun así, quedo a la espera de que la escritora confirme sus aptitudes en el siempre más difícil segundo libro.

[Paromjit · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is not often a short story collection gets 5 stars from me, but each of these 9 Chilean stories from the award winning Paulina Flores, translated by Megan McDowell, are gems. They paint a picture of Chile and Chilean lives with verve and vitality, the poverty, the precariousness and challenges of life, places where almost everyone is unemployed, disintegrating families, broken marriages and relationships, and where dreams and ambitions are thwarted. Stories are written from the perspectives of children and adults, throwing light on family dynamics, such as mother and daughter relationships, infidelities, and other disturbing and unsettling behaviours. We have a young gang of boys intent on translating The Smiths songs from stolen dictionaries, seeing themselves as having much in common with the original Japanese ninjas, as they set out to train as ninjas with a mission in mind.

A 29 year old father is heading towards an opportunity for a casting audition in Santiago, walking on a scorchingly hot day with his two young daughters, 9 year old Simona and 6 year old Pia, only to find himself humiliated by what happens. A young girl is sent into a library by her father, only to apparently end up lost, a woman ends up going to their apartment for a sexual encounter. In a dilapidated and ugly poor port city, a group of boys plan a daring heist, only for a boy to be completely unaware about what is happening in the family until he is confronted by a wretched and shocking discovery at home. A woman returns home to live with her mother after 4 years of living with a man, she is entirely unprepared when her relationship breaks down and struggling to come to terms with it. A young girl with a tendency to hide under her bed, her father gambles on making it big on the Korean project but fails, she comes to grow up with and get close to her unmarried Aunt Nana, a woman of silence, giving herself to other, only to leave home to focus on herself in a way Aunt Nana never did.

A former waitress meets a old bartender friend to hear a confession. UFO sightings are missing in a unsettlingly disturbing story of Laika. A last summer vacation for a 10 year old boy with his Aunt Veronica and her two daughters, Camila and Javiera, has him opening up to the world of books and reading, and the possibility of another life. His meeting with the posh boy, Lucas, has him committing a betrayal he finds hard to live with. The final story is of a friendship between two girls and a woman drawn towards her neighbours and engaging in voyeurism. This is a fascinating and thought provoking set of stories, and not a single one is a dud. All inevitably dwell on the darker aspects of life, failure, sorrow, sadness, suffering and pain, surviving hard lives, disappointments and humiliation. So brilliant and highly recommended. Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Humiliation”
by Paula Flores... was translated from Spanish to English by Megan McDowell...( Man Booker International Prize finalist).

Paulina Flores was born in Chile in 1988. ( making her in her early 30’s)
This book won the Roberto Bolano Prize, the Circle of Art Critics Prize, the Municipal Literature Prize, and was selected as one of the 10 best books of the year by the newspaper El Pais.

THIS IS THE BEST COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES I’VE READ ALL YEAR.....there is not a bad story in here.
It’s FANTASTIC/ SPELLBINDING....each story has the reader on-the-edge-curious to read to the end.
Paulina’s stories reflect the complexities of life...and all its messiness.

The first and title story, “Humiliation”, takes place in the year was 1996.
Simona, age 9, and her younger sister, Pia, age 6, had been walking - dragging - behind their father, Alejandro, age 29, unemployed, for an hour. The scorching hot sun was beating down on them.
Alejandro’s wife was working - so the girls came along with their papa while he interviewed for a job.
I don’t want to give the story away…but you can’t put the short story down. With effortless type writing... it was like I wasn’t even reading. I was there! I was with them.
Both little girls and their father each will remain vivid in your memory.

“Teresa”...( 2nd story in the collection)...
leaves you with a punch!!!!
“She was coming out of the library when she saw him”... was the first sentence.
You’ll be scratching head- wondering “what the F just happened?”... seduction? deception? protection? Oh my!!!
An absolutely mesmerizing thought provoking story...that calls for a discussion with a buddy!

Talcahuano...( 3rd story)...
Summer: 1997.
Talcahuano is located in the south of the central zone in Chile. It was one of the poorest cities- of one the ugliest cities in the country: gloomy skies, factory soot, and air that stank of fish....
but...
Pancho, Camilo, Marquita Carrasco, and the 14 year old, ‘no-name’ narrator were proud of it, anyway....
but...
the narrator awakened to the reality of life - family and friends - in Talcahuano by the summer’s end.
“When a person lives through intense experiences, he has the illusion of understanding many things. I thought I understood how life worked”.
“My whole life I thought that Talcahuano was a tough place, but the truth was, it was just sad”.
Powerful & devastating!

Forgetting Freddy...( 4th story)...
A young woman returns home after her live-in boyfriend leaves her.
“When she finally understood he was leaving her, she was paralyzed. Not so much because of the fact that he was leaving, but because shed missed all the signs”.
Most of the story takes place from the bathroom in her mother’s apartment.
While in the bath...we are taken inside the woman’s thoughts....to explore and examine the misunderstandings and signs of her life.
“They didn’t tell you anything, back then they didn’t explain anything”.

Aunt Nana...( 5th story)...
A woman looks back twenty years.
She remembers being a seven-year-old girl hiding under her bed.... a game she supposes. She remembers her father, her mother, a girl Sonia who lived with them...then was gone. Then Aunt Nana came to live with them.
This is a beautiful touching bittersweet story...

There are 4 more stories: each better than the next.
American Spirit- ( 6th Story)....you’ll meet a bartender and a waitress....a tale that looks at shame -and how well we fool ourselves.

Laika - (7th Story)...Begins with a dream Josefa was having. Fede was saying “wake up”.... they were going to the beach to see UFO’s. Things seemed so innocent at first....but the reader won’t be fooled. One of the saddest stories of the bunch....but it sneaks up on us.

Last Vacation - ( 8th story)...summer 2010...a story about childhood...before life changed and took a definitive direction.

Lucky Me - ( 9th Story).... Themes include failure, defeat, isolation, recognition, insight and love.
“It was a relief that not everyone wanted to go around smiling and opening their hearts”. True? Hm?

These contemporary stories are remarkable- one of the best cover-to-cover collections I’ve ever read in years.

Paulina Flores explores characters reacting to the chaos and consequences of their every day lives....and boy,...they definitely keep us interested!!!
“An age of innocence into a world of conflicting sensations”.

I can’t say enough ‘good’ about this book, about this new young author.
Paulina Flores storytelling is a pot of gold discovery.

I HIGHLY recommended this to EVERYONE!

Many thanks to Catapult Publishing....and to Elizabeth Ireland for offering me an advance copy.

The book is due to be released in stores - November 2019.

[Ludmilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flores'in 9 öyküsüne de bayıldım. Ele aldığı temalar tanıdık, gözlemleri etkileyici bir dille ortaya koymuş, teknik açıdan da üst düzeyde bir yazar. Arka kapak yazısı ilginizi çektiyse okumanızı öneririm. 5/5

Bu yazarı tanımamızı sağladığı için Notos'a, çok iyi çeviri için Zeynep Çelikel'e teşekkürler!

[Arelis Uribe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talcahuano es una joya de la literatura universal.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

- How was it?
-- It was fine.
- Oh, I'm sorry you didn't like it.
-- No, no. I said it was fine.
- What didn't you like about it?
-- No, I . . . It was fine. Kind of trendy minimalist stories. She's a good writer. Keeps your attention. But at the end of a story I'd go, "Okay, so . . ." The narrators/protagonists were all twenty- or thirty-somethings (I can't tell anymore from my distance). They have failed relationships and usually come from broken families. Fathers are either out of the picture or rudderless, as in the title story. No one works, as far as I could tell, but the protagonists are all early and prolific readers. Here's a . . . where did I mark that . . . oh, here it is:

The first and the last time she'd been to a therapist she'd felt bored through the whole session. At the end, when the doctor explained the treatment she would have to follow, she raised an eyebrow and was on the verge of blurting out: "Okay, but what was the last book you read?"

It had its moments.

- I'm sorry you hated it.

-- . . . .

[Lucas Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breve invitación al finalizar la lectura

Qué grandioso libro de cuentos este. Hay una ternura brutal en cada uno de los relatos, un amor hacia los personajes capaz de traerlos al lado de acá de la vida, junto al lector, convirtiéndolos en parte suya. Le debo a Paulina Flores una lectura estremecedora.

Léanla. Es una cuentista con todas las letras.

[Banu Yıldıran Genç · Rating 4 out of 5]

yazar tanıtımında okumasaydım bile flores’in zambra’dan çok etkilendiğini söyleyebilirdim ki atölyelerine bile katılmış. zambra’daki o çocukluk anıları flores’in de en önemli izleği.
burada anlatılan çocukluk şili’de, ekonomik sıkıntılar, işsizlikler, ana-baba kavgalarıyla geçen bir çocukluk tabii...
işsiz babaların aileye etkisi, annelerin sinir krizleri (ekmek ve çaylı bir kriz ânı var çok etkiliydi :( ) ve kaçınılmaz ayrılıklar gerçekten çocuk gözüyle anlatılıyor. bu “gerçekten çocuk gözü” biliyorsunuz bizde pek rastlayamadığımız bir şey ve latin amerikalılar bunu çok iyi beceriyor.
kitaba adını veren öykü, talcahuano ve son tatil çok etkileyiciydi. bazen fazla uzadığını ya da öyküdense anıya dönüştüğünü hissettiğim öyküler var ama olur o kadar :)

[Salembrocolilectora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué Vergüenza es una colección de nueve cuentos escritos por la joven chilena Paulina Flores.

Si bien no es un libro largo, me demoré muchos meses en terminarlo.
No estoy segura por qué, pero influyó que el ánimo en general de sus protagonistas es la desazón, la soledad, la angustia y la nostalgia, y el 2020 ya tenía suficiente de eso.

No son cuentos que me hayan fascinado, pero hay unos cuantos que recuerdo mucho porque creo que la descripción psicológica de sus personajes y de los espacios está súper bien construida, lo que me hizo disfrutar los detalles, casi como si los estuviera viendo en una pantalla.
Una de las cosas más interesantes es que en algunos de los cuentos se nos presentan los hechos a través de la mirada de niños y niñas, lo que le frescura a la narración así como también pone en evidencia aún más la crudeza de las realidad que las infancias enfrentan en los sectores pobres del país. Entre mis favoritos está Últimas vacaciones, Talcahuano y Afortunada de mí.

[A. Raca · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gurur duymasının bir başka nedeni de babasının hissettiklerini anlayabiliyor oluşuydu, küçük kardeşi gibi sorun
yaratmıyordu. Geceleri kulağını duvara yaslayıp annesiyle babasının kavgalarını dinleyen kendisiydi ne de olsa. Gece duyduğu ama anlamını bilmediği sözcükleri bulmak için sabahları kalkar kalkmaz sözlüğü eline alırdı, kimi zaman da bildiği ama babasına yakıştıramadığı sözcüklerin anlamından emin olmak için bakardı: ezik, ödlek, egoist.
Bunlar Simona’nın canını sıksa da yetişkinlerin tartışmalarındaki ciddiyetin bir parçası olmaya bayılıyordu. Abla olmanın getirdiği sorumluluklardan biriydi bu."

[Andrea Ladino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que me jugó en contra escuchar y leer demasiados buenos comentarios sobre este libro. Generé muchas expectativas y al final terminé por cerrar el libro sin haber experimentado gran cosa. Me gustaron un par de cuentos, pero nada del otro mundo.

Lástima.

[xelsoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me frustró mucho este cuentario.
Flores tiene una estética preciosa: es minuciosa en cuanto a los detalles escenográficos de su literatura y consigue dominar la mirada del lector revelando el simbolismo de sus objetos. Es una narradora entrenada en fotografía, pienso. Además, las ficciones son simples pero creativas: Flores toma situaciones cotidianas y las va transformando en peculiaridades. Valoro mucho esa habilidad.
SIN EMBARGO Flores destruye la mayoría de estos cuentos haciendo uso de recursos narrativos de aficionado. En sus cuentos sobran las explicaciones, al punto que muchos terminan con reflexiones insípidas de los personajes e incluso con breves epílogos. Recuerdo un último párrafo que era algo así como: "Y después de esto nunca volví a enamorarme, porque para mí amar es amargura" o una cursilería de ese estilo. Imperdonable. A sabiendas de que hay cuentos tan buenos, como "Afortunada de mí" o "Qué vergüenza", no puedo sino pensar que hay varios cuentos escritos con poca dedicación a modo de relleno. Me sorprende que nadie en Hueders le haya aconsejado podar los textos.
De todas formas, tengo fe de que sus próximas publicaciones van a ser muy buenas.

[Catapult · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut story collection by Roberto Bolaño Prize winner Paulina Flores marks the arrival in the United States of one of Latin America’s most celebrated young writers, an author who captures “the moment when failures matter less than the need to share them” (Alejandro Zambra, author of Multiple Choice)

[Aslı Can · Rating 3 out of 5]

Latino edebiyatı ile sevdaya düştüğümden beridir, gözüme ne çarpsa bir şekilde alıp okuyorum. Şilili bir yazar Paulina Flores. Kitaba ismini veren öykü Ne Rezalet, 2014'de Roberto Bolaño ödülü almış.

Açgözlü bir okur olarak aradığım damarı bulamasam da, sevdim Ne Rezalet'i. Bolaño referansıyla anlatırsam; 2666'nın Amalfitano ile İlgili Bölüm'üne benzetebilirim hissiyatını. Amalfitano'nun vazgeçip sığındığı kuytuda ona eşlik eden boşlukta salınan kitabı gelsin gözünüzün önüne. Sıradan, aciz, takıntılı, güçsüz, vazgeçmiş; bazen istemeden de olsa art niyetli hissetmenin insanlığa özgü bir şey olduğunu hatırlatan öyküler oldu benim için.

Kapak tasarımı için E S Kibele Yarman'a teşekkürler, sevgiler. Yayınevlerine duyurulur, böyle kitap kapağı tasarımlarını daha çok görmek istiyoruz.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

En su ópera prima, Paulina Flores nos ofrece una recopilación de relatos que dan voz a la periferia a menudo desde los ojos de la infancia o de la adolescencia.

Leyéndola me acordé de dos autores que leí últimamente: Matt Sumell y Sheila Heti. Flores es chilena, nacida en el 88, contemporánea de Sumell y de Heti, con los que comparte tiempo pero no espacio, al menos no exactamente el mismo espacio. Todos conviven en América pero ellos son del norte y ella del sur. Ellos están acostumbrados a unos estándares de vida por los que ella debe luchar. Mientras en Hacer el bien de Sumell y ¿Cómo debería ser una persona? de Heti, los personajes aparecen demasiado centrados en sí mismos y se caracterizan por no entender el mundo en el que viven al que culpan de sus quebraderos mentales , los protagonistas de los relatos de Paulina Flores, aunque introspectivos en ocasiones, no disponen de tanto tiempo para pensar porque se han quedado en el paro y necesitan un trabajo urgentemente, deben mandar a los hijos de vacaciones con algún familiar al que sí le fue bien en términos económicos mientras ellos siguen trabajando o son jóvenes ocupados precariamente en cafeterías con el único fin de subsistir. Reflejan continuamente la marcada diferencia de clases sociales tan presente en Suramérica y las ansias por subir de escalón. Otra constante es el feminismo, feminismo que Flores comparte con Sheila Heti pero más punzante e indignado. Y hay escenas de sexo explícito y otras de amor que a veces se encuentran y otras no. En su conjunto, me recordó a la mirada del director de cine Fernando León de Aranoa en Barrio, Los lunes al sol y Princesas.

Altamente recomendable por su frescura, descaro y algunos finales sorpresivos.

Más información: http://www.elespanol.com/cultura/libr...

[Franco Cárcamo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entre que terminé el libro y escribo esta opinión, me puse a leer las reseñas que incluyeron en la solapa del libro. No dejo de preguntarme cuál es mi problema, si acaso voy al revés que todo el mundo.

El libro tiene una cosa media monumental. Es un libro largo de cuentos largos y eso me gusta, tiene el peso del trabajo. Pero el libro no me pareció bueno. No voy a hacer el típico comentario de “lo encontré muy nada para tanto escándalo”. No no no. Yo digo que no está bien. Así directamente. Hasta malo. Tiene todos esos problemas que justamente la gente citada en la solapa dice que no tiene, y es que me pareció una escritura tremendamente novata. Y sé exactamente cómo sueno ahora, quién me creo, engrupio de mierda. Pero de verdad me sorprendieron todos sus problemas.

Es un libro tremendamente explicativo, la autora tiene que contarme todos los secretos y rasgos de sus personajes, así directamente, porque en su momento no fue lo suficientemente hábil como para mostrarlo, como para que sus personajes aparezcan. De verdad que creo que no puede, no sabe hacerlo. Y esa cosa se aprende en cualquier taller.

Pero lo peor, dios mío, lo peor, es ese fetichismo terrible que tiene cierta gente de las letras por la pobreza. Ese vicio abajista de creer que la pobreza tiene una estética cool y triste, perfecta para la literatura. Paulina Flores hace que todos sus personajes pobres (algunos, muy muy pobres), hablen como estudiantes de literatura. Incluso los niños. Todo para darle a los cuentos una profundidad pasada a Universidad de Chile. Esa una fijación incómoda y narcisista. Se las ingenió, digamos, para que toda la gente suene como ella. Por eso tantos libros suenan igual, también.

Destaco, eso sí, dos cuentos. Laika y Últimas vacaciones. Muy bonitos. El resto, bueno, el chiste está ahí, perdón lo obvio: qué vergüenza.

[Demet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dokuz hikayenin geneli için konuşursam şayet beni en çok etkileyen şey, yazarın çocukların dünyasını kusursuz aktarabilmesi oldu. Aynı olay karşısında çocuğun verdiği tepkinin ebeveynlerinkinden bambaşka oluşu, içinde bulunduğu durumu kendince yorumlayıp savunmaya geçişi, nahif ve kırılgan yapısı yazarın gözlem yeteneği sayesinde hikayelerde hayat bulmuş. Ve yazarın duygusal manipülasyona başvurmaması hikayeleri daha da güzelleştirmiş. Bence Paulina Flores, bu sene tanıştığımız yazarların en iyilerinden...

[Isidora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por alguna razón, y pese al formato de cuentos breves, Paulina Flores se lee lento. El libro es bueno y puedo ver en sus historias un deseo de realismo y miradas distintas, la audacia de retratar al humano como es: oscuro, carismático, mentiroso, miedoso y amable. Sin embargo, algunos textos son muy superiores a otros, lo que quita dinamismo y hace que baje la calidad en general.

Hay algo cautivante en ella, siento que todavía no escribe su mejor obra, que se está puliendo. En ella las esperanzas no mueren, quizá por eso quedo con ganas de seguir leyéndola.

[Yuniar Ardhist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diterbitkan dari judul asli “Qué vergüenza” (2016) yang dialih bahasakan oleh Marjin Kiri dengan judul "Cerita-Cerita Hina", cerpen-cerpen Paulina Flores ini dikatakan sebagai karya kontemporer Cile. Versi Indonesia-nya ini setebal 237 halaman, berisi 9 judul cerita.

Flores adalah penulis muda Amerika Latin yang dikatakan memiliki tipikal tulisan berbeda dengan kanon penulisan generasi sebelumnya. Dengan latar kota-kota kecil di daerah urban, tulisannya dianggap sebagai gambaran generasi yang tumbuh dalam pengaruh budaya pop, musik Inggris, restoran Amerika, anime Jepang, media sosial dan pornografi.

Jika menyimak lebih dekat isi dari masing-masing cerpen, fokus tokohnya berada di sekitar lingkup keluarga, kawan, sahabat, dan orang-orang asing di sekitar mereka. Mengambil sudut pandang anak muda yang berada dalam masa pencarian arti hidup, mencoba memahami banyak hal melalui kejadian yang hinggap sehari-hari, dan berharap mampu membuat rumusan sederhana atas hal-hal besar semampu usia mereka.

Menilik kata 'hina' yang digunakan dalam versi Bahasa Indonesia-nya, mungkin dimaksudkan untuk membuat penafsiran bahwa situasi yang menimpa tokoh-tokoh dalam ceritanya adalah hal-hal yang dianggap tidak sejalan dengan nilai moral atau aturan sosial. 'Hina' di sini mungkin juga diartikan sebagai cara penulis memandang tokoh-tokohnya yang kesemuanya tidak sempurna.

Dicontohkan pada cerpen terakhir "Aku Beruntung" -- cerpen terpanjang dalam buku ini-- mengisahkan tentang kenyataan hidup beberapa tokoh yang kesemuanya tidak 'lurus'. Tokoh Denise yang mengijinkan pasangan untuk bercinta di kamar rusunnya, sementara ia yang penasaran menjadi pengintip, tokoh ayah yang berselingkuh dengan asisten rumah tangga ketika sang ibu sedang pergi bekerja, tokoh Nicole, sang anak yang mengetahui dosa ayahnya dan membuatnya jadi membenci anak sang asisten, Carolina. Ada juga Raquel, sang asisten yang berkarakter riang dan baik, ternyata berselingkuh dengan ayah Nicole.

Menariknya, cerpen ini sebenarnya terdiri dari dua frame terpisah. Kisah yang berputar di sekitar Denise, dan kisah persahabatan Nicole-Carolina. Ketika membaca saya ingin buru-buru menemukan di mana titik penyatuan dua kisah ini. Di mana tokoh Denise dan Nicole/ Carolina bertemu.

Sepanjang pembacaan sembilan cerpen, Flores sering memberikan twist-plot yang halus untuk mengakhiri cerita. Termasuk juga pada cerpen terakhir itu. Di awal cerpen, biasanya Flores memakukan pandang pembaca pada situasi yang dianggap pantas untuk diperhatikan dengan serius. Namun ternyata fokus ceritanya tidak di situ. Kamera seolah akan digeser ke adegan lain yang akan mengarah pada konflik. Dengan halus, Flores mengajak pembaca masuk ke dalam konflik yang diawali dari hal-hal kecil saja. Misal dalam cerpen pertama "Hina Sekali", konflik masuk dengan sebuah situasi : casting iklan untuk sebuah merek internasional. Padahal situasi awalnya penuh dengan gambaran tentang ayah yang dipecat, kondisi ekonomi terganggu, keluarga yang mulai dilanda stres, sang istri yang sering bertengkar dengan suaminya, dan anak-anak yang hanya mampu menjadi pendengar dan penyimaknya saja, tetapi di sisi lain diselipkan kenyataan bahwa sang anak justru bahagia dengan situasi itu. Awalnya pembaca mengira akan dibuat sebuah situasi yang fokus pada ayahnya, atau hubungan suami-istri. Ternyata, ceritanya dialihkan pada hubungan ayah-anak, di mana wujud cinta sang anak adalah dengan mencarikan lowongan pekerjaan untuk ayahnya, yaitu mengikuti casting iklan. Sang ayah dengan bersemangat mengikuti casting bersama dengan kedua putrinya. Sengaja diajak untuk menunjukkan belas kasihan. Apakah sampai di situ? Tidak. Cerpen ini pun diakhiri dengan menarik.

Meski kisah-kisahnya tidak sesuai dengan moralitas sosial yang ingin selalu ditampakkan semua orang di permukaan, namun Flores di sisi lain mengangkat cerita yang faktanya terjadi di sana (Cile). Potret dinamika penghuni ruang-ruang kecil di lingkungan urban. Terasa sekali warna-warna kegelisahan, keterbatasan, nan muram, sedih, dan getir. Di sisi lain memang begitulah kenyataannya. Dari dekat, dan semakin dekat, Flores memotret itu dan menuliskannya dengan deskripsi yang detil dan panjang.

Diterjemahkan dengan baik oleh Astrid Wasistyanti, membuat pembaca berhasil menangkap konteksnya secara utuh. Menggunakan beberapa kosakata 'gaul' yang tidak baku, seperti nyeker, banget, sih, dll sepertinya dimaksudkan untuk menumbuhkan suasana percakapan informal yang santai dan dekat antar tokoh.

Flores juga dengan menarik menyisipkan opini dan sudut pandang pribadi terkait ceritanya. Misal di cerpen keenam, "Semangat Amerika". Dalam cerpen itu, Flores menulis "Bukan karena kenaifan, yang kamu lakukan adalah menipu dirimu sendiri. Menipu dirimu sendiri dengan baik, begitu baiknya sampai kamu berhasil melupakannya, begitu baiknya hingga suatu hari perbuatan-perbuatanmu kembali dan membuatmu tercengang, mengendap-endap di belakangmu." (hlm. 125). Begitu juga di cerpen "Liburan Terakhir", "...bahwa setiap detil punya arti dan mencoba, atau memaksa, agar setiap kepingan bisa masuk dengan pas, bahwa semua ada hikmahnya..." (hlm. 163)

Saya juga suka ketika Flores menyisipkan beberapa wawasan pengetahuan umum terkait sebuah objek dalam cerpennya. Misal dalam cerpen ketiga, "Talcahuano" tentang beberapa perbedaan samurai dan ninja. Di cerpen lain, Flores juga menyisipkan tentang Sailor Moon dan Saint Seiya, serial kartun Jepang favorit anak-anak yang mendunia. Ia juga sedikit menyinggung tentang orang-orang berwajah oriental dan mata sipit. Mungkin Flores memiliki cukup ketertarikan dengan Jepang? Atau dia memang hidup dalam lingkungan yang erat dengan pengaruh dunia tersebut? Contoh lain, di cerpen Laika, ia menuliskan tentang Laika, anjing pertama yang pergi ke luar angkasa bersama Sputnik 2 milik Uni Soviet, lalu mati di orbit setelah tujuh jam.

Secara keseluruhan, cerpen-cerpennya bernuansa muda, segar, padat deskripsi, bercerita dengan ringan, tidak banyak 'naik-turun', dan terkadang diisi tikungan-tikungan. Mengingatkan saya pada suasana membaca buku-buku cerita remaja seperti serial Si Badung, Malory Towers, atau percakapan-percakapan segar dalam Trio Detektif dan STOP.

Yang kurang nyaman hanya terkadang ketika di tengah-tengah membaca dan fokus kamera berpindah untuk menggambarkan adegan lain, tidak ada pembatas yang jelas untuk perpindahan itu dalam bukunya. Lebih nyaman diberikan spasi agak lebih lebar atau *** sebagai penanda. Ataukah, mungkin saja itu memang disengaja oleh penulisnya?

[María Greene F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cuentos repetitivos, demasiado odio y resentimiento social, y pocos personajes con los que se pudiera empatizar. A excepción del primero, "Qué vergüenza", y del de "Tía Nana" (el mejor, y buenísimo), todo me pareció de lo más prescindible y muy lejos de ser recomendable.

Me da pena escribir críticas tan duras de la literatura compatriota y local, pero también creo que no porque todavía no haya nuevos autores brillantes (en mi opinión), uno tiene que validar y endulzar cualquier cosa. Y además, sé que no me corresponde a mí decirle a nadie qué escribir, pero... qué bien nos vendría una voz dulce, una voz conciliadora, una voz realmente inclusiva en la literatura chilena, que no pase dividiendo a los personajes en categorías socioeconómicas, como si eso fuera todo lo que ellos son. Es injusto, mezquino, aburrido, y además convierte a la gente en caricaturas.

También me pasó que en todos los cuentos sentí que la autora no hacía más que hablar de ella misma. No es que eso fuera algo malo per sé, es que para eso los hubiera juntado a todos en una sola novela o qué se yo.

Y, por último, se informó mal: Laika, la pobre perrita glorificada que mandó Rusia en el satélite, no alcanzó a mirar nostálgicamente a la Tierra desde el espacio, como algunos personajes comentan en uno de sus cuentos: se murió apenas iba saliendo de la atmósfera.

A favor de la autora, quizá no lo sabía, porque los científicos rusos lo admitieron apenas hace algunos años, entonces no es tan parte del imaginario social: Admitieron que ni siquiera habían creado al satélite suponiendo que Laika viviera... o sea que iba a morirse sí o sí, porque aún si podía despegar, no podría aterrizar (no estaba habilitado). Más adelante, lo lindo (aunque también triste), es que uno de los encargados declaró públicamente que "la muerte de Laika no justificaba el avance que hicimos". O sea, que se arrepintieron de haber actuado así, sin haber dejado siquiera una puerta abierta.

Ya, sé que quizá estoy hilando muy fino con lo último, y que la rabia que tengo con eso último no es solo a la autora, sino que a Mecano y todos los demás artistas que, cuando chicos, nos hicieron creer que Laika fue una perrita innovadora y feliz que tuvo la suerte de contemplar a la Tierra como una maravilla azul flotando en el espacio, y no un ser hambriento y vagabundo que fue lanzada al espacio y asfixiada y/o quemada (ya no me acuerdo, fue muy traumático leerlo), solo por haber cometido el error de ser confiada y dócil, una quiltra de esas adorables y fáciles, que se entregan absolutamente nunca sabemos si por amor, desesperación, o ambas.

O sea, que al final ni siquiera tuvo la dignidad de morir en su planeta. Ni siquiera sé si sus restos volvieron.

En fin, volviendo al tema (perdón), le habría puesto una sola estrella al libro, pero el cuento de la tía Nana... Bueno, ese solo merecía las CINCO ESTRELLAS COMPLETAS. Es dulce y trágico y precioso, de una manera en que solo lo trágico puede serlo, y me dejó pensando en él días. Llegué incluso a querer al personaje de la tía, cosa que no me pasa muy a menudo, y menos cuando leo cuentos; no hay ahí tiempo suficiente como para encariñarse con nadie. Me pareció que era de esas personas que hacen al mundo girar, desde el más profundo anonimato. Las salvadoras silenciosas de todos. Y el final... es terrible, y me hizo literalmente llorar, pero también muy honesto, y deja moralejas suficientes como para educar por el resto de todos los demás cuentos.

AMAMOS A TIA NANA <3

Pero eso sería todo lo destacable. ¿Recomendado? No. ¿Interesante? Sí, pero con mesura de tiempo. Porque después se hace repetitivo. Quizá, si se tiene una copia del libro, solo leer los cuentos que ya dije y quizá "Teresa" y otros más que también son piola, o ver cuáles otros le gustaron a la gente en los review.


Un par de citas, solo para graficar que la actitud negativa no es meramente idea mía. Tenía otra más que es inspiradora y bonita (adivinen de qué cuento), pero es TAN LARGA, que mejor que vayan y lo lean completo. Sino de repente me demandan por copyright, jejeje.

1.

Se conseguía las pastillas desde hacía tres años porque se negaba a seguir terapia. No le gustaban los médicos en general. Los encontraba codiciosos e injustificadamente arrogantes. Además, era necesario que el terapeuta poseyera facultades intelectuales y de análisis superiores a las suyas, y estaba segura de que no encontraría uno así, por lo menos no a su alcance económico.

La primera y última vez que visitó a un terapeuta se sintió aburrida toda la sesión. Al final, cuando el médico le explicó el tratamiento que debía seguir, ella levantó una ceja despectiva y estuvo a punto de soltar: "Ya, ¿pero cuál fue el último libro que leyó?". No, ella no recibiría consejos de cualquiera.


2.

En su español casi perfecto, la Francesa le explicó que lo que ella quería era que se relacionaran más, que conversaran, que pasaran más tiempo juntas, tomándose un tecito y escuchando música en el living por ejemplo. Si viajaba, dijo, era justamente para eso, para conocer gente, para tener experiencias.

Denise la miró con la misma expresión abrumada que le lanzaba a su vecina de los gastos comunes: "Tú no tienes experiencias - le dijo -, tú acumulas vivencias, porque solo lo pasas bien, con las experiencias se sufre". La Francesa la miró con la boca abierta.

No es que Josiane la cayera mal, pero no podía respetarla. No podía respetar a ningún europeo, de la misma forma en que no podía respetar los sufrimientos de los cuicos. Por eso se negaba a salir con ella y sus amigos extranjeros cuando la invitaba. Pero sí le gustaba estar en su pieza, entre sus cosas. Una vez incluso había tomado su Nikon, carísima y mucho mejor que la suya y había sacado un par de fotos al pasillo. Atardecía y el sol imprimía en la pared tonos rojizos que se mezclaban con las sombras propias del departamento. Había olvidado borrar la última y tiempo después, la Francesa había subido la foto a facebook, maravillada por lo que ella creía un fenómeno paranormal.

No, no podía respetarla.


3.

Tres: da lo mismo si el cabro es cuico, si te lo agarrái, después lo desechái, le rompís el corazón, y con eso sumái una victoria para la lucha de clases.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paulina Flores es sequísima, había oído maravillas de este libro y cumplió ampliamente mis expectativas. El cuento "Talcahuano" fue mi favorito, y "Teresa" tuvo un final bien acertado; todos los cuentos tienen ese algo que te atrapa, pero esos dos fueron los que más amé.

[Merve Eflatun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir öyküsünü diğerinden ayırt edemiyorum. Ezilmişliğin hallerini, kaynaklarını mükemmele yakın bir biçimde yansıtmış Paulina Flores.

[Pablo Carballo · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me gustó. Cae en muchísimos cliches, pero no clichés literarios, si no cliches de momentos (clichés para demostrar pobreza o humildad, clichés para hablar de chicas que trabajan en Friday's, etc). Algunos cuentos tienen un final interesante, pero hasta que llega el final, la historia es muy pobre y no se justifica. El cuento de Friday's me pareció malísimo. En varios momentos quise dejar de leerlo.
La manera de relatar las historias no me gustó tampoco. Por ejemplo: ¿Cómo una persona que vive en una pobla y se va de vacaciones a La Serena tiene ese lenguaje tan literario para contar una anécdota de su vida? Me pareció que no tiene ninguna coherencia. En ese caso, hubiera preferido un lenguaje más creíble para alguien que cuenta esa historia.

[vivz miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

me llevó a muchos recuerdos este libro, a experiencias que tenia guardadas y normalizadas pero en el detalle terminaban siendo weas preciosassss.

me angustie con el de qué vergüenza
me calenté con el de teresa
leí en un baño de tina, al igual que la protagonista, el de olvidar a freddy
lloré con el de la tía nana
y con el último, recordé esas tardes con mi papá y mi hermano, comprandole al señor que se ponía afuera del salo de bellavista, las laminas que me faltaban pa completar un álbum

de algunos no entendí el final, no sé si fue pq leo mal y siempre entiendo cualquier cosa jjjiii sin embarrrrgo, agradezco la lectura de estos cuentos con tanta vida en este contexto de tanto encierro

[Jorge Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

prolija en su escritura y estremecedora en sus relatos. me encantaron sus cuentos. dolorosos?? si, pero a veces no es más que sincerarse con la vida, eso lo hace muy bien Paulina.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Paulina Flores, a young Chilean author and high school teacher, won the Roberto Bolaño Short Story Prize for the title story in her debut collection. These nine stories are about how we relate to the past, particularly our childhood – whether with nostalgia or regret – and about the pivotal moments that stand out in the memory. The first two, “Humiliation” and “Teresa,” feature young fathers and turn on a moment of surprise: An unemployed father takes his two daughters along to his audition; a college student goes home with a single father for a one-night stand.

Of the rest, my favorites were “Talcahuano,” about teenage friends whose plan to steal musical instruments from the local evangelical church goes awry when there’s a crisis with the narrator’s father, a laid-off marine (readalike: Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls); and “Forgetting Freddy,” in which a young woman who ends up back in her mother’s apartment after a breakup listens to the neighbors fighting and relives childhood fears during her long baths (readalike: History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund).

“American Spirit” recalls two friends’ time waitressing (readalike: Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler), and in “Last Vacation” a young man recounts his last trip to La Serena with his aunt before everything went wrong for his family. “Laika” is a troubling one in that the protagonist remembers her childhood brush with pedophilia not with terror or disgust but with a sort of fondness. A number of the stories conclude that you can’t truly remake your life, nor can you escape the memories that have shaped you – even if you might like to.

A fairly common feature in story volumes is closing with a novella. Almost invariably, I like these long stories the least, and sometimes skip them. Here, the 72-page “Lucky Me” could easily be omitted. Denise, a librarian who watches porn and reads the Old Testament in her spare time (“what she needed was to feel something. She needed pleasure and spirituality”), lets the upstairs neighbor use her bedroom for sex; Nicole, a fourth-grader, has her world turned upside down when her best friend’s mother becomes their housekeeper. Although the story brings its strands, one in the first person and one in the third (giving the book an even 4.5 split), together in a satisfying manner, it was among my least favorites in the collection.

Overall, though, these are sharp and readable stories I can give a solid recommendation.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[emre · Rating 5 out of 5]

bu kitabı maalesef, ismiyle uyumlu biçimde, rezalet bir dönemimde okudum. öykülerde tam benim sevdiğim damar vardı: çocukluk, aile, büyümek, hayatla yüzleşmek, arkadaşlıkların kırılgan zemini. özellikle talcahuano, amerikan ruhu ve son tatil leziz öykülerdi. tüm bunlara ve okurken aldığım keyfe rağmen, bitirmem çok uzun sürdü, kendimi bir türlü veremedim, sık sık başa döndüm, cümlelerin sesini kaçırdım başta belirttiğim üzere berbat bir dönemde okuduğum için; ama bittiğinde ne rezalet'i ne kadar çok sevdiğimi, öykülerin çoğunun ne kadar bildik, yakın, hisli geldiğini idrak ettim. daha iyi günlerde okusaydım muhtemelen başucu öykü kitaplarımdan biri olurdu, yine de kafamı toparlayınca geri döneceğim.

[Paris (parisperusing) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“She wanted someone … who worked with his hands and not with words. Want. She wanted. She needed. The words resounded in her head as she went out the door to the street. And maybe it was the cool wind that hit her in the face, or the moon that still hung in the sky, full and yellow, or the fact that she was still drunk and was going back to her bed alone at one thirty in the morning, but the words hurt her. She felt again, for the second time that night, humiliated and sick of herself.” — “Lucky Me”

Paulina Flores’ first collection, Humiliation, struck my heart like a bolt from the blue. Threaded throughout this book are nine stories centered on Chilean families and individuals attempting to survive the poor circumstances of their lives, unbeknownst to the mortifications lurking ahead. Shame cripples a jobless father after being disgraced in front of his daughters; a transient discovers herself returning to the life she once absconded; a young woman uses a water cure to wash away the memory of her failed relationship — these stories left me completely spellbound with every flick of the page. One of the most exciting qualities of Flores’ storytelling is the stealth, catlike manner in which she staggers her reader from the narrative’s blindspot, and I found this especially effective in the collection’s last and longest piece, “Lucky Me” — a cogent tale of the ways we settle for a life of loneliness and undesirability — which draws together two narratives at once for one of the best finales you’ll ever read in a collection. Written with the possessive, disquieting calm of contemporaries like Catherine Lacey and Richard Chiem, Humiliation is a dazzling debut from a woman within full command of her craft.

Thanks so much, Catapult friends, for sending this incredible debut my way!


If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.

[Tubi(Sera McFly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ekonomik krizin, dağılan ailelerin ve diktatörlüğün etkilerinin satır aralarına sinmiş gölgesindeki çocukluk hikayeleri. Çoğu çocukluktan iz bırakan anların, bazılarıysa tenlerini tanıma çabasındaki kadınların öyküleri. Flores'in anlatımı güçlü ve takip etmeye değer bir yazar olduğunu hissettiriyor. Çevirmen Zeynep Çelikel de hem derinlemesine hem de akıp giden anlatımın hakkını vermiş. Bu derlemede en çok etkilendiğim öyküler: Ne Rezalet, Teresa, Talcahuano, Nana Teyze ve Son Tatil.