Aves migratorias

by Mariana Oliver, Samuel Castaño Mesa (Illustrator)

El viaje no tiene propiamente un origen, se trata siempre de un “recomenzar”, señala Claudio Magris. Tal vez por eso es inseparable de la escritura. Durante siglos los viajeros han volcado sus experiencias en diarios, misivas, crónicas y bitácoras. Escribir es otro modo de cruzar las fronteras, una vía privilegiada para partir o encontrar el camino de retorno.

El libro de Mariana Oliver enriquece esta tradición al proponernos diez recorridos que involucran tanto ciudades reales como otros territorios más inasibles: el lenguaje, la memoria, el dolor, el deseo y el cuerpo. Con una mirada nostálgica, lúcida y sutil, estas páginas nos conducen por la ciudad subterránea de Capadocia, exploran las vicisitudes de un Berlín marcado por una fractura histórica, rememoran un impactante éxodo infantil o recrean la intimidad del espacio que habitamos.

Aves migratorias fue reconocido con el Premio Nacional de Ensayo Joven José Vasconcelos 2016. La autora posee una capacidad de evocación notable y apuntala sus reflexiones con anécdotas emotivas, información histórica y referencias literarias en dosis precisas.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Travel, Spanish Literature, Contemporary, Literature, Memoir

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Mariana Oliver was born in Mexico City in 1986. She received a master’s degree in comparative literature from the National Autonomous University of México (UNAM) and is currently working towards a doctoral degree in modern literature at the Iberoamerican University in Mexico City. Oliver was granted a fellowship for essay writing at the Foundation for Mexican Literature and was awarded the José Vasconcelos National Young Essay Award for Migratory Birds.

Reviews

[julieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué buena sorpresa me llevé con este libro! Muy bueno, lo disfruté mucho. Se mueve por varios lugares, Berlin, la historia, la segunda guerra mundial, la migración, los sueños, etc etc. Ya es la segunda sorpresa que me llevo con Tierra adentro, también me gustó mucho el de Jazmina Barrera, Cuaderno de Faros, que se los recomiendo mucho. No perder a Oliver de vista.

[Nicola Balkind · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a fragmentary essay collection but this was thin. Reads like a pale imitation of Maggie Nelson or Valeria Luiselli. It felt dated to me, almost like an accidental pastiche of the form. That’s in part because I’m reading a translation in 2021 and not the original in 2014, but on top of that it lacks substance. Wouldn’t recommend.

[Merve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çok severek okudum. Sınavlardan dolayı sekiz on gündür kitap okuyamamistim. Çok iyi geldi yorgun zihnime. Fragmanlardan oluşan, kesitli bir yapısı var kitabın. Öykü desen, oykuleyici bir anlatim var ama öykü de denilemez. Fragman belki doğru sözcük olabilir. Parçalı anlatı. Severim bu tarzı. On bir başlıkta toplanmış anlatılardan en çok Kapadokya ve Kassandra bölümlerini beğendim.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of thoughtful and concise essays is the third installment of Transit's Undelivered Lectures series. The pieces cover migration and the concept of home using interesting tidbits from history, and often from the history of languages. Recommended.

[Sirin Mitrani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deneme okumayı çok özlemişim bu kitap nasıl iyi geldi anlatamam. Yazarın dünyanın çeşitli yerlerini kendi algısından ve kültür birikiminden anlatmasına bayıldım.Baski sayfa duzeni araya serpiştirilmiş çizimler ve fotoğraf sanki yazarın günlüğüne ya da seyahat güncesini okuyormuş hissi verdi. Kapadokya bolumunu ayrı bir sevdim.

[h.e.yoseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely collection of essays thematically related to migration in its various forms. Language, pain, history, as well as the meaning of home are some areas of note explored in this collection that now have new meaning for me. Beautiful, short, and wholly satisfying.

“We always know more about farewells than we do about reunions.”

[Michelle Simoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not really an essays person but I loved these . I love how the author writes I think it’s beautiful and I hope she writes more stories . The essays are mostly about how ppl live during / after war . My fav essay was “özdamar’s tongue “

[Lucy Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Language, migration, musings. Yep, a lucy book for sure. Some truly haunting histories. Her way of movement through words and worlds felt familiar to the ways I engage with them as well. :)

[Caroline]

Did not impress. I felt that there was almost no substance here. The flat, affectless style never appeals to me. A few of the German-focused essays were mildly interesting.

[Eliana]

As a society we don’t spend enough time thinking about where we came from and how such experiences impact the way we live and tell our stories.

Also, did I do a bunch of projecting while reading this book? Yeah.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A taut, tremulous tightrope.

This fascinating collection of essays flits and skates around the idea of movement, language, and identity. Oliver spends much of her time investigating how friends, family, acquaintances, and common people throughout history have addressed displacement, both proactive and reactive. she cracks open the marrow of language to interrogate purpose, longing, and adaptability.

Barely clearing 120 pages in length, she grabbed my attention early and never let me go. The opening essay literally discusses birds in migration before eventually digging into various facets of Berlin, both immediately after World War II and the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I was further entranced by her thoughts on personality, place, and events, especially in the essay entitled "Mimesis in VHS."

I can see this book feeling too fractured for some readers, but the probing curiosity of Oliver's words hit me just right.

[Shantal Abrego · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Abarca más que los viajes geográficos o la distancia palpable. Habla sobre sentirse ajeno en la propia patria, de cómo toda una población puede estar en peregrinación constante de ideas..."
Pueden leer mi reseña completa aquí:
https://pparanoia.wordpress.com/2017/...

[María José · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves so much more recognition! It’s beautifully written, completely original and terribly captivating. Also, I learn so many historical facts reading this one (always a plus for me)

[Carolina Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primero llegó Mariana, y luego Aves migratorias...

Pensando en cómo podría describir su escritura encontré unas palabras de una biografía de Stefan Zweig que tomo prestadas y que encajan a la perfección: su delicadeza en la descripción de los sentimientos y la elegancia de su estilo, la convierten en una narradora fascinante.

Así me pareció este libro, el cual atesoraré como uno de los más bellos descubrimientos porque sus palabras te atraviesan, te conmueven, te transportan a otros tiempos y te sacan del letargo.

[ea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick collection of lyrical essays about migration, movement, meaning.

The first piece in this collection is about Bill Lishman, a Canadian inventor and aviator who was friends with my grandpa for a while, he also built the dining room table that dominates my grandparents’ kitchen. It was this filial connection that drove me to purchase and then later read this collection.

These essays speak to language and history and cause wanderlust to blister the soles of my feet.

[Navya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! Oliver looks at the idea of 'migration' from multiple angles, with some interpretations that were quite creative. Her language is dreamy and the ideas/topics she brings up far ranging, interesting and emotionally charging.

Some essays felt a little aborted - there was a problem of abrupt endings - but a relatively minor issue.

[Mayk Can Şişman · Rating 3 out of 5]

kapadokya ya da türkiye’ye dair izlerin de olduğu ama ekseriyetle almanya’ya dair denemeler. meksikalı yazar mariana oliver, ülkesinde alman dili ve edebiyatı mezunu bir yazar olarak kolay okunan, yalın denemelere imza atmış ama içlerinden hiçbiri bana ekstra bir keyif vermedi. okudum, yer yer emine sevgi özdamar’lı bölüm gibi sevdiğim yerler oldu ama çok da acayip ve ilginç bulmadım.

[Carolina Gil]

Leí la edición de Tragaluz, ilustrada por Samuel Castaño Mesa. Ensayo Literario: “La casa, donde todo se vive y tal vez donde está la verdad, es el tema que atraviesa once ensayos de tono poético y conmovedor”

[Tristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

informing, thoughtful, sweet

[anahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bello <3

[Jimena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Está hermoso este libro, la edición es lindísima y perfecta.
Que bonitos cuentos.
Se lo quiero regalar a todxs mis amigas

[Alfonso Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es en el viaje y el regreso hacia ella, es en donde se encuentra uno con la casa.

[Catherine Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely beautiful essays that will stick with me. so many of mariana’s words translated by julia are rolling around in my mind and on my tongue.

[Nicolás Rodríguez Sanabria · Rating 4 out of 5]

En ocasiones la necesidad de la frase bella y contundente le resta naturaleza o incluso claridad, en otras los temas que trae a colación en cada ensayo no quedan muy bien anudados y se pierde el efecto, pero Oliver acierta muchísimo más de lo que falla. Gran debut.

[Alejandra Monterroza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Increíble libro. Tenía muchas expectativas y las cumplió totalmente. Es ese tipo de libro al que volvería siempre. Quedé enamorada de varios ensayos y me motivó mucho a escribir sobre mi casa y lo que habito.

Recomendado 100%

[Carolina Muñoz Berrio · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Genial! Es la primera vez que leo ensayo literario y me gusta mucha la forma en la que Mariana describe los espacios, el lenguaje y los hechos históricos que marcan cada uno de ellos.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

We should adopt words across languages into our everyday vernacular. Pronounce them as confidently as we do those of our childhood, mark them with our accents, voice modulations, and necessary pauses. Speak them as though they were ours, find a context for them in which their meanings explode and envelop us. Turn our mother tongues into open spaces that can accommodate any word we choose or happen to come across. Recognize others for the words they’ve chosen. Say “home,” “body,” or “ghost” in any language and assume every nuance.

Your first thought upon awakening be: “Atom.” For you should not begin your day with the illusion that what surrounds you is a stable world. Günther Anders

Sometimes, out of the blue, you catch a glimpse of the future. A moment of insight that disrupts the day-to-day, a revelation that becomes impossible to shake off. In the middle of a practice flight, Bill noticed he was no longer alone but encircled by a large flock of ducks migrating south. For a couple of minutes the speed of the birds and of the aircraft were one and the same, and together they traveled a short distance. It was like his body had multiplied. As he flew among the birds, Bill became one too.
A man pilots a yellow ultralight across the sky. His name, Bill, Bill, Bill, is the last thing he hears before his feet take wing. All liftoffs are the same, he thinks, a ritual by which we become birds. As the body rises, the mind blots out all sounds and refashions them one by one, as if they existed in isolation. First heartbeat, then breath, then saliva moistening the throat; then the whoosh of air as the ultralight’s wings break it into a white trail.

A place at once empty and full, Cappadocia inspires bewilderment. Which is why it is useless to try and take in the landscape with only your eyes. Trees are few and far between and sunlight pours mercilessly onto your skin, drenching it.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

De tanto andar me he dado cuenta de que poco me llevo de cada cosa, pero que lo poco termina siendo mucho, con frecuencia lo suficiente.
Me llevo dos historias de este compendio. Capadocia me hizo soñar con un pasado que se me hizo mío. Me hizo pensar en la tierra que se levanta cuando se encuentra con el paso de un caballo. Me hizo pensar que yo también he estado así, encima de lo que buscaba, obnubilada por mi propia marcha desesperada.
Tengo que ir a Capadocia.
El plano de una casa me recordó lo mucho que añoro que las lesbianas dejemos de ser facilistas. Es casi como si quisiéramos, muchas veces, decir "soy lesbiana", y esperar que ello sea una muestra de reflexión profunda sobre las relaciones entre mujeres. Este cuento es la grieta. Esa que demuestra que es, de hecho, una mirada de soslayo, tres palabras juntas, las que pueden generar un quiebre verdadero. Son dos mujeres las que habitan aquella casa. Y miro esta, en la que también habitamos dos mujeres,y me hago la pregunta que lanza la autora, pero yo no logro responderla todavía. Si alguien entrara a mi casa, ¿cuándo se darían cuenta de que somos dos mujeres quienes la habitamos? En una oración lo absurdo de las etiquetas, de las "cosas para mujeres", se problematiza, es bellamente expuesto con una delicadeza exquisita.
Como bonus track, también le mandé una foto de un apartado sobre las grietas de Berlín a una compañera que está interesada en la grieta que se expande. Es bueno poder compartir fragmentos con otros que están pensando otra cosa que se parece a la de uno, aunque sea distinta.
Yo, en este momento, me intereso más por la casa imaginaria, la fantasía que se resiste a la obra negra.
No tengo esta edición que comento, sino la de Tragaluz. Las ilustraciones están muy bellas.

[º · Rating 3 out of 5]

vain without splendor and redundantly vague in the name of a specious Theme (most of the essays are about berlin when the book is (nominally) about borders/space/migration) in the style of, as another reviewer pointed out, maggie nelson. only thing i learned about borders is the statelessness of this deliberately pared self-serving petit bourg (sorry) writing style of today. like maggie nelson & other writers who essentially give unwitting readers homework by publishing "oprah's favorites"-like magazine listicles as essays you do come away w neat recommendations and references to literary traditions/figures you may not have encountered otherwise. just feeling a little slimy coming out of it w the author's own like...... satisfaction w themselves lol

[Ulises · Rating 3 out of 5]

me gustó este libro de ensayos de Mariana Oliver, una escritora a la que estimo mucho.
en estos textos recorre su pasión de germanista, pero también afina su crítica literaria desde sus lecturas y afectos recorridos.
lo que me encantó del libro (y de su tono) fue que la clave autobiográfica está latente (en ocasiones se asoma, pero es más bien para orientarnos, algo así como el plano de un libro); además, aprendí mucho de historia europea, de sus ciudades subterráneas y del paso de las dos guerras por el cuerpo de sus habitantes.
Aves migratorias es un libro-espejo. en fin, un viaje literario que disfruté mucho.
nunca hay que perderle el rastro a Mariana. qué buena escritora.