Fragma

by Mojca Kumerdej, Rawley Grau (Translation)

Fragma is the debut collection of short fiction by award-winning Slovenian writer Mojca Kumerdej. Kumerdej's writing is witty, lucid, darkly funny—a style that leads us to sympathize with, even as we loathe, characters who are obsessed with their luxury cars and jealous of their own daughters. Her stories of sadism, masochism, codependence, and violence in multiple forms introduce us to an utterly unique voice, valuable for what it tells us about contemporary Slovenia, but even more for what it can tell us about ourselves.

204 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Pisateljica, filozofinja in publicistka. Njene kratke zgodbe so uvrščene v številne domače in tuje antologije ter prevedene v trinajst jezikov. Za zgodbo Pod gladino je leta 2006 prejela na Mednarodnem literarnem festivalu Vilenica prejela nagrado kristal Vilenice. Leta 2017 je za roman Kronosova žetev prejela nagrado Prešernovega sklada in kritiško sito.

Reviews

[Dale Stromberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Readers looking for quiet character-driven literary fiction that delves into the darker corners of human relationships will find this collection to be of interest.

Many of the stories are about a passion or longing which torments or even ultimately ruins a character. The prose (in the English translation) is expertly written, and the text is rich in small insights into its characters' psychologies.

I most enjoyed the zany ironic comedy of "Love Is Energy", the deeply human pathos of "Her Hand", and the incisive character dissection of "More than a Woman".

Unfortunately for me, many of the other stories, though well executed, are based upon premises which feel overfamiliar. I sometimes found myself wishing the stories would push further or surprise me more—that they would stand out from other similarly conceived literary fiction.

[Katrinka Josephine · Rating 3 out of 5]

ponev lugemine just kultuurilises mottes, aga kohati liialt korduv.

siuke 4-5 novelli megad, ylejaanud eeeh.