What do you think?
Rate this book
Τραγούδια για την πυρκαγιά
Μια φωτογράφος, ιχνηλατώντας την αλήθεια, αντιλαμβάνεται κάτι που θα προτιμούσε ν’ αγνοεί.
Ένας βετεράνος του Πολέμου της Κορέας έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με το παρελθόν του, στη διάρκεια μιας συνάντησης που αρχικά φαινόταν ακίνδυνη.
Ο αφηγητής, παίζοντας κομπάρσος στο γύρισμα μιας ταινίας του Πολάνσκι, παρατηρεί το πρόσωπο του σκηνοθέτη, ψάχνοντας για σημάδια στον απόηχο της δολοφονίας της Σάρον Τέιτ.
Η διαδικτυακή αναζήτηση ενός βιβλίου που είχε εκδοθεί το 1887, οδηγεί έναν συγγραφέα ν’ ανακαλύψει τη ζωή μιας παθιασμένης γυναίκας.
Οι χαρακτήρες του βιβλίου είναι άνδρες και γυναίκες που έχουν υποστεί βία με άμεσο ή έμμεσο τρόπο, και η ζωή τους αλλάζει ολοκληρωτικά από μια τυχαία συνάντηση ή τη δράση ακατανόητων δυνάμεων.
Ο Juan Gabriel Vasquez επιστρέφει στη μικρή φόρμα: εννέα διηγήματα με ήρωες ανθρώπους μπροστά σε ηθικά διλήμματα, που αντικατοπτρίζουν την αφηγηματική δεξιότητα του συγγραφέα και τη βαθιά του κατανόηση για τη ζωή των άλλων.
Τα πανανθρώπινα "Τραγούδια για την πυρκαγιά" του σπουδαίου κολομβιανού συγγραφέα έρχονται να συναντήσουν την περίφημη φράση του Θουκυδίδη με την οποία στηλίτευσε την αδιαφορία ή και την αναλγησία των συγχρόνων του Αθηναίων: «Των οικιών ημών εμπιπραμένων, ημείς άδομεν».
Ένας βετεράνος του Πολέμου της Κορέας έρχεται αντιμέτωπος με το παρελθόν του, στη διάρκεια μιας συνάντησης που αρχικά φαινόταν ακίνδυνη.
Ο αφηγητής, παίζοντας κομπάρσος στο γύρισμα μιας ταινίας του Πολάνσκι, παρατηρεί το πρόσωπο του σκηνοθέτη, ψάχνοντας για σημάδια στον απόηχο της δολοφονίας της Σάρον Τέιτ.
Η διαδικτυακή αναζήτηση ενός βιβλίου που είχε εκδοθεί το 1887, οδηγεί έναν συγγραφέα ν’ ανακαλύψει τη ζωή μιας παθιασμένης γυναίκας.
Οι χαρακτήρες του βιβλίου είναι άνδρες και γυναίκες που έχουν υποστεί βία με άμεσο ή έμμεσο τρόπο, και η ζωή τους αλλάζει ολοκληρωτικά από μια τυχαία συνάντηση ή τη δράση ακατανόητων δυνάμεων.
Ο Juan Gabriel Vasquez επιστρέφει στη μικρή φόρμα: εννέα διηγήματα με ήρωες ανθρώπους μπροστά σε ηθικά διλήμματα, που αντικατοπτρίζουν την αφηγηματική δεξιότητα του συγγραφέα και τη βαθιά του κατανόηση για τη ζωή των άλλων.
Τα πανανθρώπινα "Τραγούδια για την πυρκαγιά" του σπουδαίου κολομβιανού συγγραφέα έρχονται να συναντήσουν την περίφημη φράση του Θουκυδίδη με την οποία στηλίτευσε την αδιαφορία ή και την αναλγησία των συγχρόνων του Αθηναίων: «Των οικιών ημών εμπιπραμένων, ημείς άδομεν».
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2018
115 people are currently reading
1750 people want to read
About the author
Juan Gabriel Vásquez
73 books1,433 followersJuan Gabriel Vásquez is a Colombian writer, journalist and translator. Regarded as one of the most important Latin American novelists working today, he is the author of seven novels, two volumes of stories and two books of literary essays, as well as hundreds of pages of political commentary.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
October 2, 2019
I will be upfront. I am a big Vasquez fan. So when I heard that he had a new collection of short stories coming out, I ordered it.
Good-bad timing. I was also going away so I read this while traveling. But the more I read each story, the more fascinating they became. They were hard to put down.
Vasquez writes about his native Colombia with painful honesty and conviction. If you are familiar with him, he often has personal connections to his stories. This realism, unlike the magic realism of Marquez paints very disturbing stories and with his personal connections makes things even more real.
“Songs for the fire” is actually a poem title by the Colombian poet Gustafo Adolfo de De Leon. The story behind this is a very tragic story. His mother Aurelia de Santos died tragically young and was buried in the free cemetery of Circasio. This was a cemetery for those who the church refused for their cemeteries. Free thinkers, communists, prostitutes and the like ended up here. Same as leftist thinkers.
Aurelia de Santos wrote for a Bogotan paper in the 1940s until she got pregnant. She wrote about women. One day at a pool a woman was spotted wearing a two-piece bathing suit, the fashion of the day and very European. The mayor was enraged. He told her that women in Bogotá wore only one-piece suits. Defiantly she asked him, “which part shall I remove? Top or bottom?” Politically not a wise move.
The violence that left the presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan dead, affected so many others including Aureli. This could be the theme of these stories.
Los muchachos (the boys) focuses on teen boys getting involved in nightly brawls. But what happens when the drug cartels effect their parents? Or in Las ranas (the frogs), Colombia sent 4,000 soldiers to fight in the Korean War. Lives were changed forever, thousands of kilometres away.
Las malas noticias (bad news) and Nosotros (Us) focus on the survivors. Aeropuerto is timely as Vasquez recalls working on a film for Roman Polanski in Charles de Gaulle airport but recalls the Sharon Tate murder (definitely not “Once upon a Time in Hollywood).
It’s not all gloomy. Ultimo corrido (Last song) is about a Mexican band on tour in Europe (Vasquez covered them for a paper) when the band founder and lead singer gets some bad news. The story is as heartfelt as it goes.
The book kicks off Mujer en la orilla (Woman on a bank) with the creepy woman photographer who documents the “disappeared” during the cartel-FARC years. A nice ring cycle occurs with the last story as well.
If you are looking for feel-good stories, this is not your book. If you want stories that make you stop and think, this will do the trick.
Always a pleasure to read Vasquez. Perhaps a 4.5
Good-bad timing. I was also going away so I read this while traveling. But the more I read each story, the more fascinating they became. They were hard to put down.
Vasquez writes about his native Colombia with painful honesty and conviction. If you are familiar with him, he often has personal connections to his stories. This realism, unlike the magic realism of Marquez paints very disturbing stories and with his personal connections makes things even more real.
“Songs for the fire” is actually a poem title by the Colombian poet Gustafo Adolfo de De Leon. The story behind this is a very tragic story. His mother Aurelia de Santos died tragically young and was buried in the free cemetery of Circasio. This was a cemetery for those who the church refused for their cemeteries. Free thinkers, communists, prostitutes and the like ended up here. Same as leftist thinkers.
Aurelia de Santos wrote for a Bogotan paper in the 1940s until she got pregnant. She wrote about women. One day at a pool a woman was spotted wearing a two-piece bathing suit, the fashion of the day and very European. The mayor was enraged. He told her that women in Bogotá wore only one-piece suits. Defiantly she asked him, “which part shall I remove? Top or bottom?” Politically not a wise move.
The violence that left the presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan dead, affected so many others including Aureli. This could be the theme of these stories.
Los muchachos (the boys) focuses on teen boys getting involved in nightly brawls. But what happens when the drug cartels effect their parents? Or in Las ranas (the frogs), Colombia sent 4,000 soldiers to fight in the Korean War. Lives were changed forever, thousands of kilometres away.
Las malas noticias (bad news) and Nosotros (Us) focus on the survivors. Aeropuerto is timely as Vasquez recalls working on a film for Roman Polanski in Charles de Gaulle airport but recalls the Sharon Tate murder (definitely not “Once upon a Time in Hollywood).
It’s not all gloomy. Ultimo corrido (Last song) is about a Mexican band on tour in Europe (Vasquez covered them for a paper) when the band founder and lead singer gets some bad news. The story is as heartfelt as it goes.
The book kicks off Mujer en la orilla (Woman on a bank) with the creepy woman photographer who documents the “disappeared” during the cartel-FARC years. A nice ring cycle occurs with the last story as well.
If you are looking for feel-good stories, this is not your book. If you want stories that make you stop and think, this will do the trick.
Always a pleasure to read Vasquez. Perhaps a 4.5
July 6, 2020
Δε θα πω πολλά.. Υπάρχουν συγγραφείς που απλά σε ενδιαφέρει το τι έχουν να πουν και οποτε βγάζουν κάτι καινούριο, είναι βέβαιο ότι θα το διαβάσεις χωρίς να διαβάσεις πρώτα κριτικές ή ακόμη και περιλήψεις.για μένα, ένας τέτοιος συγγραφέας είναι ο Βασκεζ, οπότε μόλις κυκλοφόρησε αυτό το βιβλίο, έσπευσα να το αγοράσω. Σε αυτό το βιβλίο λοιπόν συναντούμε τον συγγραφέα σε εννέα σύντομες ιστορίες που η καθεμία τους έχει κάτι ιδιαίτερο να πει, μέσα από τον μοναδικό διεισδυτικο τρόπο του Βασκεζ. Χαρακτήρες και αφηγητές αληθινοί, ανθρώπινοι με βάσανα, ελαττώματα και πάθη. Κάποια διηγήματα μου άρεσαν πάρα πολύ, κάποια λιγότερο, δεν έχει και τόση σημασία, κλείνοντας το βιβλίο εξακολουθώ να περιμένω με ανυπομονησία το επόμενο του.
November 23, 2021
Είμαι πολύ σίγουρη ότι ένας από τους επιβάτες που χρησιμοποιούν την στάση λεωφορείου που βρίσκεται ακριβώς μπροστά από την είσοδο του γραφείου, έχει αποφασίσει να ξεκινήσει ανταλλακτική βιβλιοθήκη. Ανάμεσα στα 5-6 βιβλία που έχει αφήσει τους τελευταίους 4 μήνες, αυτό αποφάσισα να το πάρω.
Και έπιασα τζακ-ποτ. Ξαφνικά, έκανα ένα μαγικό ταξίδι στην Κολομβία που ήταν μακρύ, συναισθηματικά φορτισμένο και με έκανε να απομακρυνθώ από την αγχώδη καθημερινότητα που ζω τον τελευταίο καιρό.
Σε ευχαριστώ, άγνωστε επιβάτη του ΟΑΣΑ.
Και έπιασα τζακ-ποτ. Ξαφνικά, έκανα ένα μαγικό ταξίδι στην Κολομβία που ήταν μακρύ, συναισθηματικά φορτισμένο και με έκανε να απομακρυνθώ από την αγχώδη καθημερινότητα που ζω τον τελευταίο καιρό.
Σε ευχαριστώ, άγνωστε επιβάτη του ΟΑΣΑ.
February 15, 2023
E publica o livro, talvez a suas expensas, e deixa que os exemplares apodreçam numa cave de uma tipografia porque apenas lhe interessa que o livro exista, porque esse é o único consolo que temos, nós, os filhos deste país incendiado, condenados a recordar e a investigar e a lamentar, e depois a compor canções para o incêndio.
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, pelo pouco que já li dele, é extremamente eficiente a contar uma história. Os temas são diversos e interessantes, sobretudo com o seu próprio país a servir-lhe de fonte de inspiração inesgotável, a sua escrita é directa e a tensão acompanha uniformemente toda a narrativa. Ainda assim, durante a leitura, reparo que não surgem frases lapidares e que não encontro passagens que deseje marcar, pelo que não é autor fácil de citar na altura de escrever uma recensão.
É forte a presença de um narrador que vive da escrita como o próprio autor nestes contos que se podem enquadrar na temática da duplicidade, da cobardia, da mentira, da família e da violência. Histórias como “Mulher à beira-rio” e “Nós” parecem rascunhos de algo que deveria estar mais desenvolvido, enquanto "Aeroporto” vive demasiado de uma tragédia alheia, mas todas as outras culminam de forma impactante e até comovente, como no caso de “O Duplo”, “O Último corrido” e “Canções para o incêndio”.
Mulher à beira-rio-3*
O duplo-5*
As rãs-5*
As más notícias-5*
Nós-3*
Aeroporto-3*
Os rapazes-4*
O último corrido-4*
Canções para o incêndio-5*
Juan Gabriel Vásquez, pelo pouco que já li dele, é extremamente eficiente a contar uma história. Os temas são diversos e interessantes, sobretudo com o seu próprio país a servir-lhe de fonte de inspiração inesgotável, a sua escrita é directa e a tensão acompanha uniformemente toda a narrativa. Ainda assim, durante a leitura, reparo que não surgem frases lapidares e que não encontro passagens que deseje marcar, pelo que não é autor fácil de citar na altura de escrever uma recensão.
É forte a presença de um narrador que vive da escrita como o próprio autor nestes contos que se podem enquadrar na temática da duplicidade, da cobardia, da mentira, da família e da violência. Histórias como “Mulher à beira-rio” e “Nós” parecem rascunhos de algo que deveria estar mais desenvolvido, enquanto "Aeroporto” vive demasiado de uma tragédia alheia, mas todas as outras culminam de forma impactante e até comovente, como no caso de “O Duplo”, “O Último corrido” e “Canções para o incêndio”.
Mulher à beira-rio-3*
O duplo-5*
As rãs-5*
As más notícias-5*
Nós-3*
Aeroporto-3*
Os rapazes-4*
O último corrido-4*
Canções para o incêndio-5*
August 23, 2023
3,5*
Depois de ter lido O Barulho das Coisas ao Cair, que continuo a preferir, a minha fasquia estava alta.
Estes contos de Juan Gabriel Vásquez são uma visitação ao passado violento de várias gerações de colombianos, com o fantasma do narcotráfico e dos assassinatos em plena luz do dia. São também uma evocação da memória individual e coletiva daquele país, como no conto de que mais gostei, com o título Os Rapazes.
Depois de ter lido O Barulho das Coisas ao Cair, que continuo a preferir, a minha fasquia estava alta.
Estes contos de Juan Gabriel Vásquez são uma visitação ao passado violento de várias gerações de colombianos, com o fantasma do narcotráfico e dos assassinatos em plena luz do dia. São também uma evocação da memória individual e coletiva daquele país, como no conto de que mais gostei, com o título Os Rapazes.
July 30, 2021
Juan Gabriel Vásquez' Songs for the Flames offers a collection of stories that are at once both beautiful and distressing. He's one of those writers whose prose style makes readers want to highlight passages (and kudos to the translator):
"the sparse grass that grew unconvincingly on the bank"
"Monica Lewinsky, an intern who didn't smoke cigars"
"All sorts of stupid metaphors went through my head about this proximity, but I had the good sense not to write any of them down in my notebook," from a story about a writer who briefly becomes an extra in a Johnny Depp film.
The settings for Vásquez's stories vary widely: city, village, Colombia (Vásquez' homeland), France, Spain. The situations he explores are compelling: the life of a deserter from Colombian soldiers heading off to fight for "freedom" in the Korean War; two very different tellings of an army wife, living in a U.S. base in Spain, being informed of her husband's death; an increasingly brutal series of fights among a group of boys as violence builds in Colombia; a family corrido band facing increasing tensions along generational lines.
Even if you are not a frequent reader of short stories (quite frankly, I not), this is a book worth seeking out. Time reading Songs for the Flames is time well spent. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
"the sparse grass that grew unconvincingly on the bank"
"Monica Lewinsky, an intern who didn't smoke cigars"
"All sorts of stupid metaphors went through my head about this proximity, but I had the good sense not to write any of them down in my notebook," from a story about a writer who briefly becomes an extra in a Johnny Depp film.
The settings for Vásquez's stories vary widely: city, village, Colombia (Vásquez' homeland), France, Spain. The situations he explores are compelling: the life of a deserter from Colombian soldiers heading off to fight for "freedom" in the Korean War; two very different tellings of an army wife, living in a U.S. base in Spain, being informed of her husband's death; an increasingly brutal series of fights among a group of boys as violence builds in Colombia; a family corrido band facing increasing tensions along generational lines.
Even if you are not a frequent reader of short stories (quite frankly, I not), this is a book worth seeking out. Time reading Songs for the Flames is time well spent. I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own.
October 25, 2025
Vásquez elbeszéléseinek igazából két visszatérő motívuma van. Az egyik az erőszak, ami úgy húzódik a szöveg alatt, mint valamiféle Szent András-törésvonal, ami mindig készen áll, hogy megrengesse a társadalmat. A szereplők ilyen értelemben egy olyan közösség tagjai, ahol a gyilkosság (legyen az politikai merénylet vagy haramiák támadása) bele van kalkulálva a létezésbe – de persze kérdés, milyen létezés az, ami egy ilyen permanens fenyegetettség árnyékában zajlik. A másik motívum a duplafenekű elbeszélés eszköze. Vásquez igyekszik azt a benyomást elültetni bennünk, hogy ő nem fikcióban utazik, hanem "csak" mások történeteit közvetíti – hol az „egy barátommal történt” klasszikus motívumának valamely variációját játssza meg, hol pedig dokumentumokra támaszkodik, amelyeket lelkiismeretes újságíróként bányászott elő a múlt tárnáiból. Ezzel látszólag a valóságosság illúzióját kölcsönzi az elbeszélésnek (különösen ha létező személyeket is játékba hoz, mint Roman Polanskit a „Repülőtér” c. novellában), de valójában csak szaporítja azon síkok számát, amelyen az író megvezetheti az olvasót. Az első elem keménységet ad a szövegnek, a második játékosságot. Ez egy igen jó kombináció, szerintem.
March 27, 2019
Noticias hechas cuento. Podría ser una buena idea, pero queda la sensación de que el autor se robó historias reales y las alargó un poco con la excusa de contar un cuento y al final no queda ni cuento ni noticia.
October 9, 2020
Εξαιρετικές ιστορίες, άψογα γραμμένες....
May 5, 2021
but maybe what i was feeling was that strange sensation, so very contemporary, that sort of code of our time besieged by images and violence, or by the violence of images: the sensation, derived from uncertainty, that everything could be fiction or, which is worse, that everything could be true.a collection of nine new stories (originally published in 2019), juan gabriel vásquez's songs for the flames (canciones para el incendio) finds the talented colombian author offering more of this trademark fictional fusion of entangled history, memory, violence, reconstituted autobiography, and excavatory sleuthing. vásquez's tales are taut, impassioned, and marked by a mixture of sorrow, longing, and reckoning. the legacy of time elapsed and reverberations of the past inform the lives of vásquez's characters, rendering them lifelike, more as subjects in a documentarian's recounting than imaginary people in a made-up story. vásquez writes beautifully and his fiction is always both edifying and engrossing. while each of the nine stories in songs for the flames stands well on its own, "woman on the riverbank," "bad news," and the title story (which is perhaps more novella-like) burn brightest.
...because this is the only consolation we have, the children of this inflamed country, condemned as we are to remember and investigate and lament, and then to compose songs for the flames.
*translated from the spanish by anne mclean (vila-matas, cercas, cortázar, rosero, et al.)
February 24, 2020
Juan Gabriel Vásquez es, sin duda, uno de los mejores escritores colombianos y esta colección solo lo ratifica. El cuento que da nombre a la colección es un cierre perfecto para dejar en el lector el encanto de una construcción hecha con maestría y talento. Destaco del conjunto Las ranas y Las malas noticias, por lo ingeniosos; y El doble y Los muchachos, por lo bien construidos. Mujer en la orilla no me parece un buen comienzo porque le falta fuerza y contenido, en comparación con el resto, y El último corrido es probablemente el menos llamativo de los nueve cuentos que componen la colección.
Es, en conjunto, una lectura memorable, como suele ser la obra de este escritor.
Es, en conjunto, una lectura memorable, como suele ser la obra de este escritor.
November 10, 2019
El cuento es el género más difícil, pero Juan Gabriel Vásquez es simplemente un maestro en contarlo. Uno de los mejores (si no el mejor) escritor de Latinoamérica.
Read
July 7, 20223.5*
July 7, 2022
Dabar jau galiu drąsiai sakyti, kad Juan Gabriel Vasquez yra MANO rašytojas. Šioje trumpų istorijų kolekcijoje (šis formatas jam tobulai tinka), jis sugeba net mažiausius gyvenimo momentus, pokalbius, paversti giliausiomis istorijomis, kurios dar ir turi dažnai asmeniniu sasąjų su pačiu autoriumi. Visose istorijose įsipynė jo "signature" tema - Kolumbija ir žmonių patirti žiaurumai. Bet viskas taip subtiliai, tarsi kažkur fone, bet net nesuabejosi temos svarba. Šios istorijos tikrai liks su manimi ir labai džiaugiuosi, kad dar liko kelios jo neperskaitytos knygos. Manau šis formatas labai tinkamas ir pirmai pažinčiai su autoriumi, tarsi toks "paskanavimas" to, ką jis sugeba.
July 1, 2023
The final story in the collection is so bracingly amazing that I’m giving five stars to the whole book. I broke down sobbing at the final page, reading in a public park overlooking the river. I re read the paragraph that made me lose it, and I sobbed all over again. What is it about that paragraph that hit me so hard? That tugged directly into my heart and exposed something covered up ?
Whatever it is, this is an excellent collection of stories. I’ve read two of his novels, and though great, I’d say I prefer these stories.
His style is similar to Cortazar ; but his themes and preoccupations couldn’t be more different. These pieces, as well as the novels I read, exist in intense realism, and the writer seems to see it as a duty to confront the violence of society and politics. As such, stories are often enraging , maddening , and most are based on true events. The fiction comes from his memory of the conversations, and his narration of “guessing” what led characters to act in certain ways.
A beautiful collection. A couple pieces I liked less than others, but all in all, a fantastic read.
Whatever it is, this is an excellent collection of stories. I’ve read two of his novels, and though great, I’d say I prefer these stories.
His style is similar to Cortazar ; but his themes and preoccupations couldn’t be more different. These pieces, as well as the novels I read, exist in intense realism, and the writer seems to see it as a duty to confront the violence of society and politics. As such, stories are often enraging , maddening , and most are based on true events. The fiction comes from his memory of the conversations, and his narration of “guessing” what led characters to act in certain ways.
A beautiful collection. A couple pieces I liked less than others, but all in all, a fantastic read.
January 8, 2019
Primer libro del 2019 y qué libro!!! Juan Gabriel Vásquez con su estilo serio, aplomado y brillante se consolida como uno de los mejores escritores del país .
En esta excelentísima colección de cuentos se nos muestra como somos y seguimos siendo hijos de la violencia, las violencias, qué hay en Colombia y cómo el pasado ha definido en gran parte quienes somos como nación ahora.... todo esto escrito de manera brillante y maravillosa donde no sobra ni una coma. Situaciones que cualquier colombiano podrá identificar pero que a la vez están tan bien escritas y tiene reflexiones atemporales tan potentes que cualquier persona en cualquier lugar del mundo y en cualquier momento no podrá dejar de leer ...
Un libro recomendadídisimo. Qué esperan para empezar a leerlo?
En esta excelentísima colección de cuentos se nos muestra como somos y seguimos siendo hijos de la violencia, las violencias, qué hay en Colombia y cómo el pasado ha definido en gran parte quienes somos como nación ahora.... todo esto escrito de manera brillante y maravillosa donde no sobra ni una coma. Situaciones que cualquier colombiano podrá identificar pero que a la vez están tan bien escritas y tiene reflexiones atemporales tan potentes que cualquier persona en cualquier lugar del mundo y en cualquier momento no podrá dejar de leer ...
Un libro recomendadídisimo. Qué esperan para empezar a leerlo?
September 6, 2021
Nine stories that dive via personal traumas into Colombia's long troubled historical past, about secrets and lies, violence, power, corruption, and more. Six of the stories are narrated in the first person by seemingly the same writer-narrator who shares much in common with Vasquez -- once lived in Paris, then Belgium, then Spain, who has written complicated (and fabulous) novels about Colombia's history, etc. -- who doesn't speak much about himself in the stories, but is recounting stories he has heard about people he can't get out of his head. The other three stories are tales that the writer-narrator might have gathered and is implicitly telling. A devastating and haunting collection.
February 8, 2025
Cuentos de un escritor colombiano sobre las "aventuras" de un narrador que es escritor colombiano. Se trata del tipo de autor que despotrica contra su país que tanto aman europeos y norteamericanos. Por cierto, dejar inconcluso un cuento no le proporciona profundidad a este.
September 11, 2021
Puntaje: 4.4 Estrellas
Que bueno es regresar a las historias de Juan Gabriel Vásquez, esta vez me estreno con sus cuentos en "Canciones para el incendio" su segundo libro de este género en su carrera.
Aquí tenemos 9 relatos que nos transporta a varios lugares de Colombia e incluso al exterior.
Entre mis relatos favoritos se encuentran el que inicia este libro "Mujer en la orilla". También resalto mucho el relato que dió nombre al libro y que me dejó super intrigado "Canciones para el incendio".
Muy recomendado para quienes quieran leer un libro con historias cortas que rememoran la historia de nuestro país. Vásquez se sigue posicionando como uno de mis autores colombianos favoritos!
Que bueno es regresar a las historias de Juan Gabriel Vásquez, esta vez me estreno con sus cuentos en "Canciones para el incendio" su segundo libro de este género en su carrera.
Aquí tenemos 9 relatos que nos transporta a varios lugares de Colombia e incluso al exterior.
Entre mis relatos favoritos se encuentran el que inicia este libro "Mujer en la orilla". También resalto mucho el relato que dió nombre al libro y que me dejó super intrigado "Canciones para el incendio".
Muy recomendado para quienes quieran leer un libro con historias cortas que rememoran la historia de nuestro país. Vásquez se sigue posicionando como uno de mis autores colombianos favoritos!
December 14, 2018
Puedo afirmar, sin temor a equivocarme, que este autor es uno de los mejores escritores colombianos de la actualidad. Los cuentos presentados tienen en su prosa sencilla, ágil y armoniosa, un desarrollo brillante y un cierre poderoso y fulminante. Quien no haya leído a este escritor, ignora la magnífica aventura a la que se ha negado.
April 22, 2019
Es el primer libro que leo de este autor colombiano y quedé gratamente sorprendido. Diez cuentos escritos con elegancia, técnica y estética. Muy disfrutables. Se nota el fondo investigativo y la rigurosidad en cada uno. Definitivamente un escritor para tener en cuenta hacia el futuro.
June 16, 2019
Relatos interesantes de historias cotidianas. Me falto encontrar más sentir en los relatos.
September 26, 2023
My library had this laid out for National Hispanic Heritage month, and we know if it says “Stories” on the cover, I’m picking it up. This brought to light the big gap in my knowledge about Columbian history.
June 23, 2022
Δεν έχω λόγια.. Μου κομμάτιασε την καρδιά..
September 18, 2020
Κριτική στο Smassing Culture
Κραυγές από μια χώρα πυριφλεγή
«… αφού οι αδράνειες της βίας είναι σαν κάτι υπόγεια και βαθιά ρεύματα, όπου κανείς δε φτάνει να βάλει το χέρι του».
Η βία, και η εγκαθίδρυσή της σε ένα συγκεκριμένο χωροχρονικό και ιστορικό πλαίσιο είναι η θεματική της νέας συλλογής διηγημάτων του Juan Gabriel Vásquez, η οποία κυκλοφορεί, όπως και τα προηγούμενα βιβλία του στη χώρα μας, από τις εκδόσεις Ίκαρος και έχει για άλλη μια φορά τη μεταφραστική τύχη να βρεθεί στα χέρια του Αχιλλέα Κυριακίδη.
Οι ήρωες των εννέα διηγημάτων της συλλογής έρχονται αντιμέτωποι, με διαφορετικό τρόπο ο καθένας, με τα φαντάσματα του παρελθόντος τους: η φωτογράφος στο διήγημα «Γυναίκα στην όχθη» και ο βετεράνος πολέμου στα «Βατράχια» ξανασυναντούν ανθρώπους που νόμιζαν πως είχαν προ πολλού ξεχάσει και αναγκάζονται να αναμετρηθούν με τις ίδιες τους τις αναμνήσεις. Ο ανώνυμος αφηγητής – συγγραφέας διηγείται προσωπικές του ιστορίες, όπως αυτή του χαμού ενός σχολικού του φίλου στον πόλεμο, ή αυτή των γυρισμάτων της «9ης Πύλης» του Roman Polanski, όπου βρέθηκε ως κομπάρσος. Τα «Παιδιά», στην ομώνυμη ιστορία, και ίσως καλύτερο διήγημα της συλλογής, στήνουν αυτοσχέδιους αγώνες πάλης, μέσα στα τείχη εισόδου μιας, κατ’ επίφαση μόνο, προστατευμένης και ασφαλούς γειτονιάς.
Ο πολυγραφότατος, βραβευμένος Κολομβιανός πεζογράφος επιστρέφει στη μικρή φόρμα, μετά από την αριστοτεχνική νουβέλα του, «Οι Υπολήψεις», τελευταία εγχώρια έκδοσή του, για να αφηγηθεί την ιστορία της πατρίδας του, της Κολομβίας, μια ιστορία πολέμου, βίας και αποσιώπησής της, για ανθρώπους που κρύβουν το παρελθόν και τα ένοχα μυστικά του κάτω από το βολικό χαλί της λήθης, μόνο για να τα αντικρίσουν ξανά καταπρόσωπο σε επώδυνες συμπλοκές.
Οι ήρωές του εξομολογούνται τις ιστορίες τους για να επουλώσουν τα τραύματα της απώλειας και ο Vásquez για να απαθανατίσει το παρελθόν, προσωπικό και συλλογικό. Επιλέγει ως λογοτεχνική τεχνική την υπόνοια αντί για την έκθεση και εναποθέτει την αλήθεια των ηρώων του στις σιωπές τους και σε όσα αυτές υπαινίσσονται.
Μέσα από τις ιστορίες τους, σκιαγραφείται η ίδια η Κολομβία, των καρτέλ ναρκωτικών και της μαφίας, των συμβολαίων θανάτου, των δολοφονιών δικαστικών και πολιτικών προσώπων και των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων, ένα ανάγλυφο πορτραίτο μιας χώρας χωλαίνουσας και διεφθαρμένης μέχρι το μεδούλι της. Η σκιά του μιλιταρισμού, της διαρκούς εμπόλεμης κατάστασης, της ιδεολογικής γαλούχησης του πατριωτισμού πλανάται πάνω από ολόκληρη τη χώρα, με τον κύκλο βίας να διαιωνίζεται και να ανακυκλώνεται αέναα, και τον πρώτο κρίκο της τραγικής αυτής αλυσίδ��ς να βρίσκεται στα παιδιά και στις μιμητικές προς των ενηλίκων συμπεριφορές τους.
Σημείο καμπής στις ιστορίες των ηρώων του συνιστά η εισβολή του Τυχαίου και του αναπόδραστου στις ζωές τους, μια μοιραία συνάντηση ή μια συναπάντηση με σκιές και μυστικά του παρελθόντος, που θα τους φέρει αντιμέτωπους με πολύπλοκα, ηθικά και κοινωνικά, διλήμματα, ενώ θα κληθούν με τις επιλογές τους να αναστρέψουν τη φαινομενικά προδιαγεγραμμένη ρότα που είχε πάρει η ζωή τους μέχρι εκείνη τη στιγμή.
Φυσικά, δεν είναι το ίδιο επιτυχημένη η εκτέλεση όλων των ιδεών του συγγραφέα, με τις βινιέτες – αυτοβιογραφικά ψήγματα από τη δική του ζωή να αποτελούν τις λιγότερο ενδιαφέρουσες και πιο αδύναμες στιγμές του βιβλίου, χωρίς την ίδια αφηγηματική δεινότητα και νοηματοδότηση που έχουν τα υπόλοιπα διηγήματα της συλλογής.
Όμως, αν κάτι φέρνει σε πέρας με απόλυτη αρτιότητα ο Vásquez καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια της λογοτεχνικής του πορείας, αυτό είναι η πιστή, και μετά από ενδελεχή ιστορική έρευνα, αναπαράσταση εποχής και ανασύσταση της Ιστορίας του τόπου του, και αυτό κατορθώνει και σε τούτο εδώ το βιβλίο του. Με κεντρικό άξονα τη φρίκη και τη ματαιότητα της βίας, ο Vásquez δημιουργεί ένα ιδιότυπο αντιπολεμικό μανιφέστο, που εκτείνεται πολύ πιο πέρα από τα στενά σύνορα της Κολομβίας, και συνθέτει μια σειρά από τραγούδια για την πυρκαγιά, κραυγές αγωνίας μέσα από σπίτια και ζωές που φλέγονται, ύστατη άμυνα απέναντι στη λήθη.
Κραυγές από μια χώρα πυριφλεγή
«… αφού οι αδράνειες της βίας είναι σαν κάτι υπόγεια και βαθιά ρεύματα, όπου κανείς δε φτάνει να βάλει το χέρι του».
Η βία, και η εγκαθίδρυσή της σε ένα συγκεκριμένο χωροχρονικό και ιστορικό πλαίσιο είναι η θεματική της νέας συλλογής διηγημάτων του Juan Gabriel Vásquez, η οποία κυκλοφορεί, όπως και τα προηγούμενα βιβλία του στη χώρα μας, από τις εκδόσεις Ίκαρος και έχει για άλλη μια φορά τη μεταφραστική τύχη να βρεθεί στα χέρια του Αχιλλέα Κυριακίδη.
Οι ήρωες των εννέα διηγημάτων της συλλογής έρχονται αντιμέτωποι, με διαφορετικό τρόπο ο καθένας, με τα φαντάσματα του παρελθόντος τους: η φωτογράφος στο διήγημα «Γυναίκα στην όχθη» και ο βετεράνος πολέμου στα «Βατράχια» ξανασυναντούν ανθρώπους που νόμιζαν πως είχαν προ πολλού ξεχάσει και αναγκάζονται να αναμετρηθούν με τις ίδιες τους τις αναμνήσεις. Ο ανώνυμος αφηγητής – συγγραφέας διηγείται προσωπικές του ιστορίες, όπως αυτή του χαμού ενός σχολικού του φίλου στον πόλεμο, ή αυτή των γυρισμάτων της «9ης Πύλης» του Roman Polanski, όπου βρέθηκε ως κομπάρσος. Τα «Παιδιά», στην ομώνυμη ιστορία, και ίσως καλύτερο διήγημα της συλλογής, στήνουν αυτοσχέδιους αγώνες πάλης, μέσα στα τείχη εισόδου μιας, κατ’ επίφαση μόνο, προστατευμένης και ασφαλούς γειτονιάς.
Ο πολυγραφότατος, βραβευμένος Κολομβιανός πεζογράφος επιστρέφει στη μικρή φόρμα, μετά από την αριστοτεχνική νουβέλα του, «Οι Υπολήψεις», τελευταία εγχώρια έκδοσή του, για να αφηγηθεί την ιστορία της πατρίδας του, της Κολομβίας, μια ιστορία πολέμου, βίας και αποσιώπησής της, για ανθρώπους που κρύβουν το παρελθόν και τα ένοχα μυστικά του κάτω από το βολικό χαλί της λήθης, μόνο για να τα αντικρίσουν ξανά καταπρόσωπο σε επώδυνες συμπλοκές.
Οι ήρωές του εξομολογούνται τις ιστορίες τους για να επουλώσουν τα τραύματα της απώλειας και ο Vásquez για να απαθανατίσει το παρελθόν, προσωπικό και συλλογικό. Επιλέγει ως λογοτεχνική τεχνική την υπόνοια αντί για την έκθεση και εναποθέτει την αλήθεια των ηρώων του στις σιωπές τους και σε όσα αυτές υπαινίσσονται.
Μέσα από τις ιστορίες τους, σκιαγραφείται η ίδια η Κολομβία, των καρτέλ ναρκωτικών και της μαφίας, των συμβολαίων θανάτου, των δολοφονιών δικαστικών και πολιτικών προσώπων και των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων, ένα ανάγλυφο πορτραίτο μιας χώρας χωλαίνουσας και διεφθαρμένης μέχρι το μεδούλι της. Η σκιά του μιλιταρισμού, της διαρκούς εμπόλεμης κατάστασης, της ιδεολογικής γαλούχησης του πατριωτισμού πλανάται πάνω από ολόκληρη τη χώρα, με τον κύκλο βίας να διαιωνίζεται και να ανακυκλώνεται αέναα, και τον πρώτο κρίκο της τραγικής αυτής αλυσίδ��ς να βρίσκεται στα παιδιά και στις μιμητικές προς των ενηλίκων συμπεριφορές τους.
Σημείο καμπής στις ιστορίες των ηρώων του συνιστά η εισβολή του Τυχαίου και του αναπόδραστου στις ζωές τους, μια μοιραία συνάντηση ή μια συναπάντηση με σκιές και μυστικά του παρελθόντος, που θα τους φέρει αντιμέτωπους με πολύπλοκα, ηθικά και κοινωνικά, διλήμματα, ενώ θα κληθούν με τις επιλογές τους να αναστρέψουν τη φαινομενικά προδιαγεγραμμένη ρότα που είχε πάρει η ζωή τους μέχρι εκείνη τη στιγμή.
Φυσικά, δεν είναι το ίδιο επιτυχημένη η εκτέλεση όλων των ιδεών του συγγραφέα, με τις βινιέτες – αυτοβιογραφικά ψήγματα από τη δική του ζωή να αποτελούν τις λιγότερο ενδιαφέρουσες και πιο αδύναμες στιγμές του βιβλίου, χωρίς την ίδια αφηγηματική δεινότητα και νοηματοδότηση που έχουν τα υπόλοιπα διηγήματα της συλλογής.
Όμως, αν κάτι φέρνει σε πέρας με απόλυτη αρτιότητα ο Vásquez καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια της λογοτεχνικής του πορείας, αυτό είναι η πιστή, και μετά από ενδελεχή ιστορική έρευνα, αναπαράσταση εποχής και ανασύσταση της Ιστορίας του τόπου του, και αυτό κατορθώνει και σε τούτο εδώ το βιβλίο του. Με κεντρικό άξονα τη φρίκη και τη ματαιότητα της βίας, ο Vásquez δημιουργεί ένα ιδιότυπο αντιπολεμικό μανιφέστο, που εκτείνεται πολύ πιο πέρα από τα στενά σύνορα της Κολομβίας, και συνθέτει μια σειρά από τραγούδια για την πυρκαγιά, κραυγές αγωνίας μέσα από σπίτια και ζωές που φλέγονται, ύστατη άμυνα απέναντι στη λήθη.
February 1, 2019
La escritura de Juan Gabriel Vásquez tiene una forma increíble. En estos cuentos deja ver muy bien cómo ha evolucionado literariamente, hasta llegar a la historia que le da nombre al libro, que es una obra maestra.
Todos los cuentos del libro son excelentes, pero mis favoritos fueron “El doble”, “Las ranas”, “Las malas noticias”, “Los muchachos”, y “Canciones para el incendio”. Algunas historias las disfruté aún más cuando mencionaban algo de la Bogotá que conozco, sin nombrarlo, como un regalo escondido.
Pero el cuento de “Canciones para el incendio” me dejó boquiabierto. No sólo es una buena historia bien contada. Más de una vez tuve que parar de leer para buscar cosas que me sonaban conocidas de historia colombiana o de literatura. Y sólo después de haber acabado pude conectar algunos de los puntos con los que Vásquez une con el
mismo hilo a Leon de Greiff con José Asunción Silva, con Rubén Dario, con Víctor Hugo, con Rafael Uribe Uribe, con Gaitán... todo esto sin decirlo explícitamente, mientras juega al soñador soñado de “Las ruinas circulares” de Borges.
Muy recomendado.
Todos los cuentos del libro son excelentes, pero mis favoritos fueron “El doble”, “Las ranas”, “Las malas noticias”, “Los muchachos”, y “Canciones para el incendio”. Algunas historias las disfruté aún más cuando mencionaban algo de la Bogotá que conozco, sin nombrarlo, como un regalo escondido.
Pero el cuento de “Canciones para el incendio” me dejó boquiabierto. No sólo es una buena historia bien contada. Más de una vez tuve que parar de leer para buscar cosas que me sonaban conocidas de historia colombiana o de literatura. Y sólo después de haber acabado pude conectar algunos de los puntos con los que Vásquez une con el
mismo hilo a Leon de Greiff con José Asunción Silva, con Rubén Dario, con Víctor Hugo, con Rafael Uribe Uribe, con Gaitán... todo esto sin decirlo explícitamente, mientras juega al soñador soñado de “Las ruinas circulares” de Borges.
Muy recomendado.
June 19, 2020
Se trata de una serie de 9 cuentos todos bastante interesantes y todos con un tema en común, la violencia, este es el tema principal que se abarca en este libro, sobretodo la presentación de esta en Colombia y narrada con la crudeza como se vivió en esos tiempos, es una lectura fácil y rápida, los cuentos que mas me gustaron fueron los siguientes: El doble, Aeropuerto, El último corrido y Canciones para el incendio
September 16, 2019
¿Es Juan Gabriel Vásquez uno de mis escritores favoritos? Sí, sí lo es. Y aunque este no es precisamente lo mejor que he leído de él, siempre da gusto leerlo. Vásquez ha aprendido a contar la historia de su país con excepcionales narraciones.
September 5, 2021
Juan Gabriel Vásquez's Songs for the Flames: Stories (2021) is a series of intriguing short stories centered on man's insensitivity to others and the triumph of self-interest over compassion. In each story cruelty quietly seeps out from the text. The place is (usually) Colombia, where brutal civil wars have been the theme since the late nineteenth century, wars between liberals favoring the disadvantaged and conservatives favoring the wealthy.
The characters are diverse but split into two groups: the screwed and the screwers, those who create an event and those who suffer the sometimes unintended consequences. These are stories of the little tragedies that accumulate and build into the heavy baggage that we all drag through life. Vásquez's writing is always excellent, and at times exquisite. His metaphors are brilliant, as when he speaks of "the ghosts of cocaine on glass tables."
There are nine songs for the flames of Colombian conflict, I'll quickly review the first few, then spend time on the last and best.
In one song we watch as a guest at a Colombian ranch— a female photographer named Jay—watches a horse-riding accident that sends the owner's assistant, named Yolanda, to the hospital. Yolanda is hovering between life and death when Jay tells the owner that his much-loved female assistant has died. It's a lie, quickly revealed when the hospital calls to say she will live. The owner sends her away and we never learn what prompted Jay to tell such a vicious lie.
In another song we watch as an Army helicopter pilot, ordered to tell a fellow pilot's wife of her husband's death in an accident, fails in his duty. Instead, he takes the wife to bed (not for the first time) and leaves without telling her she's a widow. She's left to learn of the death from condolence calls from friends.
We watch as, in a other song, a young man "wins" a village lottery that sends his best friend into the Colombian Army and to his death. For this he earns a lifetime of guilt, but a lifetime nevertheless.
We watch as Sandoval, a Colombian businessman, who disappears after withdrawing large amounts of cash from his bank. The event becomes a social media hit in which every speculation about Sandoval's disappearance or his intentions is received as truth. Eventually he is found in an American hotel room, dead from an overdose of sleeping pills. What is the tragedy here? Fifteen years later his daughter, now twenty, will explore the social media postings and build an image of her father that fits all the trash she reads.
We follow a Columbian band, the four Marqueza brothers, on tour as the band collapses. The lead singer, Ernesto, is the main draw and Ernesto has laryngeal cancer. So far he has been able to control the spasms in his throat, but the brothers all know that the time will come when he loses throat control while on stage, and that's the beginning of the end, if not the end.
Nephew Ricardo, unaware of the cancer diagnosis but aware of Ernesto’s fragile throat, is sure that the brothers haven't talked about the problem. He confronts Ernesto and angrily says he has to quit. Then Ricardo learns that the brothers have already sorted things out. This story is about the human tendency to believe that nothing has happened unless you were there, an attitude that has consequences.
And then there's the pièce de résistance, the concluding story that carries the book's title. No retelling can capture the beauty and pathos of this short piece: it begins
This is an intergenerational story about the De León family, owners of Nueva Hacienda, a small coffee plantation in Colombia. The De Leóns are caught between the eternal violence of Colombia's civil wars and the international violence of WWI. The De León line ends in 1949 with the murder of Aurelia De León during La Violencia, the brutality following the assassination of liberal politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948.
As an aside, there are two liberal martyrs in this story—and, it seems—in every story resting on Colombian history. The first is Uribe. Uribe was a central figure in Vásquez's 2015 The Shape of the Ruins, and was a model for the protagonist in Gabriel Garcia Márquez's 1967 One Hundred Years of Solitude as well as the subject in Vásquez's 2018 book, The Shape of the Ruins.
Uribe was a Colombian lawyer, army general and liberal political thinker who fought in the Thousand Days civil war in 1885 and again in the 1898-99 Santander Campaign. After the Santander Campaign Uribe became a man of peace, which "earned him the hatred of his friends, who called him a traitor and sellout, while he kept his old enemies, who called him an atheist and a socialist." He was murdered on the streets of Bogotá in 1914 by two men with axes.
The second martyr is Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. Gaitán was a left-liberal politician raised in Bogotá's slums. He was expected by many to become Colombia's president when he was assassinated in 1948. The assassination set off violent riots in Bogotá that led into the brutal civil war, called La Violencia, that lasted into the 1960s.
The story's origin was in 2014 when Vásquez was contacted by a colleague, a female photographer named Jay—the same photographer we met in the opening story. She asks him to write the text for an article on Bogota's Free Cemetery of Circassia, a public cemetery where those shunned by the Catholic Church are buried. Vásquez begins his research and this is what he discovers.
In the late 1870's Jorge and Beatriz De León, owners of a small coffee plantation near Bogotá called Nueva Lorena Hacienda, emigrated from Bogotá to Paris. They left the plantation under the management of a series of managers, among them Rafael Uribe Uribe, who would become a lawyer and a general on the liberal side during the civil wars at the end of the nineteenth century. We'll return to Uribe in a moment.
In Paris the the De Leóns had a son they named Gustavo Adolfo. In 1914, with war looming in Europe, Jorge and Beatriz returned to Colombia but Gustavo Adolfo remained in France to join the Foreign Legion. This was almost simultaneous with the assassination of Uribe in Bogotá. Their departure was soon followed by Gustavo Adolfo's 1915 death in battle, just after he'd penned a note to his mother thanking her for sending a book titled Abridged Dictionary of Gallicisms, Provincialisms, and Language Corrections; the author was Rafael Uribe Uribe. That book is the tread that ties together the various pieces of the story.
It would be six years before Gustavo Adolfo's possessions, including Uribe's book, would be returned to the family. In 1921 a stranger appeared at Nueva Lorena Hacienda, holding the hand of a six year-old girl. The girl and her French mother had been en route by ship from France to Colombia when the mother died. The stranger had taken the child under his care and brought her to Nueva Lorena. The girl's name was Aurelia De León; she was their grand-daughter, and with her came Gustavo Adolfo's possessions, including the copy of Uribe's book.
Aurelia De León was a bright girl with a forceful nature. She grew to become a popular and flamboyant newspaper columnist who once appeared at a public bath in a black bikini, the new rage in swimwear. The mayor of Bogotá was present and loudly called her out for indecency. The exchange went:
in 1973 a plaque was installed at her grave by an unknown party in remembrance or her brief 34 years of life. The likely admirer was her lover Gustavo Adolfo De León, the son she had out-of-wedlock just before her death.
The characters are diverse but split into two groups: the screwed and the screwers, those who create an event and those who suffer the sometimes unintended consequences. These are stories of the little tragedies that accumulate and build into the heavy baggage that we all drag through life. Vásquez's writing is always excellent, and at times exquisite. His metaphors are brilliant, as when he speaks of "the ghosts of cocaine on glass tables."
There are nine songs for the flames of Colombian conflict, I'll quickly review the first few, then spend time on the last and best.
In one song we watch as a guest at a Colombian ranch— a female photographer named Jay—watches a horse-riding accident that sends the owner's assistant, named Yolanda, to the hospital. Yolanda is hovering between life and death when Jay tells the owner that his much-loved female assistant has died. It's a lie, quickly revealed when the hospital calls to say she will live. The owner sends her away and we never learn what prompted Jay to tell such a vicious lie.
In another song we watch as an Army helicopter pilot, ordered to tell a fellow pilot's wife of her husband's death in an accident, fails in his duty. Instead, he takes the wife to bed (not for the first time) and leaves without telling her she's a widow. She's left to learn of the death from condolence calls from friends.
We watch as, in a other song, a young man "wins" a village lottery that sends his best friend into the Colombian Army and to his death. For this he earns a lifetime of guilt, but a lifetime nevertheless.
We watch as Sandoval, a Colombian businessman, who disappears after withdrawing large amounts of cash from his bank. The event becomes a social media hit in which every speculation about Sandoval's disappearance or his intentions is received as truth. Eventually he is found in an American hotel room, dead from an overdose of sleeping pills. What is the tragedy here? Fifteen years later his daughter, now twenty, will explore the social media postings and build an image of her father that fits all the trash she reads.
We follow a Columbian band, the four Marqueza brothers, on tour as the band collapses. The lead singer, Ernesto, is the main draw and Ernesto has laryngeal cancer. So far he has been able to control the spasms in his throat, but the brothers all know that the time will come when he loses throat control while on stage, and that's the beginning of the end, if not the end.
Nephew Ricardo, unaware of the cancer diagnosis but aware of Ernesto’s fragile throat, is sure that the brothers haven't talked about the problem. He confronts Ernesto and angrily says he has to quit. Then Ricardo learns that the brothers have already sorted things out. This story is about the human tendency to believe that nothing has happened unless you were there, an attitude that has consequences.
And then there's the pièce de résistance, the concluding story that carries the book's title. No retelling can capture the beauty and pathos of this short piece: it begins
This is the saddest story I ever heard . . .and then goes on to prove it.
This is an intergenerational story about the De León family, owners of Nueva Hacienda, a small coffee plantation in Colombia. The De Leóns are caught between the eternal violence of Colombia's civil wars and the international violence of WWI. The De León line ends in 1949 with the murder of Aurelia De León during La Violencia, the brutality following the assassination of liberal politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948.
As an aside, there are two liberal martyrs in this story—and, it seems—in every story resting on Colombian history. The first is Uribe. Uribe was a central figure in Vásquez's 2015 The Shape of the Ruins, and was a model for the protagonist in Gabriel Garcia Márquez's 1967 One Hundred Years of Solitude as well as the subject in Vásquez's 2018 book, The Shape of the Ruins.
Uribe was a Colombian lawyer, army general and liberal political thinker who fought in the Thousand Days civil war in 1885 and again in the 1898-99 Santander Campaign. After the Santander Campaign Uribe became a man of peace, which "earned him the hatred of his friends, who called him a traitor and sellout, while he kept his old enemies, who called him an atheist and a socialist." He was murdered on the streets of Bogotá in 1914 by two men with axes.
The second martyr is Jorge Eliécer Gaitán. Gaitán was a left-liberal politician raised in Bogotá's slums. He was expected by many to become Colombia's president when he was assassinated in 1948. The assassination set off violent riots in Bogotá that led into the brutal civil war, called La Violencia, that lasted into the 1960s.
The story's origin was in 2014 when Vásquez was contacted by a colleague, a female photographer named Jay—the same photographer we met in the opening story. She asks him to write the text for an article on Bogota's Free Cemetery of Circassia, a public cemetery where those shunned by the Catholic Church are buried. Vásquez begins his research and this is what he discovers.
In the late 1870's Jorge and Beatriz De León, owners of a small coffee plantation near Bogotá called Nueva Lorena Hacienda, emigrated from Bogotá to Paris. They left the plantation under the management of a series of managers, among them Rafael Uribe Uribe, who would become a lawyer and a general on the liberal side during the civil wars at the end of the nineteenth century. We'll return to Uribe in a moment.
In Paris the the De Leóns had a son they named Gustavo Adolfo. In 1914, with war looming in Europe, Jorge and Beatriz returned to Colombia but Gustavo Adolfo remained in France to join the Foreign Legion. This was almost simultaneous with the assassination of Uribe in Bogotá. Their departure was soon followed by Gustavo Adolfo's 1915 death in battle, just after he'd penned a note to his mother thanking her for sending a book titled Abridged Dictionary of Gallicisms, Provincialisms, and Language Corrections; the author was Rafael Uribe Uribe. That book is the tread that ties together the various pieces of the story.
It would be six years before Gustavo Adolfo's possessions, including Uribe's book, would be returned to the family. In 1921 a stranger appeared at Nueva Lorena Hacienda, holding the hand of a six year-old girl. The girl and her French mother had been en route by ship from France to Colombia when the mother died. The stranger had taken the child under his care and brought her to Nueva Lorena. The girl's name was Aurelia De León; she was their grand-daughter, and with her came Gustavo Adolfo's possessions, including the copy of Uribe's book.
Aurelia De León was a bright girl with a forceful nature. She grew to become a popular and flamboyant newspaper columnist who once appeared at a public bath in a black bikini, the new rage in swimwear. The mayor of Bogotá was present and loudly called her out for indecency. The exchange went:
Mayor: Madam, only one-piece suits are allowed here!Aurelia became a controversial figure for her beauty, brains, flamboyance and liberal views. She was shunned by the Church for her flamboyance and her politics. When she was murdered in 1949, during La Violencia, and was buried anonymously at the Cemetery of Circassia.
Aurelia: Mr. Mayor, which piece should I remove?
in 1973 a plaque was installed at her grave by an unknown party in remembrance or her brief 34 years of life. The likely admirer was her lover Gustavo Adolfo De León, the son she had out-of-wedlock just before her death.
Read
September 18, 2021I'm holding off on a star rating for this one because it turns out my literary tastes don't really run in the direction of these stories. And that's just a matter of personal preference rather than a criticism of the work.
From the personal to the national, Songs for the Flames is a collection of characters and stories allowing Vásquez to examine trauma, violence, and loss on both individual and cultural levels. With effective prose and a quiet voice, he writes across time periods and settings, crafting insights into the lives of his characters as they struggle to make sense of a world where things so often do not go according to plan. And as both the title and closing lines of the book refer to, those who are left are often the ones tasked with bearing witness, with understanding, with giving voice to those whose voices have been lost.
The collection undeniably operates with traditionally literary sensibilities, but Vásquez's writing is undeniable as a quiet strength and insight runs through each pieces of this collection. And as much as this may not be my genre, "The Last Corrido" is one of those stories that landed like a blow, lingering in bittersweet resonance beyond its final line.
From the personal to the national, Songs for the Flames is a collection of characters and stories allowing Vásquez to examine trauma, violence, and loss on both individual and cultural levels. With effective prose and a quiet voice, he writes across time periods and settings, crafting insights into the lives of his characters as they struggle to make sense of a world where things so often do not go according to plan. And as both the title and closing lines of the book refer to, those who are left are often the ones tasked with bearing witness, with understanding, with giving voice to those whose voices have been lost.
The collection undeniably operates with traditionally literary sensibilities, but Vásquez's writing is undeniable as a quiet strength and insight runs through each pieces of this collection. And as much as this may not be my genre, "The Last Corrido" is one of those stories that landed like a blow, lingering in bittersweet resonance beyond its final line.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews