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La diabla en el espejo
A wealthy is up to dastardly deeds in this send-up of Latin-America's high-society.
142 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 2, 2000
16 people are currently reading
1029 people want to read
About the author
Horacio Castellanos Moya
40 books250 followersHORACIO CASTELLANOS MOYA is a writer and a journalist from El Salvador. For two decades he worked as editor of news agencies, magazines and newspapers in Mexico, Guatemala and his own country. As a fiction writer, he was granted residencies in a program supported by the Frankfurt International Book Fair (2004-2006) and in the City of Asylum program in Pittsburgh (2006-2008). He has also taught in the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2009, he was guest researcher at the University of Tokyo with a fellowship granted by the Japan Foundation. He has published eleven novels, five short story collections, two essay books, and a diary. His novels have been translated into twelve languages; five of them (Senselessness, The She-Devil in the mirror, Dance with Snakes, Revulsion, and Tyrant memory) are available in English. He was awarded the Manuel Rojas Iberoamerican Prize for Fiction 2014, by the Government of Chile.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
March 26, 2019
Yılanlarla Dans ile hayran kaldığım Moya'dan yine manyakça güzel bir kitap. Ama bu kez yılanların yerini yılan dilli Laura alıyor ve onun sayıklamaları, sanrıları eşliğinde El Salvador'un üst katlarda, politikacılar, paramiliter güçler, burjuvalar dünyasından pislikler üstümüze satır satır boca ediliyor. Moya bir kez daha kıtanın pis sularında kalem oynatırken bizi de son paragrafa kadar peşinden sürüklemeyi beceriyor.
Bu kitabı okuyan şanslı azınlık bilir ki Olga Maria mükemmel bir kadındır. İnanmıyorsanız okuyun, siz de buna kani olacaksınız.
Tanrı Latinoları ve onların çılgın yazarlarını başımızdan eksik etmesin.
Bu kitabı okuyan şanslı azınlık bilir ki Olga Maria mükemmel bir kadındır. İnanmıyorsanız okuyun, siz de buna kani olacaksınız.
Tanrı Latinoları ve onların çılgın yazarlarını başımızdan eksik etmesin.
June 5, 2017
Moya cin gibi bir yazar. Çatallı dili bir yandan bal, bir yandan da zehir damlatıyor. 'Yılanların Dansı'nı okuyanlar bilir, yine aynı kıvrak dil, aynı kıvrak manevralar... Daha çok kitabı çevrilmeli bu adamın! Zekanın dayanılmaz cazibesi, okuyup kahkaha atarken aslında görmeyi beceremeyen insanlara acıtıyor. Ne yapacaksın, zeka-farkındalık ikilisi tehlikeli şeyler; insanda huzur da bırakmaz, vicdanda, umutta... En azından edebiyatta bunun avantajı olsun.
8/10
8/10
October 31, 2021
Laura isimli huzursuz ve takıntılı bir kadın anlatıcı sizi baştan sona bombardımana tutuyor. “Düşmanımın başına vermesin” tarzında bir kadın, cinayete kurban giden yakın arkadaşının olayını ve sonrasını anlattırmış Laura’ya yazar. Biraz polisiye, biraz erotizm, bol dedikodu, az biraz politika ve üzerine psikoloji sosu konularak ortaya sevis edilmiş. Yazar yarattığı karakterleri mizahi dille aktarıyor. Aşk ilişkileri kimin eli kimin cebinde formatında. Olay San Salvador’da geçiyor, dolayısıyla El Salvador’un politik iklimi ve toplumu hedefte. Daha önce “Yıllanların Dansı” ile tanıştığım yazara bu kez de ısınamadım.
November 10, 2025
Normalde monologları okumakta zorlanırım ama Aynadaki Dişi Şeytan’da Laura’nın anlatımı o kadar akıcı ve canlıydı ki hiç kopmadım. Hem öfkesini hem kırılganlığını hissettiriyor, bazen de beklenmedik bir şekilde gülümsetiyor.
Moya, bireysel bir suçtan çok toplumsal bir cinayet anlatıyor: Olga María’yı öldüren sadece bir kişi değil, onu korumayan, aşağılayan, sessiz kalan tüm çevre. Katilin kim olduğunu değil, herkesin biraz suçlu olduğunu anlatması düşündürücü ve etkileyici…
Moya’nın dili gerçekten bir harika çünkü hem akıcı, hem yoğun, hem de ironik. Tek sesli bir anlatı olmasına rağmen, ritmi ve tempolu cümleleri sayesinde adeta konuşuyormuş gibi hissettim.
Moya, bireysel bir suçtan çok toplumsal bir cinayet anlatıyor: Olga María’yı öldüren sadece bir kişi değil, onu korumayan, aşağılayan, sessiz kalan tüm çevre. Katilin kim olduğunu değil, herkesin biraz suçlu olduğunu anlatması düşündürücü ve etkileyici…
Moya’nın dili gerçekten bir harika çünkü hem akıcı, hem yoğun, hem de ironik. Tek sesli bir anlatı olmasına rağmen, ritmi ve tempolu cümleleri sayesinde adeta konuşuyormuş gibi hissettim.
June 23, 2009
the she-devil in the mirror (la diabola en el espejo) is another gem from salvadoran exile horacio castellanos moya. the second of his books to be translated into english, (after last year's riveting senselessness, and the first of two this year (dances with snakes is slated for release in early fall), the she-devil in the mirror is a frenetic murder mystery written with rousing effect. related entirely by a single female character (and without dialogue or paragraph breaks), the story evolves at an increasingly frantic pace that mimics the narrator's own growing paranoia and mania. the frenzied tempo of the book has quite the visceral effect, and castellanos moya's style serves to heighen the reader's anxiety. however pervaded by a sense of dread and foreboding, the book could not be said to have been written without its share of humor. while castellanos moya's works seem effortless, they are characterized by a haunting and enduring quality that is all too rare in contemporary literature. without question, his fiction is amongst the finest being written today.
this is the second of castellanos moya's works to be translated by katherine silver, winner of a pen translation fund award and a national endowment for the arts grant.
this is the second of castellanos moya's works to be translated by katherine silver, winner of a pen translation fund award and a national endowment for the arts grant.
April 4, 2012
I found this book really engrossing. It's written as if the main character is in constant conversation with you (she's kind of vapid and gossipy but she knows everyone else's dirt so you want to hear what she has to say). The chapters are long and there are no paragraph breaks, which might make it difficult for some people to get into, but makes it very easy to get lost in.
It's a great look into El Salvador and its political and societal unrest. If you're not too familiar with the country, I'd suggest reading Joan Didion's Salvador... a book I read years ago, but that really helped me understand this one better. Plus, Joan Didion is awesome.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Horacio (he lives in my neighborhood), and he's a really nice, down to earth guy who came to Pittsburgh to escape persecution in El Salvador through City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. So as an added bonus, by supporting Horacio you're supporting free speech (and great literature)!
It's a great look into El Salvador and its political and societal unrest. If you're not too familiar with the country, I'd suggest reading Joan Didion's Salvador... a book I read years ago, but that really helped me understand this one better. Plus, Joan Didion is awesome.
I've had the pleasure of meeting Horacio (he lives in my neighborhood), and he's a really nice, down to earth guy who came to Pittsburgh to escape persecution in El Salvador through City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. So as an added bonus, by supporting Horacio you're supporting free speech (and great literature)!
May 7, 2024
Around the World Reading Challenge: EL SALVADOR
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Really didn't know what to expect with this one, but I ended up quite enjoying it! The style is really interesting, told from the POV of a wealthy, self-important member of El Salvador's upper class as if she is talking to a dear friend, confiding all kinds of salacious details about the recent death of her best friend, and said friend's exploits. Each chapter almost reads like one long run-on sentence as the main character works herself up trying to figure out what happened to her friend while El Salvador is still recovering from the aftermath of the civil war. I thought the writing and style here was clever and engaging, and even though I found Laura distasteful, on the whole this was a really interesting read!
===
Really didn't know what to expect with this one, but I ended up quite enjoying it! The style is really interesting, told from the POV of a wealthy, self-important member of El Salvador's upper class as if she is talking to a dear friend, confiding all kinds of salacious details about the recent death of her best friend, and said friend's exploits. Each chapter almost reads like one long run-on sentence as the main character works herself up trying to figure out what happened to her friend while El Salvador is still recovering from the aftermath of the civil war. I thought the writing and style here was clever and engaging, and even though I found Laura distasteful, on the whole this was a really interesting read!
October 13, 2021
This is set out in quite an original manner, as a series of one-sided conversations from ‘narrator’ Laura Rivera, who does all the talking. She is the best friend of the recently deceased Olga Maria, who was gunned down in her own living room just a day before the novel starts. Most of the narrative revolves around Olga Maria, the ongoing investigation into her murder, her various love affairs, and Laura’s increasingly complicated explanation of who the murderer might be. These speculations are mixed in with Laura’s self-obsessed ramblings and observations, and her numerous complaints about the police investigation that merge together in an intriguing way.
By the nature of it, the whole piece is not always compelling. Laura goes off on a tangent frequently, which can at times even be annoying. But I think that’s the idea, as it’s her view, unreliable as it maybe, of proceedings.
By the nature of it, the whole piece is not always compelling. Laura goes off on a tangent frequently, which can at times even be annoying. But I think that’s the idea, as it’s her view, unreliable as it maybe, of proceedings.
March 25, 2015
A deceptively clever postmodern "murder mystery".
Laura Rivera is superficial and spoiled. A self-absorbed chatterbox whose high-school graduation gift was a BMW -- her school quite conspicuously having been the American school, of course -- and who's never had a day of responsibility in her life.
Her very good friend Olga Maria is murdered just before the novel begins. On page one Laura is attending the wake, and in subsequent chapters, attends the funeral, the requiem service, and other related events following the murder, all the while chattering your ear off.
But what lovely, lilting, priceless chatter it is. Unlike Thomas Bernhard, whose unbroken streams of consciousness can sometimes weigh us down like leaden eyeglasses, requiring (quite worthwhile!) effort both to understand and to emotionally invest, Moya's text is airy, breezy, effortlessly propelling the narrative.
And what an unreliable narrator she is. Narcissistic, self-centered, divorced in her late 20s or early 30s, with nothing kind to say about her ex, very clearly in her own little world. But the story comes through her chatter nonetheless.
And what a story it is. Love affairs, politics, drugs, military abuses, capitalism versus communism versus religion versus everyone versus everything. There is corruption along every angle. Laura's anti-communist, anti-clerical father has had his lands confiscated in the past, giving this story's background an critical personal angle, but somehow the family appear to have remained wealthy.
Little by little, Laura reveals the details of her murdered friend's life, documenting one uncomfortable revelation after another. Chief Detective Handal is simultaneously her hope and her nemesis. She wants him to solve the case, but she is quite hostile to him from the very beginning -- surprisingly hostile, I'd say -- and continually insists he is an idiot who refuses to see the truth. Which, of course, she sees quite clearly.
At some point you realize that you've stopped focusing on the nattering narration, and started focusing on the murder mystery unfolding before you. You excitedly start assembling the facts, you eagerly start wondering who could have done what. You bewilderingly take note of scandal after scandal, in-fight after in-fight, while everything billows upward and blows up.
And then the narrative ends.
And then you ask yourself: What just happened??
And then you re-read the last chapter.
And then you get it.
This book should be required reading for all students of creative writing, and all fans of great literature. It's a small jewel of a book, fun to read, but deceptively profound.
Laura Rivera is superficial and spoiled. A self-absorbed chatterbox whose high-school graduation gift was a BMW -- her school quite conspicuously having been the American school, of course -- and who's never had a day of responsibility in her life.
Her very good friend Olga Maria is murdered just before the novel begins. On page one Laura is attending the wake, and in subsequent chapters, attends the funeral, the requiem service, and other related events following the murder, all the while chattering your ear off.
But what lovely, lilting, priceless chatter it is. Unlike Thomas Bernhard, whose unbroken streams of consciousness can sometimes weigh us down like leaden eyeglasses, requiring (quite worthwhile!) effort both to understand and to emotionally invest, Moya's text is airy, breezy, effortlessly propelling the narrative.
And what an unreliable narrator she is. Narcissistic, self-centered, divorced in her late 20s or early 30s, with nothing kind to say about her ex, very clearly in her own little world. But the story comes through her chatter nonetheless.
And what a story it is. Love affairs, politics, drugs, military abuses, capitalism versus communism versus religion versus everyone versus everything. There is corruption along every angle. Laura's anti-communist, anti-clerical father has had his lands confiscated in the past, giving this story's background an critical personal angle, but somehow the family appear to have remained wealthy.
Little by little, Laura reveals the details of her murdered friend's life, documenting one uncomfortable revelation after another. Chief Detective Handal is simultaneously her hope and her nemesis. She wants him to solve the case, but she is quite hostile to him from the very beginning -- surprisingly hostile, I'd say -- and continually insists he is an idiot who refuses to see the truth. Which, of course, she sees quite clearly.
At some point you realize that you've stopped focusing on the nattering narration, and started focusing on the murder mystery unfolding before you. You excitedly start assembling the facts, you eagerly start wondering who could have done what. You bewilderingly take note of scandal after scandal, in-fight after in-fight, while everything billows upward and blows up.
And then the narrative ends.
And then you ask yourself: What just happened??
And then you re-read the last chapter.
And then you get it.
This book should be required reading for all students of creative writing, and all fans of great literature. It's a small jewel of a book, fun to read, but deceptively profound.
October 26, 2020
Una novela ágil y divertida. Se va como agua. Narrada desde una voz peculiar, de una mujer de la oligarquía salvadoreña a la que le asesinan a su mejor amiga. Una visión satírica de la alta sociedad y su podredumbre, sacudida por el crimen. Muchas líneas narrativas que después desarrollará el autor, particularmente la del Robocop en "El arma en el hombre", se anuncian ya en esta novela.
October 6, 2009
Moya is a writer of great skill who creates in this novel an unforgettable narrator, a woman whose best friend has been cruelly murdered. As the narrator discusses her friend's sexual and political entanglements, she begins to slip into madness and paranoia. These emotions are spawned to a great extent by the general climate of political fear that one encounters also in Moya's more famous novel "Senselessness." For a reader like me who does not understand what must be oblique references to Latin American politics, the narrator is interesting for another reason, and that is the way she consistently backtracks and undermines so many of her original claims. Indeed, one begins to suspect she has more knowledge of the murder than she admits, for surely little that she says can really be trusted. "The She-Devil in the Mirror" is a fast and fascinating read.
December 25, 2022
love a female narrator slowly descending into madness. moya is masterful in subtly disguising evil in banality. sometimes the narrator’s ramblings were difficult to keep up with, but this was an intriguing and exciting read nonetheless.
March 2, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Wonderful narrative
March 14, 2013
Murder mystery with a twist. Usually my thing. Set in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, Laura's best friend Olga Maria is shot dead in her living room in front of her two daughters. All very upsetting and such, and Laura is trying to find out who has done it. And along the way she finds out more and more about her best friend who she didn't know as well as she thought.
The interesting thing about this book is that it intertwines the history and politics of El Salvador with the book. The animosity towards the socialists was rather surprising, mind you not so much once you realise how well off the families are, especially Laura's. Nor when you realise that maybe the socialists were or could be as corrupt as the capitalists. I have to admit I know very little about the socialists in El Salvador, and it would be very naive to assume all socialists regimes in South and Central America were/are the same. So, interesting.
What made me have an INCREDIBLY hard time engaging with this book is that it is told from the perspective that you are one of Laura's closest friends and the entire book is her speaking at you. I know the book was 175ish pages but that was too long. There is no way I would spend more than 2 mins talking to this woman. I have been known to jump in front of moving traffic to get away from people like her (deadly serious here). I went out of my way of 4 years of all girls high school to avoid people like her, for them to be forced upon you in your reading life is frustrating as hell. She's such a horrible, gossipy woman who just talks inane crap and jumps from one subject to the other, nattering away about some things that just don't matter. Not to mention she doesn't let you get a damn word in edgewise!!!
... You know, I think that's what bothered me the most. I am a chatty, talkative person. I am reasonably forceful, especially with my close friends, in getting my point heard. To be rendered silent was ... just ... so goddamn uncomfortable! I just felt like I was spending the experience going "Bu.... Excuse...Just...uh... yeah bu... /sigh."
The last couple of pages though were great. And if you need to praise someone for writing prattling women, this guy has it down pat.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
The interesting thing about this book is that it intertwines the history and politics of El Salvador with the book. The animosity towards the socialists was rather surprising, mind you not so much once you realise how well off the families are, especially Laura's. Nor when you realise that maybe the socialists were or could be as corrupt as the capitalists. I have to admit I know very little about the socialists in El Salvador, and it would be very naive to assume all socialists regimes in South and Central America were/are the same. So, interesting.
What made me have an INCREDIBLY hard time engaging with this book is that it is told from the perspective that you are one of Laura's closest friends and the entire book is her speaking at you. I know the book was 175ish pages but that was too long. There is no way I would spend more than 2 mins talking to this woman. I have been known to jump in front of moving traffic to get away from people like her (deadly serious here). I went out of my way of 4 years of all girls high school to avoid people like her, for them to be forced upon you in your reading life is frustrating as hell. She's such a horrible, gossipy woman who just talks inane crap and jumps from one subject to the other, nattering away about some things that just don't matter. Not to mention she doesn't let you get a damn word in edgewise!!!
... You know, I think that's what bothered me the most. I am a chatty, talkative person. I am reasonably forceful, especially with my close friends, in getting my point heard. To be rendered silent was ... just ... so goddamn uncomfortable! I just felt like I was spending the experience going "Bu.... Excuse...Just...uh... yeah bu... /sigh."
The last couple of pages though were great. And if you need to praise someone for writing prattling women, this guy has it down pat.
For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/
April 21, 2011
Castellanos Moya was a professor of mine while studying writing in college, and I regret that it took me a year after graduating to finally pick up this book. I had to get used to the style in the very beginning, though as soon as I did I blew right through it in a day. I was hesitant when I saw the writing format, the complete lack of paragraphs or indentation. Books written like this have always been the bane of my existence because I find them next to impossible to get through, and most of the time I can't see WHY the author chose to do it that way. But this was perfect. There are several chapters, so there are a few places to stop for a break, although I didn't really need one. The writing is really clever, and many times I had to laugh because the story was just so cleverly narrated. It's quite a rollercoaster of a story, and I highly recommend it to any fans of Latin American literature, or anyone looking for something different for their bookshelf.
October 19, 2022
Un libro asombroso inicialmente porque cada uno de sus nueve capítulos compuesto por un promedio de 11 páginas, está escrito a renglón seguido, sin punto y aparte, lo cual hace que no tengas un respiro al leer, y, sin embargo, no quieres parar.
Se trata de la historia de Olga María, quien fue asesinada por un desconocido en su casa, delante de sus hijas, nadie sabe por qué. La narración le corresponde a su mejor amiga Laura Rivera, quien va contando a otra compañera todo lo sucedido, así como sus indagaciones y teorías sobre los hechos en busca del posible actor intelectual de este crimen. De esta forma vamos conociendo a los diferentes personajes, su relación con Olga María y los posibles motivos que se tendrían para considerarlos sospechosos.
El final es sorprendente, aunque nos deja con dudas, igual quedarás con una gran sonrisa en la boca. Un libro divertido y atrapante, recomendado.
Se trata de la historia de Olga María, quien fue asesinada por un desconocido en su casa, delante de sus hijas, nadie sabe por qué. La narración le corresponde a su mejor amiga Laura Rivera, quien va contando a otra compañera todo lo sucedido, así como sus indagaciones y teorías sobre los hechos en busca del posible actor intelectual de este crimen. De esta forma vamos conociendo a los diferentes personajes, su relación con Olga María y los posibles motivos que se tendrían para considerarlos sospechosos.
El final es sorprendente, aunque nos deja con dudas, igual quedarás con una gran sonrisa en la boca. Un libro divertido y atrapante, recomendado.
May 11, 2018
THE SHE-DEVIL IN THE MIRROR by Horacio Castellanos Moya.
An interesting and highly inventive book from El Salvador's pre-eminent novelist. A sort of post-modern detective story, which takes the form of a frantic monologue delivered directly to the reader.
The voice is that of Laura Rivera, whose best friend has just been shot dead in her own living room, right in front of her two daughters. What unravels is a web of corruption, sex, violence and drugs, all played out in post-civil war San Salvador.
The distinctive style, the paranoia and the complex life of the victim make for a gripping plot, which is much lighter than its dense text initially suggests. I liked it, found it interesting, but didn't love it.
An interesting and highly inventive book from El Salvador's pre-eminent novelist. A sort of post-modern detective story, which takes the form of a frantic monologue delivered directly to the reader.
The voice is that of Laura Rivera, whose best friend has just been shot dead in her own living room, right in front of her two daughters. What unravels is a web of corruption, sex, violence and drugs, all played out in post-civil war San Salvador.
The distinctive style, the paranoia and the complex life of the victim make for a gripping plot, which is much lighter than its dense text initially suggests. I liked it, found it interesting, but didn't love it.
October 27, 2023
Read the World book of the month (El Salvador) 🌎
1/5⭐
For a short book, this took me almost a month to read because, right from the start, I didn't want to pick it up. The only reason I finished it was because it was my Read the World challenge. I hated the way this was written - completely from one woman's perspective, rambling, and directly to the reader, as if they were a friend of the narrator. There were no breaks or dialogue, or anything to help give context to the incredibly irritating and unlikable narrator who talked complete rubbish.
I did quite like the end, when we figured out that she was having a mental breakdown (although even at this point, she was adamant that she was right) but the damage had been done and I couldn't bring myself to add another star.
I rarely hate a book but I hated this one and won't read this author anytime soon, if ever again. I will give El Salvador another chance in the future, as I don't think it's fair to tar it with this book.
1/5⭐
For a short book, this took me almost a month to read because, right from the start, I didn't want to pick it up. The only reason I finished it was because it was my Read the World challenge. I hated the way this was written - completely from one woman's perspective, rambling, and directly to the reader, as if they were a friend of the narrator. There were no breaks or dialogue, or anything to help give context to the incredibly irritating and unlikable narrator who talked complete rubbish.
I did quite like the end, when we figured out that she was having a mental breakdown (although even at this point, she was adamant that she was right) but the damage had been done and I couldn't bring myself to add another star.
I rarely hate a book but I hated this one and won't read this author anytime soon, if ever again. I will give El Salvador another chance in the future, as I don't think it's fair to tar it with this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2022
This story is told by someone who apparently never shuts up. And that is why I've given this book 2.5 (rounded to 3) stars instead of 4. In real life, I find this kind of constant yammering about themselves and other people to be extremely annoying and will politely ask the person talking to stop. If they continue, I just leave. It's unfortunate when I run across this problem in a book because I always finish books, even if I don't like them in the beginning.
Having said that, the story in the book is interesting. So, if you can stand the self-obsessed narrator, you might enjoy this book.
Having said that, the story in the book is interesting. So, if you can stand the self-obsessed narrator, you might enjoy this book.
June 6, 2021
Y no decepcionó! Gran libro
December 15, 2023
sweet gossip!
September 16, 2020
El lector logrará conocer a Laura a través de su pensamiento y expresión, método por el cual se presenta y describe a todos los demás personajes con gran exactitud.
El autor consigue plasmar la naturalidad de Laura en su monólogo durante toda la obra mediante un lenguaje sencillo y directo. Además, destaca la ausencia de distinción de párrafos.
La ambientación fácil de imaginar y situarse en contexto, lo mismo, pues mediante la voz de Laura nos situaremos en diferentes escenarios con muy buenas descripciones y sin que estas sean excesivas.
He disfrutado de la originalidad del libro, pues la ausencia de párrafos y el hecho de que todo el libro sea un monólogo hacen de él una lectura muy diferente. Sin embargo, no he conectado tanto con la historia en sí misma.
El autor consigue plasmar la naturalidad de Laura en su monólogo durante toda la obra mediante un lenguaje sencillo y directo. Además, destaca la ausencia de distinción de párrafos.
La ambientación fácil de imaginar y situarse en contexto, lo mismo, pues mediante la voz de Laura nos situaremos en diferentes escenarios con muy buenas descripciones y sin que estas sean excesivas.
He disfrutado de la originalidad del libro, pues la ausencia de párrafos y el hecho de que todo el libro sea un monólogo hacen de él una lectura muy diferente. Sin embargo, no he conectado tanto con la historia en sí misma.
February 10, 2024
u don’t know yapping until u read this book.
February 2, 2017
I haven't decided yet whether I enjoyed this book or not. stylistically it was curious as it was the inner monologue of Laura Riviera as she conducts conversations with an unnamed third party (I suppose the clue is in the title) about her best friend Olga Maria who in the first chapter has been fatally shot by an unknown assassin.
In each chapter Laura conducts her monologue and a picture emerges of Olga's infidelities with various men against the background of a political scene in El Salvador which is increasingly unstable following civil war. I found the narrative structure at times frustrating, and at times entertaining, although ultimately the stream of consciousness inner monologue format is not one that sits comfortably with me. However it was well done as for example in one breath laura is discussing the TV soap opera before flitting to one of Olga's lovers political difficulties. Similarly in a very good scene in a restaurant the distractions of the various hunky waiters I thought was well done as it contrasts with more serious issues. At times however I struggled with the sexual contradictions, on the one hand the author subtly draws a picture of a bar owner who has been the victim of brutal sexual assaults by the police who arrest her whilst there is then an almost cartoon description of one of Laura's sexual escapades voyeuristic in its graphic nature .
Ultimately I enjoyed this as an interesting example of central American writing as I continue my around the wold literary tour and the description of a mind disintegrating was well done but I was glad to finish the read and put it aside. Having looked at reviews the author is lauded as a great of the region and I suspect that this is a book that tells more about the country than is absorbed on first read and I suspect that is why I've struggled to rate the book beyond 3 stars .
In each chapter Laura conducts her monologue and a picture emerges of Olga's infidelities with various men against the background of a political scene in El Salvador which is increasingly unstable following civil war. I found the narrative structure at times frustrating, and at times entertaining, although ultimately the stream of consciousness inner monologue format is not one that sits comfortably with me. However it was well done as for example in one breath laura is discussing the TV soap opera before flitting to one of Olga's lovers political difficulties. Similarly in a very good scene in a restaurant the distractions of the various hunky waiters I thought was well done as it contrasts with more serious issues. At times however I struggled with the sexual contradictions, on the one hand the author subtly draws a picture of a bar owner who has been the victim of brutal sexual assaults by the police who arrest her whilst there is then an almost cartoon description of one of Laura's sexual escapades voyeuristic in its graphic nature .
Ultimately I enjoyed this as an interesting example of central American writing as I continue my around the wold literary tour and the description of a mind disintegrating was well done but I was glad to finish the read and put it aside. Having looked at reviews the author is lauded as a great of the region and I suspect that this is a book that tells more about the country than is absorbed on first read and I suspect that is why I've struggled to rate the book beyond 3 stars .
June 10, 2011
"Character gives us qualities, but it is in actions — what we do — that we are happy or the reverse... All human happiness and misery take the form of action." — Aristotle
This seems like such a philosophically accurate and material way of seeing both drama but life to me, and yet, lately I've been thinking about this line and wondering if it is fundamentally a male way of perceiving drama/life? I resisted the idea that there was a male/female division in this kind of perception since it seemed sexist to me. I was raised to believe men and women were not only equal, but identical except for the obvious physical differences. When I read Aristotle's Poetics, this line struck me as through of a bedrock reality as my facial hair. And yet I continue to encounter a different way perceiving drama/life that is counter to this maxim by Aristotle. In this counter maximum it is the emotional (and linguistic) frame around action -- what we do -- that give us our qualities. All human happiness and misery, in this counter view, take the form of how action is framed. In this view, action is just a pretext. I'm thinking of Lydia Millett's novel "My Happy Life" or Horacio Castellanos Moya's "The She-Devil in the Mirror." At first blush, I read these as examples of "unreliable narrators" when in fact I think they speak to this counter maxim.
This seems like such a philosophically accurate and material way of seeing both drama but life to me, and yet, lately I've been thinking about this line and wondering if it is fundamentally a male way of perceiving drama/life? I resisted the idea that there was a male/female division in this kind of perception since it seemed sexist to me. I was raised to believe men and women were not only equal, but identical except for the obvious physical differences. When I read Aristotle's Poetics, this line struck me as through of a bedrock reality as my facial hair. And yet I continue to encounter a different way perceiving drama/life that is counter to this maxim by Aristotle. In this counter maximum it is the emotional (and linguistic) frame around action -- what we do -- that give us our qualities. All human happiness and misery, in this counter view, take the form of how action is framed. In this view, action is just a pretext. I'm thinking of Lydia Millett's novel "My Happy Life" or Horacio Castellanos Moya's "The She-Devil in the Mirror." At first blush, I read these as examples of "unreliable narrators" when in fact I think they speak to this counter maxim.
January 20, 2024
This story reminded me so much of “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead” Both books invite the reader into a culturally distinct society that is experiencing the shock of a murder in their close-knit community. We learn the facts through the eyes of two captious, rambling, and exceptionally paranoid women. The unreliable but strangely addictive narration styles made me feel like I was having a conversation with the same character, once again pitying and distrusting her all at once.
This book’s dizzying, gossipy narration gets faster and faster, roping you into the drama as an unwilling participant. I wish I knew more about Salvadoran history to appreciate the political commentary on post-civil war communism, economics, and corruption. At times exhausting, bewildering, and more graphically sexual than I love to read, but a very creatively crafted and believably human narrative all throughout! The suspense was strong until the ending was (likely purposefully) unsatisfying.
This book’s dizzying, gossipy narration gets faster and faster, roping you into the drama as an unwilling participant. I wish I knew more about Salvadoran history to appreciate the political commentary on post-civil war communism, economics, and corruption. At times exhausting, bewildering, and more graphically sexual than I love to read, but a very creatively crafted and believably human narrative all throughout! The suspense was strong until the ending was (likely purposefully) unsatisfying.
September 28, 2009
Moya's got an awful lot on the ball. Between this and last year's (translation of) _Senselessness_ he's on an English-language roll.
This time we've got a nearly hysterical narrator talking to us, one long paragraph in each chapter. As with the previous novel, Moya manages to wring both laughs and chills from us as we read.
His novels are beautifully engaged with political and cultural life, they sparkle with particularity, yet they transcend that particularity to become something more universal.
I can't wait for _Dances With Snakes_, which is supposed to be released any day now...
This time we've got a nearly hysterical narrator talking to us, one long paragraph in each chapter. As with the previous novel, Moya manages to wring both laughs and chills from us as we read.
His novels are beautifully engaged with political and cultural life, they sparkle with particularity, yet they transcend that particularity to become something more universal.
I can't wait for _Dances With Snakes_, which is supposed to be released any day now...
August 26, 2012
I waited a day to rate this book to see how the finish lingered. With chapters that are a single paragraph and pulse-pulse-pulse writing, this is not a book for a casual reader. But, it is a wonder of creativity and stream of consciousness prose. By the end, I knew all the characters by heart, just from Laura's hysterical, judgmental descriptions. I'd love to see a sequel where her voiceless friend tells us what was really going on while Laura wove her tale.
December 19, 2010
Very unconventional, told by the narrator to you the reader as if if to her girlfriend, which really pulled me into the story. The ending was a bit abrupt and jarring, BUT the frenetic pace and effective style make this a book I may in the future revisit. I also plan on seeking out Moya's other works.
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