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Los ríos perdidos de Londres
«La novela de Javier Calvo pertenece a un tipo de literatura que me gusta mucho: la buena.» Ray Loriga
«El dios reflectante confirma el talento desmesurado de Javier Calvo.» Francisco Solano, El País
«Una obra preciosa e inteligente que penetra en las claves de la cultura moderna para darles vueltas de tuerca.» J.M., El Mundo
«Por primera vez en unos cuantos años se vislumbra ese libro con personalidad propia que se puede consolidar como emblema de los nuevos tiempos: El dios reflectante.» Toni Iturbe, Qué leer
«o suyo es reventar tópicos, subrayar rarezas, de lo que derivan secuencias estrambóticas, brutales o hilarantes, pero siempre significativas... El resultado es espectacular.» Gabi Martínez, La Vanguardia
«El dios reflectante confirma el talento desmesurado de Javier Calvo.» Francisco Solano, El País
«Una obra preciosa e inteligente que penetra en las claves de la cultura moderna para darles vueltas de tuerca.» J.M., El Mundo
«Por primera vez en unos cuantos años se vislumbra ese libro con personalidad propia que se puede consolidar como emblema de los nuevos tiempos: El dios reflectante.» Toni Iturbe, Qué leer
«o suyo es reventar tópicos, subrayar rarezas, de lo que derivan secuencias estrambóticas, brutales o hilarantes, pero siempre significativas... El resultado es espectacular.» Gabi Martínez, La Vanguardia
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2005
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About the author
Javier Calvo Perales
123 books2 followersJavier Calvo (1973). Es novelista y traductor literario. Considerado uno de los mejores traductores literarios del inglés.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 6, 2012
FICTION/ SHORT STORIES
English title:
The Lost Rivers of London
"Los ríos perdidos de Londres" is a collection of four short stories, which have an average length of 50-60 pages. The stories are titled: "Una belleza rusa" (A Russian Beauty), "Crystal Palace", "Rosemary" & "Mary Poppins: los Riós Perdidos" (Mary Poppins: The Lost Rivers). All these short stories contain a pop culture element which, in one way or another, influences the progression of their plot and/or the style in which they are written.
++++
It's interesting to see how the pop culture elements that Calvo worked into his texts influence and evolve the story plots. Also, I can appreciate the fact that he has chosen to work four completely different pop-culture intertexts into his stories: "Una belleza rusa" refers back to the novel "A Russian Beauty" by Vladimir Nabokov, "Crystal Palace" has the 1970s and 1980s tv show Doctor Who has an intertext, "Rosemary" is based on the movie "Rosemary's Baby" and "Mary Poppins: los Ríos Perdidos" makes use of (obviously) the by now house-hold fictional character Mary Poppins.
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Calvo is one of those authors who is fond of experimenting with text structure. Sometimes these structural and linguistic experiments enhance his narratives, like in "Una belleza rusa" (which strengthens the main characters brain/memory damage by telling the story out of chronological order). However, in his last story, "Mary Poppins: los Riós Perdidos", I personally think the experiments turned against Calvo and resulted in him making the short story more incomprehensible than it necessarrily needs to be (the story expresses a sense of time travel through text fragmentation).
English title:
The Lost Rivers of London
"Los ríos perdidos de Londres" is a collection of four short stories, which have an average length of 50-60 pages. The stories are titled: "Una belleza rusa" (A Russian Beauty), "Crystal Palace", "Rosemary" & "Mary Poppins: los Riós Perdidos" (Mary Poppins: The Lost Rivers). All these short stories contain a pop culture element which, in one way or another, influences the progression of their plot and/or the style in which they are written.
++++
It's interesting to see how the pop culture elements that Calvo worked into his texts influence and evolve the story plots. Also, I can appreciate the fact that he has chosen to work four completely different pop-culture intertexts into his stories: "Una belleza rusa" refers back to the novel "A Russian Beauty" by Vladimir Nabokov, "Crystal Palace" has the 1970s and 1980s tv show Doctor Who has an intertext, "Rosemary" is based on the movie "Rosemary's Baby" and "Mary Poppins: los Ríos Perdidos" makes use of (obviously) the by now house-hold fictional character Mary Poppins.
----
Calvo is one of those authors who is fond of experimenting with text structure. Sometimes these structural and linguistic experiments enhance his narratives, like in "Una belleza rusa" (which strengthens the main characters brain/memory damage by telling the story out of chronological order). However, in his last story, "Mary Poppins: los Riós Perdidos", I personally think the experiments turned against Calvo and resulted in him making the short story more incomprehensible than it necessarrily needs to be (the story expresses a sense of time travel through text fragmentation).
Displaying 1 of 1 review