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What is Secret: Short Stories by Chilean Women
"Thirty-three authors and 37 texts represent powerful voices 'spoken from a woman's threshold' throughout 20th century. Twenty-two translators achieve a competent level with a wide variety of themes and styles. Editor's introduction orients reader to stories' Chilean context. Short notes on authors and translators."--Handbook of Latin American Studies
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
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About the author
Marjorie Agosín
126 books76 followersMarjorie Agosín was born in Maryland and raised in Chile. She and her parents, Moises and Frida Agosín, moved to the United States due to the overthrow of the Chilean government by General Pinochet's military coup. Coming from a South American country and being Jewish, Agosín's writings demonstrate a unique blending of these cultures.
Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.
Agosín, a passionate writer, has received critical acclaim for her poetry collections, her close reflections on her parents and family, and her multi-layered stories. Within every novel, story, or poem, she captures the very essence of Jewish women at their best. Agosín's works reveal the experiences of pain and anguish of Jewish refugees. She writes about the Holocaust as well as anti-Semitic events that occurred in her native land.
Agosín has many fascinating works and is recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative Latin American writers. Agosín became a writer to make a difference: "I wanted to change the world through peace and beauty," she said. Today she is not only a writer, but also a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.
Agosín is well known as a poet, critic, and human activist. She is also a well-known spokesperson for the plight and priorities of women in Third World countries. Her deep social concerns and accomplishments have earned her many awards and recognitions, and she has gained an international reputation among contemporary women of color.
Agosín, a passionate writer, has received critical acclaim for her poetry collections, her close reflections on her parents and family, and her multi-layered stories. Within every novel, story, or poem, she captures the very essence of Jewish women at their best. Agosín's works reveal the experiences of pain and anguish of Jewish refugees. She writes about the Holocaust as well as anti-Semitic events that occurred in her native land.
Agosín has many fascinating works and is recognized in both North and South America as one of the most versatile and provocative Latin American writers. Agosín became a writer to make a difference: "I wanted to change the world through peace and beauty," she said. Today she is not only a writer, but also a Spanish professor at Wellesley College.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 2, 2016
According to the editor, writing was (and sometimes still is) an act of defiance and rebellion among women of South America, especially those who were adults under the Pinochet regime. I tried to keep this in mind while reading, hoping it would make me more open to the style and manner of the stories. Also, I tried to bear in mind that as a North American with few ties to the Latin American community, I'm delving into a category of storytelling that is as foreign to me as the language. In spite of, or maybe because of, all that, I found this a very difficult read.
The anthology includes many different types of stories, including one science fiction and several fantasies parceled out among stories about cheating wives, cheating husbands, long-suffered laborers and rebellious children. Some themes show up again and again: competition between mother and daughter (usually over a man), secret liaisons, suicide from grief, small revenges...and some not so small. Several stories could well qualify as erotica, which is not of particular interest to me except that those seemed to be the most skillfully crafted in the collection.
One thing that would have added to the anthology is if the author notes were more extensive and attached to the stories rather than hidden in the very back of the book. Dating the stories -- which span the entire 20th century -- would have helped readers better place the themes within the socio-political frame of what was a very turbulent and fast-changing century for Chile.
I wish I could say I liked the collection better, but the unevenness quality of the selections and poor editing were too distracting.
The anthology includes many different types of stories, including one science fiction and several fantasies parceled out among stories about cheating wives, cheating husbands, long-suffered laborers and rebellious children. Some themes show up again and again: competition between mother and daughter (usually over a man), secret liaisons, suicide from grief, small revenges...and some not so small. Several stories could well qualify as erotica, which is not of particular interest to me except that those seemed to be the most skillfully crafted in the collection.
One thing that would have added to the anthology is if the author notes were more extensive and attached to the stories rather than hidden in the very back of the book. Dating the stories -- which span the entire 20th century -- would have helped readers better place the themes within the socio-political frame of what was a very turbulent and fast-changing century for Chile.
I wish I could say I liked the collection better, but the unevenness quality of the selections and poor editing were too distracting.
December 26, 2007
It pained me a little to give this book 3 stars, because many of the stories contained within are well-deserving of the full 5, but I found the book to be poorly edited (i.e., 20+ typos in roughly 300 pages got to be rather distracting). The introduction was terrible, it introduced works that were not part of the collection and failed to introduce stories that were. But very good in terms of content, especially Marta Blanco's Maternity, Luz Ofannoz's Insignificance, and Sonia Gonzalez Valdenegro's A Matter of Distance.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews