Dust on Her Tongue

by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, Paul Bowles (Translator)

Set in Guatemala, these spare and beautiful tales are linked by themes of magic, violence, and the fragility of existence. Paul Bowle’s translation perfectly captures Rey Rosa’s stories of the haunted lives of ordinary people in present-day Central America.

“A genuinely surprising and original set of stories…a sense of violent unease shading into terror drifts up from every line…his writing has a sharp, almost sadistic edge.”—The Times Literary Supplement

“Compelling in the extreme…these twelve tales (that) boast of hidden dangers and lurking terrors, are written in a deceptively undramatic style, with masterful restraint. Stories that continue to disturb and delight long after they are laid to rest."—Blitz

Rodrigo Rey Rosa (born November 4, 1958) is a Guatemalan writer. He has based many of his writings and stories on legends and myths that are indigenous to Latin American as well as North Africa. A number of Rey Rosa's works have been translated into English, including; The Path Doubles Back (by Paul Bowles), "The Pelcari Project," The Beggar's Knife, The African Shore, and Severina.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literature

124 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

About the author

Rodrigo Rey Rosa is perhaps the most prominent writer on the Guatemalan literary scene. Along with the work of writers like Roberto Bolaño, Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Fernando Vallejo, Rey Rosa’s fiction has been widely translated and internationally acclaimed. His books include Dust on Her Tongue, The Beggar’s Knife, and The Pelcari Project, all of which were translated into English by the late Paul Bowles. In addition to his many novels and story collections, Rey Rosa has translated books by Bowles, Norman Lewis, François Augiéras, and Paul Léautaud.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rodrigo Rey Rosa (born 1958) -- A Guatemalan writer who bases the majority of his stories on indigenous Latin American legends and myths. Twelve short sparse tales in this collection set in Guatemala among everyday men and women. There is no explicit symbolism spelled out yet the relationships between objects, happenings and people are charged with compressed energy, infusing each scene with uncompromising and frequently harsh drama. To provide a taste of the author’s voice and the rhythm of his telling, I will focus on one tale I found particularly powerful:

CORALIA
An older gentleman at a table in a small restaurant tells his lady friend, a foreigner with auburn hair and very pale skin, about a woman he judges to be great and how she will really love this great woman.

Such an irksome, annoying statement – when we are told how we will love or have strong emotions toward another person without having once met that person.

Meanwhile, the plot thickens: overhearing this remark, a young man at the next table informs his girlfriend how the older gentleman is talking about Coralia and how Coralia has an ego as big as a cathedral.

At that moment Coralia herself enters the restaurant, head held high, looking neither to the left nor to the right. The older gentleman, Señor Méndez, rises to greet her. Coralia explains how she was, in fact, looking for him so as to ask the Señor if she could rent his truck to pick up some wood she already paid for.

Taking on the role of gallant friend, Señor Méndez tells Coralia that he himself will gladly pick up and deliver her wood. Delighted, Coralia offers to host coffee at five o'clock at her home for Señor and his lady friend as a way of extending her gratitude.

Coralia briskly walks to the door but catches sight of Enrique out of the corner of her eye and cries: “Enrique!” Enrique stands and hugs her.

Señor Méndez and his lady friend walk past and tell Coralia they will be at her home at five o’clock for that coffee.

Now that she knows her wood will be delivered, so much for Señor Méndez; Coralia has much better things to focus her attention on at this moment: a young man for whom, as we find out later in the story, she has a deep, powerful emotional attachment.

No sooner is Coralia in the front seat of Enrique's car, squeezed between driver and his girlfriend, Rita by name, then we read: “She informed them that she was a very candid person, and that she liked to tell the whole story from the beginning. She kept nothing back (she did not know what shame was) and that whoever objected to this should say so at the start.”

In so many words she is telling them: my life story is the most important thing in the world and I plan to command center stage and take as much time as I want to tell my whole story.

I’ve always found such obnoxious pronouncements, as this one by Coralia, disturbing and ugly in the extreme. And for a number of reasons, not the least of which is all the other people around them are reduced to passive listeners and tacitly judged inferior. A colossal egotism is at work here.

True to form, once Coralia begins telling her life story, it goes on for hours: how she emerged victorious from a hard childhood, suffering at the hands of drunken father and indifferent mother, how she heroically overcame the nuns at her convent school, but once she discovered the beauty of her voice . . . . bhah, bhah, bhah.

Enrique reminds Coralia of the time, that it is now well after five o’clock. Rita says “Poor Señor Méndez.” Coralia is surprised at the interruption of her story.

Coralia discovers the hard way there is a price to pay for ignoring her friends. Here is how Rodrigo Rey Rosa ends his tale: “A few yards after he had crossed the river Enrique had to make way suddenly for a small truck with blinding headlights which bore down upon them from the other direction. Rita turned to look. “Señor Méndez!” she exclaimed. Señor Méndez had stopped his truck at the edge of the river. They saw him climb into the back of the truck and leaning against the cabin’s partition, kick the logs furiously out of the truck, so that they rolled down the bank into the water and floated off downstream. The sky was full of stars.”

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 1/2 the stories here are fantastic.The best ones are haunting and thought provoking. The rest feel like exercises, which is a problem I often have with short stories (which may, in fact, be my problem as a reader, not Rosa's problem as writer).

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

spare, restrained, yet dangerous, stories masterfully translated by paul bowles.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkly, Disturbing at sometimes. Great read. but his other collection is way better.

[Nicole Kroger Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

#readtheworld Guatemala

A great collection of stories that I powered through in an evening. I loved Rey Rosa's straightforward style and twisted stories. I have a novel of his "Chaos: A Fable" which I very much look forward to reading after having finished these stories.

Below is a very, very truncated summary of each story (more for my memory than for any kind of academic summation).

"The Proof" Little boy kills a bird, his father discovers dead bird, the maid replaces what she thinks is a missing bird. No one speaks about it and no one knows the full truth.
"Dust on Her Tongue" Woman locked in a hotel room with no memory of what brought her there.
"Privacy" Man goes to a hospital in inquire after his sister, ends up locked in solitary confinement.
"The Burial" Old man fakes his own death (with the help of his grandson) to live out the remainder of his life as he pleases, against the wishes of his daughter.
"Still Water" American man is found dead. His widow arrives in Guatemala to live alone. The widow and her servant not-so-secretly torment each other via a pet toad.
"Coralia" Coralia, her "ego as big as a cathedral" and her manipulation of men
"The Truth" Boy drops stone from a bridge onto traffic, causing destruction, and still not earning the belief of his father when he tells the truth about it.
"Angelica" -- "the dead do not go away, but remain inside those whom they leave behind." Story of lovers, deception and death.
"The Host" An old man alone on an island, is sacrificed for unknown reasons. Soon after, his replacement is selected.
"People of the Head" A man becomes convinced that his new acquaintance, Wing Hung Wong owns an urn that requires a host to become a powerful oracle. The man becomes obsessed, paranoid, and determined.
"Las Lagrimas"Man goes to record funeral chants of a remote tribe. The funerals that follow are not the ones he planned to witness.
"Xquic" Academics (anthropologists?) study the well of Xquic and its mysterious powers.

[Mikee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of twelve surreal stories was translated into English by Paul Bowles. The entire collection could have easily been written by Bowles himself. The stories are spare and eerie. While actual violence is rare, it’s never far away. Sleep with the lights on after reading.

[Jeff Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pick hits: "Coralia," "The Truth," Xquic," "Still Water," "The Proof," Dust on Her Tongue."
3.5 stars.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy Roberto Bolano, I imagine you would also enjoy Rodrigo Rey Rosa, the apparent similarity being most of the stories feature thoughtful loners trying to interpret odd, slightly threatening occurrences or people. Rosa lacks Bolano's wonderful sense of humor, and his prose is even more spare, but his deep fascination with myth and obscure religious practices makes up for it.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

guatemalan writer. stark, excellent

[Darryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of a dozen very short and very forgettable stories set in Guatemala. Don't bother.