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ska1224's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Body shaming, Mental illness, Dementia, Death, and Terminal illness
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
• short story collection with seven stories (about 160 pages total)
• longest one was in the middle, about 50 pages, called “Breath from the Depths”
• I am still processing what I read as some of these characters’ motivations confused me & left me feeling dark &heavy but was still so compelling!
cw: death, suicidal ideation, pedophilic behavior, ageism, stressful & uncertain situations that stressed me tf out
• short story collection with seven stories (about 160 pages total)
• longest one was in the middle, about 50 pages, called “Breath from the Depths”
• I am still processing what I read as some of these characters’ motivations confused me & left me feeling dark &heavy but was still so compelling!
cw: death, suicidal ideation, pedophilic behavior, ageism, stressful & uncertain situations that stressed me tf out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, and Death
mollylhartles's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
savvylit's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Schweblin has written yet another book that expertly navigates the terror of the deepest and most unknowable parts of the human psyche. She imagines scenarios that are horrible due to their close proximity to reality. What if your parents lost their minds and you had to stand by and wonder if you ever really knew them? What if you thought that you'd met a kind stranger but then your encounter suddenly took on a sinister air?
Every story in this collection is unsettling and well-crafted. However, there is one that stands out above the rest and that is the longest story, "Breath from the Depths." In that story, the protagonist is a bitter, enfeebled old woman with a memory problem. Her forgetfulness makes her both obsessed with structure and totally paranoid. She no longer trusts her husband in any way, constantly implying his stupidity. In addition to her mind, her body doesn't function the way that she wants it to either. She frequently laments the fact that she can't even die despite feeling ready to go. In Breath from the Depths, Schweblin has so brilliantly hit on all of the very specific frustrations of memory loss and aging. As someone who has closely witnessed multiple elderly family members experience varying forms of dementia, I was blown away (and a bit terrified) by Schweblin's vivid and believable portrayal of memory loss in this story.
Overall, Seven Empty Houses as a collection is an excellent glimpse into Schweblin's skill at capturing dread and psychological horror. She remains one of my favorite contemporary authors and I cannot wait to see what she publishes next.
Every story in this collection is unsettling and well-crafted. However, there is one that stands out above the rest and that is the longest story, "Breath from the Depths." In that story, the protagonist is a bitter, enfeebled old woman with a memory problem. Her forgetfulness makes her both obsessed with structure and totally paranoid. She no longer trusts her husband in any way, constantly implying his stupidity. In addition to her mind, her body doesn't function the way that she wants it to either. She frequently laments the fact that she can't even die despite feeling ready to go. In Breath from the Depths, Schweblin has so brilliantly hit on all of the very specific frustrations of memory loss and aging. As someone who has closely witnessed multiple elderly family members experience varying forms of dementia, I was blown away (and a bit terrified) by Schweblin's vivid and believable portrayal of memory loss in this story.
Overall, Seven Empty Houses as a collection is an excellent glimpse into Schweblin's skill at capturing dread and psychological horror. She remains one of my favorite contemporary authors and I cannot wait to see what she publishes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Death, and Mental illness
brogan7's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
4.25
Strange, slightly surreal settings or situations in this book of short stories make for a quirky universe but somehow also a compelling read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Child death
tigger89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
What does it mean to be missing something? In these seven short stories, Samanta Schweblin paints a vivid and unsettling portrait of seven situations where something vital has been overlooked or misplaced, and the consequences that result. Originally published in Spanish, this collection has been translated to English by Megan McDowell.
Overall I enjoyed these stories. I'd picked up this book based on a recommendation billing it as a horror novel, but in my subjective opinion, with the exception of The Unlucky Man — a story about a young girl who feels ignored by her parents on her birthday and the man who gives her the attention she craves — the horror was very light. Rather, I found sadness in most of the stories. The houses were missing their things, and instead of feeling unsettled by the consequences I just mourned the loss. The writing style fit the tone of the stories very well, setting the stage for each scenario with quick strokes before leading the reader through the narrative at a brisk pace.
My favorite stories were the aforementioned The Unlucky Man, Breath from the Depths, and Out. Breath from the Depths, the longest story in the collection, is about an elderly, chronically-ill woman who's busy preparing for the end of her life when a neighborhood boy starts coming around her house. Out is about the aftermath of a couple's argument, and about choosing what to let go of and what to keep.
The collection does trend toward the bizarre, particularly the second story, My Parents and My Children. I admit I don't entirely understand that one. I can tell you what happened, but the ultimate meaning — and I do believe there was one, based on the other stories in the collection — was lost on me. But maybe that one will click for you and you'll be left stumped by one of the ones I liked.
Overall I enjoyed these stories. I'd picked up this book based on a recommendation billing it as a horror novel, but in my subjective opinion, with the exception of The Unlucky Man — a story about a young girl who feels ignored by her parents on her birthday and the man who gives her the attention she craves — the horror was very light. Rather, I found sadness in most of the stories. The houses were missing their things, and instead of feeling unsettled by the consequences I just mourned the loss. The writing style fit the tone of the stories very well, setting the stage for each scenario with quick strokes before leading the reader through the narrative at a brisk pace.
My favorite stories were the aforementioned The Unlucky Man, Breath from the Depths, and Out. Breath from the Depths, the longest story in the collection, is about an elderly, chronically-ill woman who's busy preparing for the end of her life when a neighborhood boy starts coming around her house. Out is about the aftermath of a couple's argument, and about choosing what to let go of and what to keep.
The collection does trend toward the bizarre, particularly the second story, My Parents and My Children. I admit I don't entirely understand that one. I can tell you what happened, but the ultimate meaning — and I do believe there was one, based on the other stories in the collection — was lost on me. But maybe that one will click for you and you'll be left stumped by one of the ones I liked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Dementia, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pedophilia
mlewis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Chronic illness, and Dementia
Moderate: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Child death
deedireads's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Seven Empty Houses is a powerful, slim set of translated stories that take a common motif (the house) and use it to pack a fresh-feeling punch. I liked it very much.
For you if: You like short stories with an acutely unsettling vibe.
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Riverhead, for the advanced copy! This book is out in the US on 11/18.
I've always meant to read Samanta Schweblin, and now I’m very glad to say that I have (and really enjoyed the experience). Seven Empty Houses is a set of short stories originally published in Spanish in 2015 and now translated into English by Megan McDowell. As of this writing, it’s also a finalist for the National Book Award for translated literature.
While “seven empty houses” isn’t a literal description of these stories, as you might expect, there are seven of them. Each one also calls to mind an absence of some sort and a sense (or lack) of home. They explore loss and grief, the definition of home (especially as a traditionally feminine place). And while they aren’t linked, they felt like they easily could have been, especially given some recurring motifs (a love of washing dishes, a lost child, etc).
The stories are written quietly and economically; they also feel like empty houses themselves, with a consistent unsettled, foreboding tone. They were impressive from both a writing and a translation perspective. I really enjoyed so many of them. There is one story that’s much longer than the others that I struggled with in the middle, but ultimately the wait paid off emotionally at the end and I loved that one too.
If you’re a fan of translated literature, short stories, or writing with a disquieting vibe, pick this one up.
TL;DR REVIEW:
Seven Empty Houses is a powerful, slim set of translated stories that take a common motif (the house) and use it to pack a fresh-feeling punch. I liked it very much.
For you if: You like short stories with an acutely unsettling vibe.
FULL REVIEW:
Thank you, Riverhead, for the advanced copy! This book is out in the US on 11/18.
I've always meant to read Samanta Schweblin, and now I’m very glad to say that I have (and really enjoyed the experience). Seven Empty Houses is a set of short stories originally published in Spanish in 2015 and now translated into English by Megan McDowell. As of this writing, it’s also a finalist for the National Book Award for translated literature.
While “seven empty houses” isn’t a literal description of these stories, as you might expect, there are seven of them. Each one also calls to mind an absence of some sort and a sense (or lack) of home. They explore loss and grief, the definition of home (especially as a traditionally feminine place). And while they aren’t linked, they felt like they easily could have been, especially given some recurring motifs (a love of washing dishes, a lost child, etc).
The stories are written quietly and economically; they also feel like empty houses themselves, with a consistent unsettled, foreboding tone. They were impressive from both a writing and a translation perspective. I really enjoyed so many of them. There is one story that’s much longer than the others that I struggled with in the middle, but ultimately the wait paid off emotionally at the end and I loved that one too.
If you’re a fan of translated literature, short stories, or writing with a disquieting vibe, pick this one up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Child death, and Dementia
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