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paperbackinmybackpack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Dementia
Moderate: Kidnapping and Pedophilia
elderwoodreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Like all short story collections I enjoyed some more than others. The stand out story to me was The Unlucky Man followed by None of That. I also really enjoyed My Parents and My Children because to me it read like a Black Mirror episode. I wish a lot of the stories had been a little longer, but on the other hand I felt like Breath From the Depths went on a little too long. Overall a decent read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and Child death
Moderate: Grief and Pedophilia
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
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
crazytourists_books's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Όπως και στο "Fever dream" η Schweblin καταφέρνει να δημιουργήσει έντονη ατμόσφαιρα, άγχους, δυσφορίας, ανησυχίας. Όμως, όπως ακριβώς και στο "Fever dream", τα τελειώματα των ιστοριών της μου φάνηκαν αδύναμα. Ήθελα κάτι ακόμα...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia, Child death, and Grief
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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