Reviews

The Musical Brain: And Other Stories by Chris Andrews, César Aira

kate_elizabeth's review against another edition

1.0

I'm sorry, y'all. WHAT AM I MISSING? Everyone and their mother adores this book. I find it distracting, frenetic, confusing, impossible to follow. Aira begins on one topic then spirals into philosophical discussions that made my eyes glaze over. I don't understand the point, or maybe I just don't have the patience for it. I disliked it so much I didn't finish it, which I never do. I had a whole debate with myself about whether it would be better to skim the remaining 130 pages just to say I "finished" it, or to move on to another in my stack of library books and hopefully find something I actually enjoy. The promise of pleasure won out. Sorry, Aira fans. I don't know what I'm not getting, but I'm definitely not getting it.

nihilisk's review against another edition

3.0

Some uproariously funny stories in here, and only a few underwhelming ones. Definitely a good collection for fans of Aira and his absurd style of magical (sur)realism.

alexlanz's review against another edition

Favorites were "Cecil Taylor" for its subject and "The Infinite" for how closely the story reflected its own unfolding.

drewsof's review against another edition

3.0

Intriguingly, Aira's flight-forward style doesn't so much gel (for me) in the short form. There are some excellent stories here, to be sure -- "The Cart" is particularly hilarious in my mind for its absurd final line, but there are many good ones in this robust collection -- but often they feel, well, a bit light. Much as I love Aira's work, I find that I'm well-served by breaks between his fictions and this collection only proves that point. There's a novella-length tale in here that easily could've been published as a standalone book and I wonder if I'd've enjoyed it more if that'd been the case.
For the completists, I'd say -- but also, honestly, not crucial reading even for them.