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marianacastroe8's review against another edition
4.0
Juan Gabriel Vásquez es muy buen escritor y desdeñar su estilo narrativo y los premios que lo han consagrado como uno de los principales escritores de Colombia me parecería atrevido e irresponsable. Sin embargo, en mi concepto lo prefiero como novelista que como cuentista.
Me gustaron estos cuentos pero los sentí como un conjunto de buenos inicios de novela o novelas inacabadas. Además, no disfruté el hecho de que todos tuvieran el mismo narrador; la misma voz que es siempre la de Juan Gabriel. Aun así, tienen un hilo conductor porque en cierta manera todos convergen en tres puntos que son la violencia en cualquiera de sus formas, el fracaso y la familia. Me gustó el tono realista de los relatos. Lo único que me hizo falta fue más diversidad en el narrador.
Me gustaron estos cuentos pero los sentí como un conjunto de buenos inicios de novela o novelas inacabadas. Además, no disfruté el hecho de que todos tuvieran el mismo narrador; la misma voz que es siempre la de Juan Gabriel. Aun así, tienen un hilo conductor porque en cierta manera todos convergen en tres puntos que son la violencia en cualquiera de sus formas, el fracaso y la familia. Me gustó el tono realista de los relatos. Lo único que me hizo falta fue más diversidad en el narrador.
pandagopanda's review against another edition
As I often do with books of short stories, I grazed on this over a couple of months between reading other books. I found some of the stories told with that wonderful sense of vague mystery so intriguing in short stories - like a world glimpsed through clouds parting briefly - but others I found fairly inscrutable or impenetrable in a way that I struggled to find any way into them. Some others again made me feel a not unpleasant uncertainty about how much of them was true or untrue, history or fiction. A really varied collection, with some beautiful writing.
vritika_kanwal's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
cecilit's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
reindeerbandit's review against another edition
5.0
i had no expectations going into this and wow was i blown away. all of these people were so desperate and vulnerable and so strong. beautifully written.
joshgauthier's review against another edition
I'm holding off on a star rating for this one because it turns out my literary tastes don't really run in the direction of these stories. And that's just a matter of personal preference rather than a criticism of the work.
From the personal to the national, Songs for the Flames is a collection of characters and stories allowing Vásquez to examine trauma, violence, and loss on both individual and cultural levels. With effective prose and a quiet voice, he writes across time periods and settings, crafting insights into the lives of his characters as they struggle to make sense of a world where things so often do not go according to plan. And as both the title and closing lines of the book refer to, those who are left are often the ones tasked with bearing witness, with understanding, with giving voice to those whose voices have been lost.
The collection undeniably operates with traditionally literary sensibilities, but Vásquez's writing is undeniable as a quiet strength and insight runs through each pieces of this collection. And as much as this may not be my genre, "The Last Corrido" is one of those stories that landed like a blow, lingering in bittersweet resonance beyond its final line.
From the personal to the national, Songs for the Flames is a collection of characters and stories allowing Vásquez to examine trauma, violence, and loss on both individual and cultural levels. With effective prose and a quiet voice, he writes across time periods and settings, crafting insights into the lives of his characters as they struggle to make sense of a world where things so often do not go according to plan. And as both the title and closing lines of the book refer to, those who are left are often the ones tasked with bearing witness, with understanding, with giving voice to those whose voices have been lost.
The collection undeniably operates with traditionally literary sensibilities, but Vásquez's writing is undeniable as a quiet strength and insight runs through each pieces of this collection. And as much as this may not be my genre, "The Last Corrido" is one of those stories that landed like a blow, lingering in bittersweet resonance beyond its final line.
carlaribeiro's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
fonkun's review against another edition
4.0
"The inertia of violence is like a deep underground current that nobody can reach."
In SONGS FOR THE FLAMES, characters are touched by violence in one form or another. But unlike most stories about violence, violence is on the periphery — the focus is on the act of storytelling itself and the reactions of the storyteller and the story listener(s).
The narrator begins the first story with a seemingly virtuous declaration — "other people's stories are inviolable territory, or that's how it's always seemed to me, because often there is something in them that informs or defines a life, and stealing them in order to write them is much worse than revealing a secret." Then, in the following stories, each of the different narrators proceed to tell someone else's story, deviating from the aforementioned declaration. For me, this is the most striking feature of Vásquez's writing, where you can only expect the unexpected.
That being said, in no way does the particular writing style detract from the wealth of information about Colombia's history contained in this book. I learned about Colombia's internal armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitaries and government forces, Colombia's involvement in the Korean War... and much more.
Full review on Instagram @movedbyprose
In SONGS FOR THE FLAMES, characters are touched by violence in one form or another. But unlike most stories about violence, violence is on the periphery — the focus is on the act of storytelling itself and the reactions of the storyteller and the story listener(s).
The narrator begins the first story with a seemingly virtuous declaration — "other people's stories are inviolable territory, or that's how it's always seemed to me, because often there is something in them that informs or defines a life, and stealing them in order to write them is much worse than revealing a secret." Then, in the following stories, each of the different narrators proceed to tell someone else's story, deviating from the aforementioned declaration. For me, this is the most striking feature of Vásquez's writing, where you can only expect the unexpected.
That being said, in no way does the particular writing style detract from the wealth of information about Colombia's history contained in this book. I learned about Colombia's internal armed conflict between guerrillas, paramilitaries and government forces, Colombia's involvement in the Korean War... and much more.
Full review on Instagram @movedbyprose