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gef's review against another edition
3.0
Augusto Monterroso (Tegucigalpa, 21 de diciembre de 1921 – México, D. F., 7 de febrero de 2003) será siempre recordado por "El dinosaurio", relato tan breve y tan sugerente que ningún comentarista puede resistir citarlo en su totalidad:
Otros cuentos que me parecen genial son "Uno de cada tres", una deliciosa ironía a costa de todos los que no se cansan de aburrir a los amigos con sus problemas que nunca deciden resolver, y "Sinfonía concluida", un relato completo (con personaje nombrado, lugares y final, a diferencia de "El dinosaurio") que se cuenta con completa coherencia en una sola oración que te lleva por tres páginas. Después a otros que son poco más que chistes negros ("El eclipse") u observaciones satíricas de personajes presumidos ("Primera dama", "El concierto"). Sobre el oficio literario, tenemos "Leopoldo (sus trabajos)" sobre el escritor que no escribe, y "Obras completas" sobre un profesor de literatura que profesa cuya erudición le sirve para ocultar su falta de ideas propias. Todo escritor de relatos breves puede aprender de Monterroso el uso de los silencios, para sugerir lo que no es necesario contar.
Cuando despertó, el dinosaurio todavía estaba allí.Pero no son esas siete palabras el relato, sino solamente su comienzo. El relato de verdad es el que fabrica tu imaginación cuando esa oración la despierta.
Otros cuentos que me parecen genial son "Uno de cada tres", una deliciosa ironía a costa de todos los que no se cansan de aburrir a los amigos con sus problemas que nunca deciden resolver, y "Sinfonía concluida", un relato completo (con personaje nombrado, lugares y final, a diferencia de "El dinosaurio") que se cuenta con completa coherencia en una sola oración que te lleva por tres páginas. Después a otros que son poco más que chistes negros ("El eclipse") u observaciones satíricas de personajes presumidos ("Primera dama", "El concierto"). Sobre el oficio literario, tenemos "Leopoldo (sus trabajos)" sobre el escritor que no escribe, y "Obras completas" sobre un profesor de literatura que profesa cuya erudición le sirve para ocultar su falta de ideas propias. Todo escritor de relatos breves puede aprender de Monterroso el uso de los silencios, para sugerir lo que no es necesario contar.
paloma_sanchezh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
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
4.0
ivaelo's review against another edition
4.0
Двата сборника с разкази на Монтесоро (Този и Черната овца) не правят повече от 250 стр., но затова пък са пълни с всякакви емоции. Далеч съм от това да се нареча познавач на кратки разкази (и на дълги също, и на новели, и на романи....разбрахте накъде бия), но лично за мен Монтесоро е един от най-добрите автори на кратки разкази. Абсурдни, усмиващи, трогващи, умни. Тези разкази се разпростират по почти цялата палитра от емоции.
abetterbradley's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very interesting book. Augusto Monterroso is a master of telling a story. I've been into flash fiction recently and Augusto Monterroso's story "The Dinosaur" was mentioned of being a classic of the genre. The Dinosaur was an interesting story and most of the stories here are no longer than ten pages, some no longer than a few pages. Well worth the read.
harryr's review
3.0
Complete Works and Other Stories by Augusto Monterroso is my book from Honduras for the Read The World challenge. It is a book of playful, idea-heavy short stories; the influence of Borges is mentioned in the introduction, but I think I would have made the connection even without that.
It’s actually a translation of two books, Complete Works and Other Stories (1959) and Perpetual Motion (1972) which are somewhat different in character; the ‘stories’ in Complete Works are indeed actual narratives, however short, elliptical or open-ended, whereas many of those in Perpetual Motion are more like essays or aphorisms.
I’d got a bit stuck on reading my way around the world, basically because I had two or three books waiting to be read which didn’t appeal to me: I think I’m going to need a plane journey to Australia before I can face the enormous fat modernist novel, and I need a break from Very Serious post-colonial novels from Africa. On that basis, the Monterroso was an excellent choice: well written, intelligent, serious enough but with a sense of humour and, let’s be honest, short. A nice easy tick to get the list moving again.
And since that’s a bit damning-with-faint-praise: I did enjoy this book. To make the invidious comparison, I think there’s a reason that he’s much less famous than Borges; he doesn’t have quite the distinctiveness or surprisingness. But if you like that kind of thing, you will probably like these too.
It’s actually a translation of two books, Complete Works and Other Stories (1959) and Perpetual Motion (1972) which are somewhat different in character; the ‘stories’ in Complete Works are indeed actual narratives, however short, elliptical or open-ended, whereas many of those in Perpetual Motion are more like essays or aphorisms.
I’d got a bit stuck on reading my way around the world, basically because I had two or three books waiting to be read which didn’t appeal to me: I think I’m going to need a plane journey to Australia before I can face the enormous fat modernist novel, and I need a break from Very Serious post-colonial novels from Africa. On that basis, the Monterroso was an excellent choice: well written, intelligent, serious enough but with a sense of humour and, let’s be honest, short. A nice easy tick to get the list moving again.
And since that’s a bit damning-with-faint-praise: I did enjoy this book. To make the invidious comparison, I think there’s a reason that he’s much less famous than Borges; he doesn’t have quite the distinctiveness or surprisingness. But if you like that kind of thing, you will probably like these too.
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