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srm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Homophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
treeme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent
milojean_reads's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
dianahincureads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Selva Almada masterfully shows the catastrophic consequences toxic masculinity has on men, especially those in the making, little boys that mirror their fathers. Becoming a man through cruelty and disruption, through the brutal suppression of one’s feelings (and, consequently, one’s humanity), through heterosexuality. Being unsuccessful fitting this narrow and toxic definition leads to conflict. Marciano and Pájaro are trapped, shaped by their parents’ mistakes and environment. They pay for it with their lives.
The women in this novel are not depicted as victims. They are strong and resourceful. However, they have incorporated all sorts of survival mechanisms to avoid triggering the men in their lives (such as “unobtrusively, so as not to hurt his pride, Celina had begun to take charge of the brickworks”).
Almada’s writing is incredibly effective. Accurate in its simplicity, every word reverberates with meaning. The author constructs the portrait of a rural community with two rival families (better said, the rivalry of the two fathers). The result is a realistic LGBTQ+ Romeo and Juliet, a mixture of trauma and faith.
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
mayangkinanti's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gore
internationalreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Outing, Sexual content, and Violence
abbie_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Another brilliant offering from Selva Almada, Charco Press and translator Annie McDermott. Brickmakers starts out with two young men lying in a deserted fairground, both suffering fatal injuries from a knife fight. As the story progresses, we learn how they got there, which includes a feud between fathers and an illicit love between two young men.
Graphic: Homophobia, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Violence, and Murder
danidamico's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
La autora parte del desenlace y dedica el resto de la novela a reconstruir los hechos que culminaron de semejante manera. Es una narrativa circular, empieza donde termina y termina donde empieza. En general, se suele agrupar a las tres novelas de Almada (El viento que arrasa, Ladrilleros y No es un río) como una especie de trilogía temática, porque todas tratan el tema de la masculinidad en las regiones del norte y del litoral argentinos. Almada escribe sobre el mundo masculino desde todos sus matices, desde el amor, el odio, desde la violencia, lo erótico y lo peligroso.
Almada reinventa la tragedia Shakespeareana desde los paisajes olvidados y desolados de la provincia, con una mirada perceptiva que se posa sobre lo íntimo, lo cotidiano y los detalles que hacen a las vidas de sus personajes. Su forma de escribir es muy orgánica, natural, nada se siente forzado o impostado, lo cual siempre es un peligro cuando se utiliza mucho lenguaje coloquial; los diálogos están perfectamente logrados, las descripciones son sencillas pero evocativas. Las palabras de Almada fluyen.
Ladrilleros es también la historia de hombres ausentes, borrachos, de hombres que aparentan ser fuertes pero en el fondo son débiles, y de las mujeres que, como consecuencia, deben sacar la familia adelante, en todo sentido. "Son personajes bien representativos del interior y de ciertos estratos sociales, donde ves a la mina superpoderosa, que es una amazona y que podría sola con todo, pero reproduce el machismo en la educación de los hijos y trata de mantenerle la hombría al marido; minas que son muy fuertes pero si el marido grita, se quedan calladas. Siempre me pareció muy contradictorio y me llamaba la atención", observó la autora en una entrevista con la revista El Cocodrilo.
Hace tiempo venía con ganas de leer a Selva Almada y tenía miedo de que no cumpliera con mis expectativas. Pero no. De hecho, las superó. Ladrilleros me encantó, lo leí en dos tardes y no puedo esperar para continuar con los demás libros de la autora.
Mi única crítica es que me hubiera gustado conocer más a Ángel y que participara más a lo largo de la historia, no sólo al final de un modo que se sintió algo repentino. De todos modos, es una novela espectacular e imperdible, un texto sumamente sensorial y hasta cinematográfico. Se puede sentir el calor apabullante, ver el rojo de la sangre, imaginar los cuerpos que se unen en la pelea y se unen en el sexo. Oler la muerte. Si toda la obra de Selva Almada es igual de buena, sin duda se convertirá en una de mis escritoras favoritas.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Homophobia and Misogyny