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cseibs's review
3.0
Some pretty solid stories. I think I'm torn between liking the stories and being a little horrified by them because of the subject matter of the collection. They were well-written and well-told, but I was always a little leery of the theme. Some places in Latin America have something of a reputation for being for being violent places. Designing a story collection around the violence of these countries felt a little gratuitous. For me, the letters to the editor at the beginning - which were not about crime - were the best part of this collection.
brian_the_reader's review
3.0
Another Solid Issue of Mcsweeney's One of the things I love about Mcsweeney's is that you never know what the next installment might bring. This issue was entirely made up of crime stories by latin american authors. As always with Mcsweeney's, the quality of the writing was high, the editing was spot on, and, for this volume, the translations were terrific. Several of the stories in the first half of the issue echoed very similar themes and situations. That in itself was an interesting window into other cultures. But, for me, it was the penultimate story that was worth the price of admission. "So Much Water So Far From Home" at times bordered on the sublime. A few stories fell flat, but none were bad. Looking forward to the next issue.
bgg616's review
4.0
This is a collection of 'crime' stories from several Latin American countries. Few if any of the authors will be familiar to American readers, although a couple have novels translated into English (e.g. Alejandro Zambra). In several stories, it was hard to figure out what the crime was as the entire story was set in a world of crime. Sometimes there was no crime until the very end of the story. Two or more were set in the world of transexual prostitutes, though they were labeled transvestites. This perhaps is a result of translation or may reflect different understandings of the terms in the countries in which the stories were set. My favorite story by Carol Bensimon 'Horses in the Smoke' is set in Porto Alegre, the city I lived in Southern Brazil in 1999. There is no crime, except the beating of a protestor by two skinheads he confuses for secret police. In another story, set in Honduras, '1986', the rebellious son of a rich family is sent to a mental health center that is supposed to use alternative therapies. It is a fraud perpetrated by an American, where inmates are tortured and even starved. The crime/mystery genre is fairly new in Latin America. Most of these writers are young novelists, not mystery or crime writers. The collection gives a sense of the lawlessness that is too common in many Latin American countries. The stories are uniformly dark - no cozy mysteries here. That's fine with me as I am not a lover of what I call the "Agatha Christie" style of 'oh my, there's a body in the garden - how inconvenient'.
shawntowner's review
3.0
Like most short fiction collections, and McSweeney's in particular, this is a hit or miss affair. I thought the first half dozen or so stories were really interesting and engaging, but the quality fell off after that.
forkdora's review
3.0
I was so excited to read this installment of McSweeney’s Quarterly that I stole it right off my sister’s shelf and flew it 2,500 miles away to my own abode. I paid no heed to her relentless begging and pleading to “Don’t take my book! I haven’t read it yet!” I had visited her a few months before when she had shown off her new purchase to me. “Can I take it?” I asked her then. She sang her unyielding tune of “No, I haven’t read it!” That time I listened to her, but silently I vowed that I would be back and that book would be mine.
Finally the day came and I saw it sitting on her shelf, untouched for months, piled beneath a dozen other books. I knew what I had to do. I stealthily slid over to the bookshelf to slip the book out. But the damn book was not easily dislodged. I took apart the book stack, throwing novels this way and that as I frantically tried to get to the bottom of the pile. Needless to say, I was found out. “You aren’t!” the sister cried. “I am!” I yelled, stomping my socked foot on the ground to signal there would be no further discussion. As I hid the book in the bottom of my traveling bag (just in case she tried to pull a fast one) I smiled at my thievery and how it was the perfect way to begin reading this particular book, a book all about crime.
Instead of summarizing the book myself, I’m going to insert a quote from the introduction that says everything I would like to say, but better and in a more concise fashion. “This issue of McSweeney’s sprang from a desire to bring together a collection of stories that would offer a comprehensive sample of new Latin American fiction. To tie it all together, we selected a single target — thirteen writers from ten different countries were asked to write a contemporary crime story set in their home country.”
I thought, “This is going to be magic!” I should know by now never to go into a book with too high of hopes, because I will inevitably be let down. That sounds harsher than I want it to. It was a good collection of stories, some better than others. Although all the stories were hugely different there were a few reoccurring themes that popped: transvestites and police corruption. There was also one commonality between them all: the complete lack of magical realism (which I was forewarned about in the introduction, but a girl can have dreams).
I think my overall problem with the collection is that the focus was too narrow. It started to get dull after the third or fourth story. I’d like to see what the authors would have done had they been given free rein. To sum up, I do think the collection is worth reading, but I would do so a story at a time instead of straight through.
www.harperreview.com
Finally the day came and I saw it sitting on her shelf, untouched for months, piled beneath a dozen other books. I knew what I had to do. I stealthily slid over to the bookshelf to slip the book out. But the damn book was not easily dislodged. I took apart the book stack, throwing novels this way and that as I frantically tried to get to the bottom of the pile. Needless to say, I was found out. “You aren’t!” the sister cried. “I am!” I yelled, stomping my socked foot on the ground to signal there would be no further discussion. As I hid the book in the bottom of my traveling bag (just in case she tried to pull a fast one) I smiled at my thievery and how it was the perfect way to begin reading this particular book, a book all about crime.
Instead of summarizing the book myself, I’m going to insert a quote from the introduction that says everything I would like to say, but better and in a more concise fashion. “This issue of McSweeney’s sprang from a desire to bring together a collection of stories that would offer a comprehensive sample of new Latin American fiction. To tie it all together, we selected a single target — thirteen writers from ten different countries were asked to write a contemporary crime story set in their home country.”
I thought, “This is going to be magic!” I should know by now never to go into a book with too high of hopes, because I will inevitably be let down. That sounds harsher than I want it to. It was a good collection of stories, some better than others. Although all the stories were hugely different there were a few reoccurring themes that popped: transvestites and police corruption. There was also one commonality between them all: the complete lack of magical realism (which I was forewarned about in the introduction, but a girl can have dreams).
I think my overall problem with the collection is that the focus was too narrow. It started to get dull after the third or fourth story. I’d like to see what the authors would have done had they been given free rein. To sum up, I do think the collection is worth reading, but I would do so a story at a time instead of straight through.
www.harperreview.com
jason461's review
3.0
A disappointing issue. A few great stories, but several feel phoned-in. Also, only two women? Come on.
donutcome4me's review
4.0
As any anthology a bit of a mixed bag but the overal experience left me wanting more.
joshhornbeck's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
FIRST THOUGHTS:
Fantastic collection of Latin American crime fiction - the term interpreted quite broadly - that is funny, sad, horrifying, shocking, and beautiful. A great mix of stories and styles, a great mix of themes and ideas, this was a really fantastic collection.
Fantastic collection of Latin American crime fiction - the term interpreted quite broadly - that is funny, sad, horrifying, shocking, and beautiful. A great mix of stories and styles, a great mix of themes and ideas, this was a really fantastic collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality
emilyinherhead's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I liked some of these crime stories more than others, but overall this is a pretty solid collection. The theme was a good one and it was interesting to see how all the different contributors interpreted it. I definitely found a few new authors to look up and read more from!