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A review by banksynb
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez
dark
tense
3.5
3.5/5 My favourite stories were:
- Adela’s House
- An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
- Things We Lost in the Fire
Admittedly, I am not one to read short stories so when I do dive into a collection, I’m often left wondering if I have the ability to recognize the literary devices at work and whether I am fully appreciating what the author is trying to achieve.
There is no doubt that the version of Argentina that Enriquez has painted is vividly, and unsettlingly, brought to life in these pages. There is definitely a tension I felt turning each page, and that atmosphere, that feeling that you are walking a fine line between the familiar and the uncanny or outright macabre. It did feel appropriate to the tone of the stories to feel compelled to keep reading.
I was particularly drawn in by the prevailing theme of how women experience the world, how they navigate their relationships with each other, with their partners, their communities, and with the powers that be, and the abuse or violence enacted against them (and how they respond to that mistreatment).
However, many of the stories felt truncated to me. Just as I felt invested, the story would end. Or, the story would feel sparse, like I was missing the details that would really round it out and make it click for me. On one hand, for a collection of horror stories, it did read almost how ghost stories would be told around the fire (like a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark but for adults). However, I was often left wanting more. Maybe this is just the short story format I am not used to reading. Maybe it would be remedied by reading the stories in their original Spanish (definitely do read the note from the translator though - it definitely added an extra layer for me). In the end, I’d still recommend this collection and would be interested in reading more from Enriquez as well as influences referenced in the note from the translator.
- Adela’s House
- An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt
- Things We Lost in the Fire
Admittedly, I am not one to read short stories so when I do dive into a collection, I’m often left wondering if I have the ability to recognize the literary devices at work and whether I am fully appreciating what the author is trying to achieve.
There is no doubt that the version of Argentina that Enriquez has painted is vividly, and unsettlingly, brought to life in these pages. There is definitely a tension I felt turning each page, and that atmosphere, that feeling that you are walking a fine line between the familiar and the uncanny or outright macabre. It did feel appropriate to the tone of the stories to feel compelled to keep reading.
I was particularly drawn in by the prevailing theme of how women experience the world, how they navigate their relationships with each other, with their partners, their communities, and with the powers that be, and the abuse or violence enacted against them (and how they respond to that mistreatment).
However, many of the stories felt truncated to me. Just as I felt invested, the story would end. Or, the story would feel sparse, like I was missing the details that would really round it out and make it click for me. On one hand, for a collection of horror stories, it did read almost how ghost stories would be told around the fire (like a Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark but for adults). However, I was often left wanting more. Maybe this is just the short story format I am not used to reading. Maybe it would be remedied by reading the stories in their original Spanish (definitely do read the note from the translator though - it definitely added an extra layer for me). In the end, I’d still recommend this collection and would be interested in reading more from Enriquez as well as influences referenced in the note from the translator.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicide, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Gore