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A review by michaelkurt
Ghosts by César Aira
5.0
"Ghosts" is a wonderful piece of magic realism. It has a hint of existentialism, but that may just be because I am always looking out for familiar existentialist themes!
The writing is very specific for this short novel. It plays with how people speak to each other by grouping dialogue more by theme and not so much by who is talking. For example, if someone is telling the main character about her children Aira will group the entire conversation (from both sides) into one long paragraph. This, to me, gives certain subjects more importance than others because you tend to get lost in a conversation when reading a larger paragraph and the small paragraphs (or one sentence paragraphs) stick out as important.
The introductory description is all one paragraph that lasts 7(ish) pages and describes the building - in which the entire story takes place - and its residents / construction workers. This gives the characters the same importance as the building itself - which is an important theme for the novel.
This was a great introduction to magic realism because the magical elements are minimal but very important to how the story progresses.
The writing is very specific for this short novel. It plays with how people speak to each other by grouping dialogue more by theme and not so much by who is talking. For example, if someone is telling the main character about her children Aira will group the entire conversation (from both sides) into one long paragraph. This, to me, gives certain subjects more importance than others because you tend to get lost in a conversation when reading a larger paragraph and the small paragraphs (or one sentence paragraphs) stick out as important.
The introductory description is all one paragraph that lasts 7(ish) pages and describes the building - in which the entire story takes place - and its residents / construction workers. This gives the characters the same importance as the building itself - which is an important theme for the novel.
This was a great introduction to magic realism because the magical elements are minimal but very important to how the story progresses.