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A review by pineconek
The Iliac Crest by Cristina Rivera Garza
3.0
I both really enjoyed this and didn't quite get it.
This is a fever dream of a novella. Unreliable narrators, only occasionally named characters, secret languages, bodies taken apart or incapacitated (but as abstraction - no gore)... and gorgeous writing.
I wish I had come to this novel with the appropriate background knowledge. This novella is in conversation with the works of Amparo Davila, an author I am entirely unfamiliar with. Amparo Davila is the major named character (sometimes characters, plural) in this book and so many references went over my head. While the work can stand alone, don't make my mistake and miss out on the richness of references to mexican literature.
Stylistically, the writing reminded me a lot of Anais Nin, Milan Kundera, and even the tone of the Blind Owl. If this tone of "things are largely happening inside the character's heads but also people are having weird romantic relationships where something seems a little off" is up your alley, you'll enjoy this as well.
I feel like my first reading didn't do this justice - I'll likely want to revisit this in a few years. Settling for a harsh 3.5 stars rounded down for now.
Recommended if you like philosophical fiction where nothing happens, have a knowledge of mexican literature / the works of Amparo Davila, and are interested in the deconstruction of bodies.
This is a fever dream of a novella. Unreliable narrators, only occasionally named characters, secret languages, bodies taken apart or incapacitated (but as abstraction - no gore)... and gorgeous writing.
I wish I had come to this novel with the appropriate background knowledge. This novella is in conversation with the works of Amparo Davila, an author I am entirely unfamiliar with. Amparo Davila is the major named character (sometimes characters, plural) in this book and so many references went over my head. While the work can stand alone, don't make my mistake and miss out on the richness of references to mexican literature.
Stylistically, the writing reminded me a lot of Anais Nin, Milan Kundera, and even the tone of the Blind Owl. If this tone of "things are largely happening inside the character's heads but also people are having weird romantic relationships where something seems a little off" is up your alley, you'll enjoy this as well.
I feel like my first reading didn't do this justice - I'll likely want to revisit this in a few years. Settling for a harsh 3.5 stars rounded down for now.
Recommended if you like philosophical fiction where nothing happens, have a knowledge of mexican literature / the works of Amparo Davila, and are interested in the deconstruction of bodies.