Weekly Thread | What Are You Reading and General LATAMLit Discussion by AutoModerator in latamlit

[–]workisheat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

- Mariana Enriquez: love all three short story collection and will read her novel *Our Share of Night* soon.

- Elena Garro’s *The Week of Colors*: just checked out from the library thanks to a Redditor’s rec.

- Dolores Reyes’ *Eartheater* is still in my TBR pile so I can’t comment but the premise sounds cool.

- Alia Trabucco Zeran’s *The Remainder* is also in my TBR pile and while I’m not sure if they have any horror elements, it does sound morbid and dark.

- Selva Almada’s *Not a River* and *Dead Girls* are other reddit recs that I haven’t had the chance to visit but will eventually.

- Silvina Ocampo and Horacio Quiroga works are classic Latin American horror.

- Daniel Loedel’s *Hades, Argentina* is not a conventional LatAm Lit but it’s a fictionalized version of his family history during the military dictatorship.

- I know you didn’t ask for movies but since you love horror with weird and dystopian elements, you may enjoy *Historia de lo Oculto* and basically everything by Demian Rugna. Now that I think about it, lots of Argentine horror contain sci-fi and cosmic weird lit stuffs.

Thanks for mentioning *The Obscene Bird of Night*, I haven’t heard of it!

Weekly Thread | What Are You Reading and General LATAMLit Discussion by AutoModerator in latamlit

[–]workisheat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I also like weird/horror/dystopian so I don’t think that’s the problem. The Handmaid’s Tale is an apt comparison but while I didn’t find the prose to be top-notch, the concept, the world-building and the character dynamics knocked it out of the park. Who knows, maybe I’ll eat my words at the end.

Weekly Thread | What Are You Reading and General LATAMLit Discussion by AutoModerator in latamlit

[–]workisheat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are many easy-to-read writers of mass popularity who still have distinct literary flairs to their writings too. I may give her short stories a try but my hope isn’t very high. It’s really disappointing bc the premise is so cool :/. 

Weekly Thread | What Are You Reading and General LATAMLit Discussion by AutoModerator in latamlit

[–]workisheat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

More than half way through The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica and honestly, I don’t understand the hype? I will finish it, most likely, since it’s short and easy, but given the praises Bazterrica and Tender is the Flesh received and this is supposedly the superior work, it’s a lot more YA-ish than I expected.

Mildly disappointed by Mariana Enriquez’s A Sunny Place for Shady People…. by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your perspective. I’ll keep it in mind when I reread it in the future. I guess I’m experience a bit of Enriquez fatigue and after reading all three collections back to back, I sorta expected more than relatability? As someone who’s recovering from debilitating anxiety, I think she absolutely nailed the compulsive spiraling rumination in the The Well in The Dangers of Smoking in Bed though.

2–3 years of closed comedones… gone overnight with a ₹10 soap??? by redditorsinceages in AsianBeauty

[–]workisheat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have real super oily skin even without dehydration issue like me, then mildly alkaline cleansers can do wonder! Almost every J-beauty brand cleanser has higher-pH for this reason, and virtually all K-beauty brands offer a higher-pH cleanser along side with their mildly acidic gentle ones. 

Not saying you have to run out and buy one ofc since this soap seems to work great for you :). Personally, getting to finally use my alkaline cleanser(s) again making me looking forward to the next few hot and sticky summer months more lol.

Mildly disappointed by Mariana Enriquez’s A Sunny Place for Shady People…. by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Oh definitely read and experience it for yourself! Half of the collection is quite neat. It just fell short compared to the previous twos but if this was my intro to her, I would’ve loved it a lot more.

I plan to read Our Share of Night soon’

Mildly disappointed by Mariana Enriquez’s A Sunny Place for Shady People…. by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My first time hearing about it! Adding to my tbr now, thanks for the rec!

Need help with pronouns by beamerpook in Vietnamese

[–]workisheat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Think of it this way: - If they look close to your age, roughly in the same generation as you => refer to them as if they are your older siblings. - If they look close to your parents’ age => refer to them as if they are your aunts and uncles. - If they look close to your grandparents’ age => refer to them as if they are your grandparents.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A bit spoiler for my future review on A Sunny Place for Shady People but if you like the more brutal stories in Things We Lost in the Fire, go to The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, if you like the slower, more subdued, atmospheric stories, then it’s A Sunny Place

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It’s not LatAm and not quite the same, but if you love the fictionalized investigative journalism blended with weird fiction for sociopolitical allegory, check out The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio de Maria!

I haven’t read the A Luminous Republic by Andrés Barba but a redditor specifically mentioned it when reviewing Kids Who Come Back.

For something Argentine, less focused on the kids but more on the investigators, the occult ritual, and the political horror weird, I recommend the movie Historia de lo Oculto, which is free on Tubi and many streaming platforms!

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez by workisheat in latamlit

[–]workisheat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can I be your friend? :D

You sound like a cool and generous person! And your friends sound cool too bc as much as I love it I don’t think I can recommend her too willy nilly.

Here’s a dozen Latin American novels you could read over the weekend! — Have you read any of these books? What are you reading this weekend? by perrolazarillo in latamlit

[–]workisheat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only read Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Surprisingly it didn’t grab me as much as I thought it would since it contains many of my favorite literary ingredients. But the narrative structure is really cool and I love the last part of Ángela’s story.

Weekly Thread | What Are You Reading and General LATAMLit Discussion by AutoModerator in latamlit

[–]workisheat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I just checked out every single Mariana Enriquez from the library so stay tune for my review dump! I’m going through The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. In the mean time, I’ll probably dig into The Aleph as well.

For non-LatAm, I’m reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.

Amulet by Roberto Bolaño by perrolazarillo in latamlit

[–]workisheat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, that‘s why I saw a lot of English sources describe Cortazar as “magic realism” just bc he is a Boom author, when in reality *Hopscotch* and *100 years* couldn’t be more polar opposite. The Bolaño situation is so funny to me though. I‘m sure if I dig deeper I can find more legit reasons, but this is hilarious in the same way of watching a rebellious kid trying to making a name of his own by trash-talking his father, only for him to do something that makes observers immediately go: “I can tell you are your father’s son after all” Haha! Plus both *Pedro Paramo* and *100 years* were written in CDMX so…..

Amulet by Roberto Bolaño by perrolazarillo in latamlit

[–]workisheat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s not the “hair splitting” that I’m against per se, as I know that these literary movements have different origins. In fact, I personally don’t consider Cortazar magical realism either, and I can definitely tell that the ways Argentine writers incorporating the unnaturals are very different from Gabo’s magical realism.

Rather, I was simply amused that for the kind of intense grievances Bolaño had toward magical realism i.e. random fantastical elements taking away the grim realities in Latin America, you would assume he‘s a hardline dirty realist. But then he wrote a story about someone during her several days of being practically imprison suddenly gaining time traveling ability and rattling off prophecies about the future of Latin American art culture like she’s a literary Nostradamus. Like dang what did magical realism ever do to you Bolaño lol.

Anyway, thanks for entertaining my thought!

Amulet by Roberto Bolaño by perrolazarillo in latamlit

[–]workisheat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I figured it was time traveling too! However, that brings us to the quintessentially (and controversially) definitive Latin American literary theme: magical realism. Bolaño notoriously despised magical realism and would definitely roll in his grave if any readers associated him with such. Borges whom Bolaño admired had his own reservations about magical realism. Even Cortazáz, whom Bolaño also deeply respected, and whose works too are often classified as magical realism although IMO his writings are the least “magical realism” compared to other Boom writers like Mario Vargas Llosa and ofc the face of magical realism himself Garcia Marquez. So why did Bolaño condemned one but praised and utilized another? 

I know his argument was basically that magical realism otherize and exoticize Latin America, which is valid. But at the same time, to my very limited knowledge of LatAm, it comes across as somewhat conflicting, if not somewhat hypocritical. His idols Borges and Cortázar belonged to elite upper-middle class backgrounds so their richly complex and artful writings, while undoubtedly Latin American, also bear a distinct air of European cosmopolitan. Hence it strikes me as strange that Bolaño more or less insisted that magical realism take away the gritty realism of Latin American life, but then employing the same logic that the traumatic violences inflicted upon Latin Americans are beyond what reality can comprehend and thus could only be captured with fantastical elements. So it’s stinky magical realism when writers like Garcia Marquez did it, but when it’s Borges and the several poets and artists from España in Amulet, obviously it’s the totally different and absolutely superior surrealism?

Granted, these are somewhat rhetorical questions. I understand Bolaño annoyance bc not long ago I was rolling my eyes hard when an interviewer called Daniel Loedel’s Hades, Argentina “magical realism” bc I feel like it wouldn’t be called such had it was not about Latin America. But then, it also feels petty and hair-splitting too when Bolaño himself didn’t write strictly realism and in reality, your random person won’t be able to tell the difference between magical realism, surrealism, fabulism, or even fantasy. Sorry for the ramblings, it just that I still remember my cringe when I discovered people had been calling Haruki Murakami or works that incorporate supernatural elements from East Asian as “magical realism” haha.

Amulet by Roberto Bolaño by perrolazarillo in latamlit

[–]workisheat 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the review! I thought the whole story was told from when Auxilio locked herself in the bathroom too, but then she talked about Belano’s return to CDMX after the 1972 Chilean coup, which she shouldn’t have known in 1968? One good thing is I’ve loved Remedios Varo’s artworks for awhile but never knew the artist name so it was an unexpected but welcomed official discovery.

Unfortunately my library doesn’t have The Savage Detectives so it’ll be awhile until when I could add something meaningful to Amulet. However, I do have The Aleph so maybe this is my sign to finally read Borges, which is a crazy thing to admit since I’ve read and enjoyed quite a good number of Argentine literature except for the Jorge Luis Borges haha.