Daniel del Real
12-Nov-2009, 22:00
http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/i/clubhouse/35/212.png Felisberto Hern?ndez,
Las Hortensias ****0+
Casa Inundada *****+
El Caballo Perdido ****0
Don't know if I can call call them nouvelles or just very long short stories (Las Hortensias being the longest with almost 70 pages in my edition). I'd still consider them as short stories since there are just a few characters in which the stories are based and most of the rest are incidental comingo from dreams, memories and turn to the past.
However I have to say that Casa Inundada is one of the best short stories I've ever read. Period. The story is the following:
A young writer is hired by a woman, who lives in a very secluded house, away from all civilization. The house has been flooded on purpose with an advanced irrigation system that allows the interior of the house to be like a huge fountain. A lot of things float on rubber tires and the water flows in the house without interruption. This is an amazing comparison that goes along with the memory of the lady, Do?a Margarita, who we later found built this peculiar house as a mausoleum for a beloved person of her, saying the water is equal everywhere and that the water flowing in the house is always talking to her like the memories of ther life, happening again and again. At the same time the way Felisberto is telling us the story, goes very smooth and humid, creating a very vivid and profound atmosphere. An impeccable technique he uses to recreate in one of his best ways one of his most recurrent topic, memory and nostalgia.
Las Hortensias is a very peculiar history of a couple living in a huge black house surrounded by constant noises that they don't exactly know where they come from. The Man, becomes obsessed with mannequin-like dolls, he collects them to represent acts in his own house with them. He reaches the point that he requests Flavio, the man who creates the dolls, to create one as similar as possible to his wife. The dolls have an advanced sistem with warm water inside that can make you feel they are alive. The doll is delivered and he names it Hortensia. Then he starts feeling that the dolls contains all the artistique essence that her wife doesn't have and start prefering it and spending most of the time with the doll. A very strange and tricky way of life establishes and the author tells us the eccentricities of this unique couple who, after all, try to manage the situation incorporating the different bu truthful kind of love they have for each other.
This two stories, are IMO the best and more essential work by Felisberto Hern?ndez. I you plan to read him, I'd recommend you go directly to them and start enjoying this marvelous author.
Las Hortensias ****0+
Casa Inundada *****+
El Caballo Perdido ****0
Don't know if I can call call them nouvelles or just very long short stories (Las Hortensias being the longest with almost 70 pages in my edition). I'd still consider them as short stories since there are just a few characters in which the stories are based and most of the rest are incidental comingo from dreams, memories and turn to the past.
However I have to say that Casa Inundada is one of the best short stories I've ever read. Period. The story is the following:
A young writer is hired by a woman, who lives in a very secluded house, away from all civilization. The house has been flooded on purpose with an advanced irrigation system that allows the interior of the house to be like a huge fountain. A lot of things float on rubber tires and the water flows in the house without interruption. This is an amazing comparison that goes along with the memory of the lady, Do?a Margarita, who we later found built this peculiar house as a mausoleum for a beloved person of her, saying the water is equal everywhere and that the water flowing in the house is always talking to her like the memories of ther life, happening again and again. At the same time the way Felisberto is telling us the story, goes very smooth and humid, creating a very vivid and profound atmosphere. An impeccable technique he uses to recreate in one of his best ways one of his most recurrent topic, memory and nostalgia.
Las Hortensias is a very peculiar history of a couple living in a huge black house surrounded by constant noises that they don't exactly know where they come from. The Man, becomes obsessed with mannequin-like dolls, he collects them to represent acts in his own house with them. He reaches the point that he requests Flavio, the man who creates the dolls, to create one as similar as possible to his wife. The dolls have an advanced sistem with warm water inside that can make you feel they are alive. The doll is delivered and he names it Hortensia. Then he starts feeling that the dolls contains all the artistique essence that her wife doesn't have and start prefering it and spending most of the time with the doll. A very strange and tricky way of life establishes and the author tells us the eccentricities of this unique couple who, after all, try to manage the situation incorporating the different bu truthful kind of love they have for each other.
This two stories, are IMO the best and more essential work by Felisberto Hern?ndez. I you plan to read him, I'd recommend you go directly to them and start enjoying this marvelous author.