I blame Francesc Miralles (the author of Wabi-Sabi) whose praise graces the cover of this slim volume of short stories for the fact that I read it in the first place. It took me a couple of months. No, this is not difficult reading per se, but I find all the stories here at least mildly disturbing. So I took breaks because I wanted to sleep some nights. And I am still not sure what to make of it.
The first (Rob y el conserje) and the last (Los cimientos frágiles) bookend the rest of the stories into some sort of conceptual whole although do not work on their own. El ojo y las vidas extintas, Los almacenes Tonyhebe and Su otro padre seem to be three rather inventive variations on the same theme; once you read one, you can predict how the others will end. Un plato demasiado frío almost made me sick. The title story and especially Un sobre para Rández are simply brilliant.
I spy many influences of, and references to, other masters of short fiction, from Borges and García Márquez to Bukowski and Nabokov, however what this collection reminds me most is Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected.
Strangely enough, I can’t find a table of contents anywhere in the book. So I made it myself.
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El desorden de los números cardinales
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