Category Archives: Latin American Literature
January – Sara Gallardo, translated by Frances Riddle
(reviewed by JD Jung) January (Enero) first published in Spanish in 1958, follows the daily life and thoughts of sixteen-year-old Nefer, who finds she is pregnant after a rape. Nefer works on the family farm, and lives in the shadow … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Latin American Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, Skinny reads
Tagged abortion, Argentina, class, culture, rape
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Trash – Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny, (translated by JD Pluecker)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Who is the person who makes a life out of our leftovers? And, more specifically, what makes us who we are?” Griselda, a researcher, studies those who inhabit the Juárez city dump. She balances that … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature
Tagged aging, dementia, family dysfunction, gender, love, Mexican literature, transgender, violence
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The Words That Remain – Stênio Gardel (Translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “The river calmly flowed and cried its eternal murmur. Raimundo got up and looked at the empty sky. The shadows had taken over the blue as well. The stars must have fallen and become the … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature, World Literature
Tagged Brazil, LGBTQ, society
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The Lisbon Syndrome – Eduardo Sánchez Rugeles (Translated from the Spanish by Paul Filev)
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “I feel a deep regret for encouraging them to dream, for reinforcing illusions that will lead nowhere, because they’re unattainable, because this county is finished. It stopped existing a long time ago. We are the … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration, Latin American Literature, World Issues, World Literature
Tagged corruption, Lisbon, political activism, Portugal, Venezuela
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Last Words on Earth – Javier Serena, Translated from the Spanish by Katie Whittemore
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “The paradox of letters made weapons, words made bayonets with which to pierce the page and exact revenge against my own destiny, which I had judged—until then—to be so harsh.” Poet and writer Ricardo Funes … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature, World Literature
Tagged Mexico City, negacionismo, Peru, poetry, Roberto Bolaño, Spain
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Nine Moons – Gabriela Wiener, Jessica Powell (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Europe is the best place for a Latin American to starve to death and drink good wine.” Gabriela Wiener and her husband originally travelled from Peru to Barcelona on student visas. However, when these two journalists … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Latin American Literature
Tagged childbirth, immigration, pregnancy
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The Last Twist of the Knife – João Almino (Author), Elizabeth Lowe (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Pieces of the past arrive that either frighten me or invite me to a reunion. It’s what I see, what I hear. The rest I imagine…” A seventy-year-old lawyer decides to abandon his current life in … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature, Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads, World Literature
Tagged Brazil, Crime, jealousy, revenge, translated world literature
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It Is Wood, It Is Stone – Gabriella Burnham
(reviewed by JD Jung) “I don’t even think I want to flee anymore. I thought that was what I wanted, but I think more so I wanted to disappear. I wanted to become so unburdened that I would actually become … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature, Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged Brazil, class, romance. women's fiction
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