Staff Pick
Guadalajara is a strong, inventive collection of short stories from Catalan journalist and fiction writer Quim Monzó. Of the 14 stories featured in Guadalajara, there is not a single one lacking in intrigue, imagination, or charm. Monzó's prose is alluring enough, but it is the quality of his overall storytelling that allows this work its radiance. While nearly all of the stories tend to be rather brief affairs, Monzó manages to infuse them with an enduring, arousing effect. The range of subjects and themes in Guadalajara's stories is impressive, demonstrating not only Monzó's evident talent working within the form but also the deceptive ease with which he is able to craft an inherently interesting tale.
Of particular note are the four stories in the collection's second section, each of which reimagines a classic tale in a particularly clever and distinctive way (Ulysses/Odysseus and the Trojan Horse, William Tell, Kafka's Gregor Samsa, and Robin Hood). Other stories in Guadalajara that stand out within this veritably accomplished collection are "Family Life," "Life Is So Short," "Strategies," and "The Lives of the Prophets." The fourth of his books to be translated into English, Guadalajara is a fine collection of short stories that ably exemplifies Quim Monzó's ample literary ability. Recommended By Jeremy G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
All the heroes of this collectionUlysses and his minions trapped in the Trojan horse; the man who cannot escape his house; Gregor the cockroach, who wakes one day to discover he has become a human teenagerare faced with a world that is always changing, where time and space move in circles, where language has become meaningless.
Review
"Though one of the pitfalls of existential or absurdist literature is the sacrifice of "heart" and emotion for "ideas" and philosophy, Monzó, in small, masterful strokes, gives his stories a full-bodied existence."Armando Celayo,
World Literature Today"In tidy prose, Monzó embarks on pleasant narratives that swiftly prickle the hair on the back of the reader's neck ... This collection possesses moments of delicious absurdity and bracing, dark irony.."Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
"A gifted writer, he draws well on the rich tradition of Spanish surrealism . . . to sustain the lyrical, visionary quality of his imagination."--New York Times
All the heroes of this story collection--the boy who refuses to follow the family tradition of having his ring finger cut off; the man who cannot escape his house, no matter what he tries; Robin Hood stealing so much from the rich that he ruins the rich and makes the poor wealthy; Gregor the cockroach, who wakes one day to discover he has become a human teenager; the prophet who can't remember any of the prophecies that have been revealed to him; Ulysses and his minions trapped in the Trojan horse--are faced with a world that is always changing, where time and space move in circles, where language has become meaningless. Their stories are mazes from which they can't escape.
The simultaneously dark, grotesque, and funny Guadalajara reveals Quim Monzo at his acerbic and witty best.
Quim Monzo was born in Barcelona in 1952. He has been awarded the National Award, the City of Barcelona Award, the Prudenci Bertrana Award, the El Temps Award, the Lletra d'Or Prize for the best book of the year, and the Catalan Writers' Award; he has been awarded Serra d'Ormagazine's prestigious Critics' Award four times. He has also translated numerous authors into Catalan, including Truman Capote, J.D. Salinger, and Ernest Hemingway.
Peter Bush is a renowned translator from Catalan, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. He was awarded the Valle-Inclan Literary Translation Prize for his translation of Juan Goytisolo's The Marx Family Saga.
Synopsis
Dark, funny story collection from Catalan's greatest contemporary writer.
About the Author
Quim Monzó is considered to be the greatest Catalan writer of his generation. He has received numerous awards, including
Serra d'Or magazine's prestigious Critics' Award four times. He has also translated numerous authors into Catalan, including Truman Capote and J. D. Salinger.
Peter Bush is a renowned translator from Catalan, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. He was awarded the Valle-Inclán Literary Translation Prize for his translation of Juan Goytisolo's The Marx Family Saga.