Cuentos Reunidos/compiled Stories

Criticas

Born in Ukraine, Lispector (1920-77) moved to Brazil when she was only two months old, eventually becoming a premier figure in that country's literary avant-garde. Among her celebrated oeuvre, which includes short stories, novels, essays, and poetry, Cerca del corazon salvaje (Close to the Wild Heart, Siruela, 2002) and La hora de la estrella (The Hour of the Star, Siruela, 1989) stand out. Lispector called her writing style a "serene hallucination," and others have described it in similarly elusive terms, owing to her ability to grasp human ambivalence with literary exactitude. This does not mean that her lyrical endeavors lack narrative power. On the contrary, Lispector achieves linguistic conquerings with everyday words and effortless intimacy, and a certain splendor, in finely focused stories about real people. For this reason, she has been compared with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf, and declared an independent island in the stream of Brazilian modernism. This collection of short stories, which includes some of her finest work ever from La legion extranjera (The Foreign Legion, Monte Avila, 1971) and Lazos de familia (Family Ties, Montesinos, 1999), shows this abundantly. With almost palpable introspection, a kiss, a chicken, a room, or a pair of glasses becomes an immediate excuse to explore the complexities of guilt, anguish, love, time, and memory. This indispensable collection of stories by an essential contributor to Brazilian literature is highly recommended for libraries and bookstores.
—Gustavo Pesoa, New York City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.