I'm reading this author for the first time (Of Love and Other Demons) and am just blown away by how much he accomplishes in the first few paragraphs of the first chapter. In a scant <1000k words, he vividly establishes setting to the point where I feel like I can sense and smell things, introduces several fascinating characters, introduces a couple of super intriguing scenarios, and probably more I'm leaving out.
Also…for a book about an adult priest falling in love with a neglected 12 yr old girl he's been sent to exorcise, it's really unexpectedly funny.
This paragraph made belly laugh for like 30 seconds:
It was the end. Sagunta stripped off her sheets, smeared herself with Indian ointments, and rubbed her body against the body of the naked girl. She fought back with her hands and feet despite her extreme weakness, and Sagunta subdued her by force. Bernarda heard their demented screams from her room. She ran to see what was going on and found Sierva María kicking in a rage on the floor, and Sagunta on top of her, wrapped in the copper flood of the girl’s hair and bellowing the prayer of Saint Hubert. She whipped them both with the clews of her hammock. First on the floor, where they huddled against the surprise attack, and then pursuing them from corner to corner until she was out of breath.
(for those who haven't read this yet, you have to know a little more about Bernarda to fully appreciate the comic nature of this description. In a nutshell, she's the girl's mom, and literally all she does is lie around all day taking laxatives, shitting her brains out, farting, and sometimes walking around naked.)
This little section, too:
She did not reply. They asked her whether she knew Spanish, and it was as if they were talking to a corpse.
“She’s a deaf-mute,” said the younger novice.
“Or German,” said the other.
And this, when she's first taken to the convent and the Abbess there sees this colorful hat that her dad stuck on her head before dropping her off:
“A real little marquise with the hat of a slut,” she said. “Satan knows what he is doing.”
A SLUT'S HAT. Wow. Close-up on my Ann Perkins confused face when Leslie asks, "What about a sexy hat?"
Anyway, this book is great so far. There is A LOT going on here, most of it absurd and also gross. And then everyone once in a while he'll drop a line so poignant and raw that I have to stop and reread it several times.
by blumpkinspicecoffee
3 Comments
I haven’t read that one, it’s on my list, but after having read 100 Years of Solitude, I can say that as a writer, I learned how to say so much with so little.
His writing style is so inspiring!
He is a master.
I find myself asking the same question over and over when reading the greats. My wife even knows what I’m muttering about.
100 years was my only exposure to this author, thanks for the recommendation