Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories (Spanish: Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego) is a short story collection by Mariana Enriquez, published in 2016 by the Editorial Anagrama.[1] Originally published in Spanish, it was translated into English by Megan McDowell in 2017.[2] The work has 12 stories framed in the horror genre, in which Enríquez explores social issues such as depression, poverty,[3] eating disorders,[4] inequality and gender violence.[5][6] The name of the work is taken from the album Things We Lost in the Fire, released in 2001 by the American band Low, of which Enríquez is a fan.[7]
![]() First edition | |
Author | Mariana Enriquez |
---|---|
Original title | Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego |
Translator | Megan McDowell |
Language | Spanish |
Genre | Short Stories |
Publisher | Anagrama |
Publication date | 2016 |
Publication place | Argentina |
Published in English | 2017 |
Media type | Hardcover |
Pages | 208 |
ISBN | 978-0451495112 |
"The Intoxicated Years" was published in Granta.[8] "Spiderweb" appeared in The New Yorker.[9]
Contents
editStory |
---|
"The Dirty Kid" |
"The Inn" |
"The Intoxicated Years" |
"Adela's House" |
"An Invocation of the Big-Eared Runt" |
"Spiderweb" |
"End of Term" |
"No Flesh Over Our Bones" |
"The Neighbor's Courtyard" |
"Under the Black Water" |
"Green Red Orange" |
"Things We Lost in the Fire" |
Literary significance and reception
editReviews of the collection highlighted Enriquez's dark and haunting style. A review in The Guardian called the collection "gruesome, violent, upsetting – and bright with brilliance."[10] Jennifer Szalai, writing in The New York Times, wrote "[Enriquez] is after a truth more profound, and more disturbing, than whatever the strict dictates of realism will allow."[11]
In a review in Vanity Fair, Sloane Crosley was impressed by Enriquez's skill at using supernatural stories to explore Argentina's political turmoil: "In her hands, the country’s inequality, beauty, and corruption tangle together to become a manifestation of our own darkest thoughts and fears."[12]
References
edit- ^ ""No quiero que me saquen las pesadillas" | Babelia | EL PAÍS". 2017-10-07. Archived from the original on 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Quién es Mariana Enriquez, la mayor exponente de la literatura de terror en la Argentina". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ ""Todos mis textos están pensados como una pregunta sobre el poder"". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "Mariana Enriquez gana el premio Ciutat de Barcelona con su último libro de cuentos". 2018-08-10. Archived from the original on 2018-08-10. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "Mariana Enríquez, el terror en lo cotidiano". 2017-04-29. Archived from the original on 2017-04-29. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "Mariana Enriquez: "Me interesa sacar el terror de los lugares comunes" - Télam - Agencia Nacional de Noticias". 2016-05-17. Archived from the original on 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "The Intoxicated Years". Granta Magazine. 2015-10-05. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ Enriquez, Mariana (2016-12-12). "Spiderweb". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ Self, John (2018-11-02). "Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez review – gruesome short stories". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ Szalai, Jennifer (2017-03-03). "Argentine Fiction". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Brooding Books for the Dark Days of Winter". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2019-08-01.