What Da Cover Says: The novel tells the story of two friends, Enero and El Negro, who take Tilo, the teenage son of Eusebio – their recently deceased friend – fishing to the Paraná River. While they drink and cook and talk and dance, they try to overcome the ghosts of their past and those of the present: their mood altered by wine and torpor. This intimate, peculiar moment connecting the lives of these three men also links them to the lives of the local inhabitants of this watery universe that runs by its own laws. There are losses, premature deaths… But there is also the stubborn vitality of nature: a bush covered with ancient trees, animals, birds; the river bearing life in its entrails, the people born and raised in this landscape which they protect tooth and nail against intruders. This story, which flows like water, talks about the love between friends, the love of a mother for her daughters, and the love of the islanders for their river and everything that lives in it. This masterful novel reveals once again Selva Almada’s unique voice and extraordinary sensitivity, allowing its characters to shine and express in action what the depths of their souls harbour.
What I Says: Well, this was an excellent read, a book that truly gets under your skin. The title says Not a River but that is exactly what this feels like, it is gentle, slowly meandering along making you feel relaxed and comfy, there are the odd warning signs that something is going on here and before you know it the river has spun you around and has claimed another reader. The writing is unusual, the dialogue has been stripped down to just the odd words between characters, no long speeches here, everything else has also been stripped right back too, each scene and lack of chapter borders makes this feel like one piece of prose…it is really rather refreshing, you don’t realise you need a book like this until you have finished it.
There were odd moments in the story that had me scratching my head, the warning signs I mentioned before, little things like a throwaway phrase “smooth sheets” did I just read that right? Was it an error in translation? Head is scratched and reader moves on…then boom! one short line and all those “errors” come together and it was so shocking, rest of the book was read in awe.
Charco press are forever putting out amazing translations and this book was so unique that Annie McDermott had to include a small afterword to explain her process on translating a book like this. Do not skip this just cos you have finished the story, she explains her technique and it is so very important the extra steps she takes to get the translation perfected, something A.I. can never do. Massive thanks to McDermott for the extra work she put in because without that this reader never would have had the chance to read this…let alone enjoy it as much as I did.
Thanks to Charco Press for sending me out this copy, highly recommended and you can purchase direct from publisher HERE:
Gnome Appreciation Society 