Things We Lost in the Fire (story collection)

Things We Lost in the Fire
First edition
AuthorMariana Enriquez
Original titleLas cosas que perdimos en el fuego
TranslatorMegan McDowell
LanguageSpanish
GenreShort Stories
PublisherAnagrama
Publication date
2016
Publication placeArgentina
Published in English
2017
Media typeHardcover
Pages208
ISBN978-0451495112

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]

"The Intoxicated Years" was published in Granta.[8] "Spiderweb" appeared in The New Yorker.[9]

Contents

Story
"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

Reviews 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

  1. ^ ""No quiero que me saquen las pesadillas" | Babelia | EL PAÍS". 7 October 2017. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Quién es Mariana Enriquez, la mayor exponente de la literatura de terror en la Argentina". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  4. ^ ""Todos mis textos están pensados como una pregunta sobre el poder"". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Mariana Enriquez gana el premio Ciutat de Barcelona con su último libro de cuentos". 10 August 2018. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Mariana Enríquez, el terror en lo cotidiano". 29 April 2017. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Mariana Enriquez: "Me interesa sacar el terror de los lugares comunes" - Télam - Agencia Nacional de Noticias". 17 May 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  8. ^ "The Intoxicated Years". Granta Magazine. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  9. ^ Enriquez, Mariana (12 December 2016). "Spiderweb". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  10. ^ Self, John (2 November 2018). "Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez review – gruesome short stories". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  11. ^ Szalai, Jennifer (3 March 2017). "Argentine Fiction". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Brooding Books for the Dark Days of Winter". Vanity Fair. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2019.