‘La noche navegable’ and ‘La casa pierde’ by Juan Villoro
These titles are not available in English (yet?).
This might be a case in which I like the author himself more than his work. Juan Villoro is a Mexican writer that has pretty much done it all: short stories, novels, essays, non-fiction and theater plays. In addition, he often gives talks to the general public about topics as varied as the literature during the Mexican Revolution, the works of Gabriel García Márquez, and the history of Mexico City. I think he is an excellent speaker; he is like the teacher we all wished we would have had, one that is not only passionate about that which he talks about, but who is clear and engaging. Since I had never read any of his books, I decided to start with two of his short story collections.
‘La noche navegable’ was Villoro’s first book, published in 1980 when the author was 24 years old. These stories portray the unique imagination of childhood, romantic relationships that start to become more complex, and those first trips abroad in which we aim to find meaning and connection. The stories feel sincere. This is not someone pretending to be older, but rather a young writer talking about what is on his mind. His writing is careful and enjoyable since then. My favorite story was definitely ‘Yambalalón y sus siete perros’, a moving tale about the inner world of a child.
The second collection I read, ‘La casa pierde’, was published in 1999. As one would assume, the 19-year gap between this and ‘La noche navegable’ provides the introduction of new topics and perspectives. The stories now include nostalgia, infidelity, and tragedy, and we might say that there is more at stake. However, the prevalent feeling the protagonists share is loneliness. There are some aspects that reappear such as the love triangle — for example, I think ‘El domingo de canela’ could be the grown-up version of ‘Huellas de caracol’ — and like soccer, about which the author writes passionately in both collections. In general, I enjoyed this collection more than the first one and I had several favorites: ‘Campeón ligero’ the tragic story of a friendship; ‘Coyote’ for its desolate and suffocating description of the Mexican desert; and ‘Corrección’ an existential tale set in the literary world.
Something I did not enjoy and noticed a lot since it would even take me out of the stories, were the women characters, mainly those from ‘La casa pierde’. They all seemed to me to be the same enigmatic and erratic character, several of them true to the style of a femme fatale, and even though this is a common literary resource, I tend to find it old-fashioned and uninteresting. I suppose that the fact that this collection was written in the 90s is a factor.
Both collections were enjoyable reads, however, I found only a few stories to be memorable. In the end, reading is also a matter of personal taste. I plan to read more by Juan Villoro, but at this moment I look forward to his non-fiction rather than his fiction.
Have you read these short story collections? Do you recommend any other books by Juan Villoro? Tell me in the comments.
This review was originally published in Spanish at Cuaderno Reciclado.
