Arrastrar esa sombra. (Drag That Shadow)
Reviewed by Bruce Jensen, South Texas Coll. Lib., McAllen, TX -- Críticas, 7/15/2008
Monge, Emiliano.
Mexico: Sexto Piso. 2008. 124p. ISBN 978-84-96867-22-2. pap. $22.95. SHORT STORIES
This debut collection by a 30-year-old Mexico City native has eight hermetic stories that make for unsettling, often painful reading. Monge’s tightly crafted fiction does not try to seduce. He more often challenges the reader to inhabit worlds that can be absurd, deliberately irritating, even gruesome. Landscapes where the movements of amputees and ravenous insects are described in excruciating detail; a house occupied by corpses; the flat of a couple whose wrenching, tearful, and unexplained breakup is seemingly nullified as soon as it occurs—such scenes form the consistent, disciplined backdrop of Arrastrar esa sombra. Monge’s detached style sets and maintains the tone with assurance. Situations that would ordinarily provoke panic are treated as less than remarkable. The strange inversion of what stands for everyday reality is carried off skillfully by the young author who does not flinch while guiding us through his peculiar hall of mirrors. Characters, almost all without names, exhibit absurd foibles and obsessions: they show faulty memories, distracting preoccupation with minutiae, and they spend precious little time with dialog. Silences dominate the stories, and the characters turn inward, confined. Repetition ensnares them; they evoke the anguish and dread that Monge is plainly betting his readers have felt, caught as if on a treadmill with no escape. Certainly the collection is not for everyone, but those with the patience to hike startling terrain may find an interesting voice in Monge. Recommended for libraries and bookstores that serve readers of challenging fiction.
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