Sol, piedra y sombras: Veinte cuentistas mexicanos de la primera mitad del siglo XX. (Sun, Stone and Shadows: Twenty Great Mexican Short Stories)
Reviewed by María Elena Cruz -- Críticas, 9/1/2008
Hernández, Jorge F., ed.
Mexico/U.S.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. 2008. 240 p. ISBN 978-968-16-8592-8. pap. $22. STORIES
This compilation of 20 short stories by Mexican writers of the first half of the 20th century, is a true literary jewel. The featured texts are as varied in style and subject as Mexico itself and the only common thread is that every single one of these stories is a masterpiece. In Juan José Arreola’s all-time classic "El guardagujas" (“The Switchman”), a man absurdly waits for a train that will never arrive; in "Mi vida con la ola" (“My Life with the Wave”), one of the very few short stories written by Octavio Paz, an ocean wave and a man fall in love and he ends up taking her to Mexico City, where their relationship becomes a tragic story. Lesser known stories such as Elena Garro’s "La culpa es de los tlaxcaltecas" (“People from Tlaxcala are to Blame”), about a woman who appears to have lived a past life during the conquest of the Aztec Empire and is now trapped between present and past, make of this an essential book for anyone interested in getting an excellent sampling of Mexico's literary fiction tradition. Some of the other authors featured are by Carlos Fuentes, Salvador Elizondo, and the great Juan Rulfo; a brief bio of each author is included at the end of the book. The English-language version of this compilation is part of The Big Read program, a governmental initiative that promotes reading; the Spanish-language edition, i.e. the original language in which these stories were written, make it essential for every library and bookstore serving Spanish-language readers.
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