La noche caníbal. (The Cannibal Night)
Reviewed by Ana Katherine Bonfante, Berwyn, IL -- Críticas, 9/15/2008
Boone, Luis Jorge
Mexico/U.S.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. 2008. 98p. ISBN 978-968-16-8220-0. pap. $11.99. STORIES
Boone is a Mexican national whose works include stories, poetry, and essays, among them Legión (2003) and Galería de armas rotas (2004). In 2005, he received Mexico’s national short story award, Inés Arredondo, and in 2007 the national award for young poets, Elías Nandino. His latest is a collection of seven stories plumbing common themes such as self-identity, loneliness, internal demons, and death. Each story is told in the first person, and all the main characters are male. Most of the stories are written as descriptive narratives, though “Telarañas” (“Cobwebs”) appears in a diary format. The first story, “Siempre habrá alguien detrás de ti” (“There Will Always Be Someone Behind You”), is a fast-paced crime story with a cliffhanger ending; it is unclear whether protagonist David Honderos committed a crime or not, but the narration and attention to details will hook readers until its end. The last story, “La Noche Caníbal,” is narrated from the perspective of urban legend, a captivating technique that makes this one of the better-developed pieces in the book. Unfortunately, the intervening stories, while well written and admirable in the use of description, are mostly dull, dark, slow, and confusing. Recommended for general collections, especially where readers track Mexican literature.—Carolyn Kost, Stevenson Sch. Lib., Pebble Beach, CA
View All Blogs
