Lands of Memory - Hardcover

Hernández, Felisberto; Allen, Esther; Hernandez, Felisberto

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811214834 ISBN 13: 9780811214834

Publisher: New Directions, 2002

Synopsis

Lands of Memory presents a half-dozen wonderful works by one of the greatest yet least-known South American writers of the twentieth century. Felisberto Hernández's extraordinary stories have been always greatly prized by other writers, and the two novellas and four stories collected in Lands of Memory show why. "Lands of Memory" and "In the Times of Clemente Colling" are two dreamlike novellas, which are carried along like pieces of otherworldly music by odd rhapsodic memories. Curiously haunting, the four stories also included in Lands of Memory turn upon small improbable events—small unpredictable, off-the-wall events which turn upside-down a first recital or a salesman's calling. These works have been long overdue for translation into English, and New Directions is pleased to have them in Esther Allen's stunning versions.

About this title

About the Author

Felisberto Hernández (1902-1964) was born in Montevideo; a talented pianist, he worked for many years playing in the silent-screen theaters and cafés of Uruguay, before becoming a government employee.

Reviews

A giant of Latin American letters and precursor to the magic realist writers is well served by this absorbing translation of some of his most acclaimed works. The two novellas and four short stories reveal an exacting sensibility that defies the categories to which Latin American writers are usually assigned. Once a pianist who accompanied silent films, the Uruguayan Hern ndez (1902-1964) crafts luminous works that reflect the guileless drama and visual intensity of silent films. His characters, all pianists of one level or other, are constantly reliving a past recital or pondering their next performance. Music is the subtext for narratives that plumb aspects of memory and thought, without a definable plot. Hern ndez revels in images that are simple and repetitive: arms, light and shadow, the houses of the wealthy and their odd contents. The stories acquire a luxurious sheen from the ease with which they navigate memories, taking pleasure in recounting them with no intention other than tracking the mind's twists and turns. The collection includes the acclaimed novella "Around the Time of Clemente Colling," the dreamy "Lands of Memory" and the Buster Keaton-like short story, "The Crocodile." Allen has done a masterful job with this translation, rendering the innocence of the original Spanish while retaining the poetic aesthetic Hernandez aspired to.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: New Directions
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0811214834
• ISBN 13: 9780811214834
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192