The River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala (Iowa Short Fiction Award) - Softcover

Brazaitis, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0877456429 ISBN 13: 9780877456421

Publisher: University Of Iowa Press, 1998

Synopsis

Guatemala is a country of extremes -- a place of terrible cruelty, apparent in its thirty-six-year civil war, and incredible beauty in its dramatic landscapes and indigenous cultures. The stories in Mark Brazaitis' The River of Lost Voices capture both the magic and the sorrow of life in Santa Cruz Verapaz, a small town in the northern mountains of Guatemala. In stories such as Jose del Rio and Bathwater, ' Brazaitis blends magical realism with political intrigue to realize the impact of the country's civil war and its roots in the Spanish Conquest. A Detective's Story reveals the influence of the United States in the shaping of Guatemalan politics. In a dreamlike story entitled The Whale, the narrator laments the destructive nature of homophobia in Guatemalan society. Yet this prize-winning collection is not a political work. Rather, it is a book about men and women struggling to overcome hardship and misfortune in their own lives. In each of these stories, Brazaitis gives voice to Guatemala's indigenous population -- people who speak Pokomchi and Cakchiquel, languages and cultures often buried in the crush of assimilation. Through their voices, the author uncovers stories of lives redeemed and lost in the tumult of history and circumstance.

About this title

About the Author

 Mark Brazaitis was a Peace Corps volunteer and technical trainer in Guatemala from 1991 to 1993 and 1995 to 1996. His stories have appeared in the Sun, Greensboro Review, Western Humanities Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, and other literary magazines. A native of Washinton, D.C., he teaches English at the Helene Fuld College of Nursing in Harlem, New York.

Reviews

Winner of the 1998 Iowa Short Fiction award, this remarkable debut collection chronicles life in the impoverished Guatemalan towns of Santa Cruz and nearby Coban. The physical distance these 10 stories cover is short, but the geography of human spirit it traverses is vast. In "Gemelas," a young woman reacts with a mixture of happiness and jealousy at the prospect of her twin sister's marriage to a wealthy landowner; it is her fate to follow her sister down a tragic path. A father, his daughter and a young woman grapple with fear of abandonment and aloneness in "How They Healed." A young boy experiences the erotic thrill of mystery when he is seduced by his employer, whose face he never sees, in "Bathwater." Pervading each tale is ex-Peace Corps volunteer Brazaitis's understanding of the intricate social stratifications of his characters' rural community. Adopting the conventions of folktales in sophisticated ways, Brazaitis controls his narratives with sparse dialogue and omniscient or calmly retrospective narrators. His admirable restraint anchors the stories and connects them by a tight chain of motifs, while his lucid prose directs attention away from itself and toward the characters who provide their color and drama.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Of Iowa Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0877456429
• ISBN 13: 9780877456421
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200