Not all book discussions are friendly.
Many of them are passive-aggressive struggles for intellectual superiority. You mention a Dostoevsky book you like while at a party or study group, and then someone responds with, “Oh, but have you read Turgenev?” You bristle and say no, not yet, but right now you’re on a Gogol kick and have discovered his satirical sensibilities for both upper- and lower-class Russians to be criminally underappreciated.
It’s on.
These duels are all too common among relative strangers who read. I never went looking for them, but I wear dark-framed glasses, which is walking into the room with a rapier at your belt; they find you. Now, since I was in college, the customs have changed. In the literary world, Latin America is the new Russia. Márquez, Bolaño, Borges, and Neruda are the standards for proving your reading tastes are more sophisticated than everyone else’s, and the likes of Alejo Carpentier, Carlos Fuentes, and Julio Cortázar show you’re a true competitor.
I’ve been slow to adapt to this shift. I haven’t even read Márquez. Granted, saying you like Márquez isn’t going to impress anybody. He’s like The Shins of the Latin American authors: you’re trying, but not hard enough. Anyone who brings him up will promptly be defeated with a Mario Vargas Llosa mention. Unless, of course, the defender fortifies his/her position with a deep cut like Leaf Storm or any Márquez nonfiction, or if they’re just preparing something real nasty like the “I’ve Read Márquez-You’ve Read Llosa-But I’ve Read Miguel Angel Ásturias” counter-riposte of death.
I’m not reading One Hundred Years of Solitude for these battles. I’ve already got a book for that, and it’s served me all right. At the slightest provocation of a Latin American Lit Hipster Faceoff, I flick Pedro Paramo around like a butterfly knife until the challenger backs away.
I’m reading One Hundred Years of Solitude because it’s been said to cure babies of cleft palates. They say it grants the reader four wishes upon completion. You wouldn’t eat this book, but if you did, it would taste of mangos and unconditional love. People really like this book, basically.
If I share the enthusiasm, it could lead to an eventual arsenal of Latin American authors for conversational self defense.
But if you want a competitive advantage in this South-American dispute you need only to read Saramago as a coup de grace.
http://pinterest.com/pin/2533343510838324/
If you’re up against the geographically challenged Gob, oh, I bet.
I’m out gunned. I haven’t even read Marquez, and I don’t know that I’ll be capable for another tome anytime soon. I’m still stuck in my “Atlas Shrugged” quagmire and that’s probably not snooty enough. Still, it’s good to know what to read when I get challenged to my next duel (I’ll probably have to rally my seconds in case I duck and cover).
There’s some short work of his that comes highly recommended, though, like “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” and “A Chronicle of a Death Foretold.” Maybe magical realism will be just the ticket after the straight-up fantasy that is “Atlas Shrugged.”
Ohhh, have I become embroiled in a few of these. It’s probably the reason why I read, to quench the secret desire to outdo the ‘opponent’. I have yet to read Vargos or Asturias. This means I’m still at the shins of Latin American literature. And I don’t like Bolano… well, some of his stuff anyway. He’s overrated. However, I adore Marquez yet mentioning Isabel Allende or Coelho in said verbal battles is asking for the kiss of death. Allende was so ’90′s and Coelho was a last decade fad.
And yes, I also wear dark glasses. It’s funny how it can attract attention like that…
Yet with that I am defeated– I concede your victory, Zee. It’ll be interesting to see if Bolaño’s popularity lasts or if he’ll merely be the guy for this decade, as you suggest. Was it “2666″ you read?
No, not yet. But it’s on my list. ‘Amulet’, ‘Skating Rink’ and ‘Nazi Literature in the Americas’ is as far as I’ve got. The latter I highly recommend. ‘Amulet’ was ok, but ‘Skating Rink’ I just wanted to chuck across the room.
I’m pretty sure you remain undefeated. Though any person who touts Borges in their arsenal of read books has my complete respect. He becomes ‘one of us’.
You should also check out Rulfo’s collection of short stories, “The Burning Plain” lots of good stuff in there.
I need to break down and order that. With my devil-may-care attitude toward book selection, I’m not going to just happen upon more Rulfo. Good to see another fan– thanks for reading!