What do you think?
Rate this book
The Accidentals: Stories
Not yet published
Expected 29 Apr 25When an albatross strays too far from its home, or loses its bearings, it becomes an 'accidental', an unmoored wanderer. The protagonists of these eight stories each find the ordinary courses of their lives disrupted by an unexpected event and are pushed into unfamiliar a girl encounters her uncle in hospital, who was cast out of the family for reasons unknown; a menacing force hovers over a fracturing family on a rural holiday; a couple and their children inhabit a stifling world where it is better to be asleep than awake; a man's desire for a solution to his marital dissatisfaction has unforeseen consequences. Deft and disquieting, oscillating between the real and the fantastical,The Accidentalsis the brilliant new book from International Booker-shortlisted duo Guadalupe Nettel and Rosalind Harvey.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2023
90 people are currently reading
7,060 people want to read
About the author
Guadalupe Nettel
39books1,481followersGuadalupe Nettel (born 1973) is a Mexican writer. She was born in Mexico City and obtained a PhD in linguistics from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. She has published in several genres, both fiction and non-fiction.
Nettel is a prolific author and a regular contributor to both Spanish- and French-language magazines, including Letras Libres, Hoja por hoja, L'atelier du roman, and L'inconvénient. In 2006 she was voted one of thirty-nine most important Latin American writers under the age of thirty-nine at the Bogotá Hay Festival.
She has lived in Montreal and Paris, and is now based in Barcelona, where she works as a translator and holds writing seminars and a workshop on Potential Literature (based on the French Oulipo). She is the author of Juegos de artificio [False Games], Les jours fossiles [Fossil Days], Pétalos y otras historias incómodas [Petals and other Awkward Stories], and El huésped [The Host], and the recipient of the Premio Herralde, third place, for El huésped, and the 2008 Premio Antonin Artaud and the 2007 Gilbert Owen Short Story Prize in Mexico for Pétalos.
Guadalupe Nettel’s stories have been described as “marvellous� by the distinguished Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vázquez, and the critic Juan Ignacio Boido has praised Nettel’s creation of “a universe where Roberto Bolaño’s visceral poets rub shoulders with the fragile but unbreakable women of Haruki Murakami.�
Nettel is a prolific author and a regular contributor to both Spanish- and French-language magazines, including Letras Libres, Hoja por hoja, L'atelier du roman, and L'inconvénient. In 2006 she was voted one of thirty-nine most important Latin American writers under the age of thirty-nine at the Bogotá Hay Festival.
She has lived in Montreal and Paris, and is now based in Barcelona, where she works as a translator and holds writing seminars and a workshop on Potential Literature (based on the French Oulipo). She is the author of Juegos de artificio [False Games], Les jours fossiles [Fossil Days], Pétalos y otras historias incómodas [Petals and other Awkward Stories], and El huésped [The Host], and the recipient of the Premio Herralde, third place, for El huésped, and the 2008 Premio Antonin Artaud and the 2007 Gilbert Owen Short Story Prize in Mexico for Pétalos.
Guadalupe Nettel’s stories have been described as “marvellous� by the distinguished Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vázquez, and the critic Juan Ignacio Boido has praised Nettel’s creation of “a universe where Roberto Bolaño’s visceral poets rub shoulders with the fragile but unbreakable women of Haruki Murakami.�
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 314 reviews
March 25, 2025
When life takes an unexpected nosedive, much like an albatross straying from its course, the results can be both mesmerizing and unsettling, something Guadalupe Nettel masterfully explores in The Accidentals: Stories.
Translated by the ever-excellent Rosalind Harvey, this collection of eight tales moves between the real and the uncanny, dissecting the hidden fractures in seemingly ordinary lives. Nettel’s signature deadpan tone and sharp, observational prose make for an enthralling read, where each story feels like peering through a crack in reality, what initially appears mundane is anything but.
The stories revolve around moments of disruption: a family holiday tinged with menace, a couple whose waking life is more suffocating than sleep, a man whose small attempt at change leads to unforeseen consequences. Without slipping neatly into horror, suspense, or fantasy, Nettel instead crafts a world that dances at the edges of these genres, leaving the reader with an enduring sense of unease.
Standouts include The Pink Door, a darkly humorous meditation on the consequences of dissatisfaction, and Playing With Fire, where the real terror lurks in what remains unspoken. Torpor eerily mirrors contemporary anxieties, imagining a family trapped in a world gripped by a virus without a cure. The Fellowship of Orphans and the title story explore themes of childhood friendships severed by fate, revealing how life’s unpredictable currents pull us in opposite directions.
Remarkably, there’s no weak link in this collection, every story earns its place, each unsettling in its own quiet, thought-provoking way. With evocative imagery and a narrative style that is both literary and accessible, The Accidentals showcases a different side of Nettel’s talent, complementing the realism of Still Born while venturing into more shadowy, suggestive spaces.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Nettel’s storytelling is magnetic, her prose disarmingly precise, and this collection is proof that even the smallest of life’s disturbances can leave a lasting impact.
📖📖📖📖� Four out of five books because every story in this collection is worth savoring.
Translated by the ever-excellent Rosalind Harvey, this collection of eight tales moves between the real and the uncanny, dissecting the hidden fractures in seemingly ordinary lives. Nettel’s signature deadpan tone and sharp, observational prose make for an enthralling read, where each story feels like peering through a crack in reality, what initially appears mundane is anything but.
The stories revolve around moments of disruption: a family holiday tinged with menace, a couple whose waking life is more suffocating than sleep, a man whose small attempt at change leads to unforeseen consequences. Without slipping neatly into horror, suspense, or fantasy, Nettel instead crafts a world that dances at the edges of these genres, leaving the reader with an enduring sense of unease.
Standouts include The Pink Door, a darkly humorous meditation on the consequences of dissatisfaction, and Playing With Fire, where the real terror lurks in what remains unspoken. Torpor eerily mirrors contemporary anxieties, imagining a family trapped in a world gripped by a virus without a cure. The Fellowship of Orphans and the title story explore themes of childhood friendships severed by fate, revealing how life’s unpredictable currents pull us in opposite directions.
Remarkably, there’s no weak link in this collection, every story earns its place, each unsettling in its own quiet, thought-provoking way. With evocative imagery and a narrative style that is both literary and accessible, The Accidentals showcases a different side of Nettel’s talent, complementing the realism of Still Born while venturing into more shadowy, suggestive spaces.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Nettel’s storytelling is magnetic, her prose disarmingly precise, and this collection is proof that even the smallest of life’s disturbances can leave a lasting impact.
📖📖📖📖� Four out of five books because every story in this collection is worth savoring.
September 17, 2023
Guadalupe Nettel escribe para mí. Aunque ella todavía no lo sepa.
April 4, 2025
A striking, unsettling collection from Mexican writer Guadalupe Nettel first published in 2023 as Los Divagantes (The Wanderers). Keenly observed, admirably restrained, these are piercing, powerful yet elegant pieces. There’s an emphasis on family relationships, on fragile intimacies, the known and the unknowable. Often elliptical and enigmatic, these range from realist like “Imprinting� to the fantastical in “The Pink Door� and the dystopian in “The Torpor.�
It’s difficult to single out specific entries, these are uniformly strong, but I was particularly impressed by the subtle “Imprinting� which revolves around schoolgirl Antonia’s chance encounter with a dying uncle. Frank has been all but written out of her family’s history, for reasons that remain shrouded in mystery. It’s a carefully-crafted exploration of family secrets, Nettel never reveals the true nature of Frank’s transgressions but his behaviour hints at something dangerous and predatory. The slightly surreal, fable-like “The Pink Door� - a marvellous variation on a careful-what-you-wish-for narrative - highlights the dangers of nostalgia, the unintended consequences of the choices we make. The title story is an unusual take on domestic upheaval, exile, and political instability presented through the experiences of two childhood friends; while “The Torpor� imagines a society in which lockdown never ends, opening up issues around creeping authoritarianism and troubling responses to climate change. Set in Barcelona “Life Elsewhere� plays with ideas around envy, obsession, and doubling � a subject Nettel clearly finds fascinating.
There’s an all-pervasive air of claustrophobic melancholy, of loss and disorientation, which partly reflects the collection’s origins in the pandemic years, its mirroring of Nettel’s thoughts and feelings during this time: her experience of lockdowns, confinement, and sense of a world bizarrely altered. Overall, gripping and memorable. Translated by Rosalind Harvey.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Fitzcarraldo for an ARC
It’s difficult to single out specific entries, these are uniformly strong, but I was particularly impressed by the subtle “Imprinting� which revolves around schoolgirl Antonia’s chance encounter with a dying uncle. Frank has been all but written out of her family’s history, for reasons that remain shrouded in mystery. It’s a carefully-crafted exploration of family secrets, Nettel never reveals the true nature of Frank’s transgressions but his behaviour hints at something dangerous and predatory. The slightly surreal, fable-like “The Pink Door� - a marvellous variation on a careful-what-you-wish-for narrative - highlights the dangers of nostalgia, the unintended consequences of the choices we make. The title story is an unusual take on domestic upheaval, exile, and political instability presented through the experiences of two childhood friends; while “The Torpor� imagines a society in which lockdown never ends, opening up issues around creeping authoritarianism and troubling responses to climate change. Set in Barcelona “Life Elsewhere� plays with ideas around envy, obsession, and doubling � a subject Nettel clearly finds fascinating.
There’s an all-pervasive air of claustrophobic melancholy, of loss and disorientation, which partly reflects the collection’s origins in the pandemic years, its mirroring of Nettel’s thoughts and feelings during this time: her experience of lockdowns, confinement, and sense of a world bizarrely altered. Overall, gripping and memorable. Translated by Rosalind Harvey.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Fitzcarraldo for an ARC
November 9, 2024
I was overwhelmed by an undefinable sensation, too serene to be called anxiety, but unpleasant enough not to go unnoticed
After her , Nettel has been firmly on my radar and this collection of stories has sealed the deal. These tales are often suggestive rather than clearly defined and completed but that adds effectively to the sense of uneasy contingencies that they articulate.
Without tipping cleanly into defined genre categories like horror, suspense or fantasy, these stories play around the edges of all of these and boundary-cross in a free and creative way. They deal with disruptions: moments when something changes, when the past comes into clear view, when the present becomes untenable, when perceptions veer off in uncanny directions and when life gets shunted off its path. There may be a dark humour ('The Pink Door') but also tales where what is admitted on the surface isn't nearly as disturbing as what isn't expressed by the narrator (the brilliant 'Playing With Fire', for example).
With involving writing and some stop-and-read-it-again imagery, Nettel's work here is literarily sophisticated while appearing accessible and open. This is a good companion to the realist mode of , showcasing a different side of Nettel's writing which appears to draw on wider Latin American models.
Unusually for a collection, there isn't a single 'dud' story here: every one in this volume earns its place and offers different trajectories around a theme of disturbance, disruptions and disjunctions.
Many thanks to Fitzcarraldo for an ARC via NetGalley
January 30, 2025
4.5/5
Yoldan Çıkanlar sekiz farklı öyküden oluşan bir öykü kitabı. Öykülerde tür çeşitliliği göze çarpıyor ki ben böyle derlemeleri çok seviyorum. Fantastikten bilimkurguya dek geniş bir gerçeklik skalasında ilerleyen öykülerin hemen hepsinde olağan akışı kıran bir olay oluyor ve karakterler de bunun fiziki/psikolojik sonuçlarıyla mücadele etmek / yüzleşmek zorunda kalıyorlar. Nettel’in görece basit denebilecek durumlardan etkileyici yerlere varmasını çok seviyorum. Mesela “Yetim Kardeşliği� öyküsü tam da böyle, basit ama bir o kadar da çarpıcı. Bir de genelde öykü kitaplarında çok sevdiğimiz birkaç öykü olur diğerleri ortalamadır ya, burada öyle değil. Öykülerin hepsi bence aynı kalitede. “Başka Yerde Hayat� ve “Ateşle Oyun� favorilerim ama tamamen kişisel sebeplerden. Yoksa diğer öyküler de bunlardan aşağı değiller. Çok severek okudum. Banu Karakaş’ın çevirisi de her zaman olduğu gibi kusursuz.
Yoldan Çıkanlar sekiz farklı öyküden oluşan bir öykü kitabı. Öykülerde tür çeşitliliği göze çarpıyor ki ben böyle derlemeleri çok seviyorum. Fantastikten bilimkurguya dek geniş bir gerçeklik skalasında ilerleyen öykülerin hemen hepsinde olağan akışı kıran bir olay oluyor ve karakterler de bunun fiziki/psikolojik sonuçlarıyla mücadele etmek / yüzleşmek zorunda kalıyorlar. Nettel’in görece basit denebilecek durumlardan etkileyici yerlere varmasını çok seviyorum. Mesela “Yetim Kardeşliği� öyküsü tam da böyle, basit ama bir o kadar da çarpıcı. Bir de genelde öykü kitaplarında çok sevdiğimiz birkaç öykü olur diğerleri ortalamadır ya, burada öyle değil. Öykülerin hepsi bence aynı kalitede. “Başka Yerde Hayat� ve “Ateşle Oyun� favorilerim ama tamamen kişisel sebeplerden. Yoksa diğer öyküler de bunlardan aşağı değiller. Çok severek okudum. Banu Karakaş’ın çevirisi de her zaman olduğu gibi kusursuz.
November 13, 2023
En verdad disfruté mucho esta compilación de relatos.
Mi favorito, sin duda alguna, fue “la puerta rosada� pues voló mi imaginación y me dio mucho para cuestionar.
Creo que no hay mucho por decirles más que me parecieron frescos, muy entretenidos y súper interesantes.
Sólo hubo dos cuentos que realmente no me encantaron; no conecté. Pero fuera de eso hay muchas temáticas que me gustaron: migración forzada, lazos familiares, amor, etc.
¿Se los recomiendo? Definitivamente, pues acabo de descubrir la faceta cuentista de Nettel y es un gran acierto tomar estos libros y darles una leída.
Mi favorito, sin duda alguna, fue “la puerta rosada� pues voló mi imaginación y me dio mucho para cuestionar.
Creo que no hay mucho por decirles más que me parecieron frescos, muy entretenidos y súper interesantes.
Sólo hubo dos cuentos que realmente no me encantaron; no conecté. Pero fuera de eso hay muchas temáticas que me gustaron: migración forzada, lazos familiares, amor, etc.
¿Se los recomiendo? Definitivamente, pues acabo de descubrir la faceta cuentista de Nettel y es un gran acierto tomar estos libros y darles una leída.
March 29, 2025
Although reading a book of short stories might take away some of my engagement, this one kept me fully there, eager for the next one.
Nettel's messages are not direct and easily discernible, but instead are steadily ephemeral. What is right? What is wrong? What does the heart desire? What does the mind say? It gets blurry. Nettel writes with a steady pen which successfully captures the blurriness in our lives, in the decisions that we take, how every unsteady step might lead to one ending or another. We but peer through the glass darkly.
The Stories themselves:
Imprinting - but tell me what happened.
The Fellowship of Orphans - do onto others what you'd want done to you.
Playing with Fire - oh no, there might be a cuckoo in our nest
The Pink Door - be very very careful what you wish for.
A forest under the Earth - me and the tree that defines me.
Life Elsewhere - finely a glove that fits me.
The Accidentals - here, there, but where?
The Torpor - real, scarily so.
An ARC kindly give by author/publisher via Netgalley.
Nettel's messages are not direct and easily discernible, but instead are steadily ephemeral. What is right? What is wrong? What does the heart desire? What does the mind say? It gets blurry. Nettel writes with a steady pen which successfully captures the blurriness in our lives, in the decisions that we take, how every unsteady step might lead to one ending or another. We but peer through the glass darkly.
The Stories themselves:
Imprinting - but tell me what happened.
The Fellowship of Orphans - do onto others what you'd want done to you.
Playing with Fire - oh no, there might be a cuckoo in our nest
The Pink Door - be very very careful what you wish for.
A forest under the Earth - me and the tree that defines me.
Life Elsewhere - finely a glove that fits me.
The Accidentals - here, there, but where?
The Torpor - real, scarily so.
An ARC kindly give by author/publisher via Netgalley.
December 21, 2023
¿QUÉ PASA CUANDO UN ALVATROS PIERDE EL RUMBO POR FALTA DE VIENTO?
🌸Sin duda, cuando este mágico suceso se da, es porque Guadalupe Nettel está escribiendo y sus personajes adquieren el vuelo errante y a veces enloquecedor de estas aves.
🌸Y, con esta misma falta de viento, los protagonistas de estos ocho relatos, nos muestran sus miedos y anhelos más profundos como si de un lienzo se tratara, convirtiéndonos en espectadores privilegiados de qué pasa cuando por fin consiguen lo que tanto anhelan poseer.
🌸Ocho relatos que viajan entre el realismo y la fantasía.
🌸Ocho vidas,
🌸Ocho personajes,
🌸y un lector...
🌸Sin duda, cuando este mágico suceso se da, es porque Guadalupe Nettel está escribiendo y sus personajes adquieren el vuelo errante y a veces enloquecedor de estas aves.
🌸Y, con esta misma falta de viento, los protagonistas de estos ocho relatos, nos muestran sus miedos y anhelos más profundos como si de un lienzo se tratara, convirtiéndonos en espectadores privilegiados de qué pasa cuando por fin consiguen lo que tanto anhelan poseer.
🌸Ocho relatos que viajan entre el realismo y la fantasía.
🌸Ocho vidas,
🌸Ocho personajes,
🌸y un lector...
January 20, 2025
Daha önce Benzersiz Kızım romanını okuduğum Meksikalı yazar Guadalupe Nettel, öyküleriyle beni kalbimden vurdu desem yeri. Benzersiz Kızım romanı için ''felsefi soruları, büyük büyük cümleler kurmadan soruyor ve okuruna da sorduruyor'' yazmışım. Bu kitapta yer alan sekiz öykü ise bana Nettel'in asıl ustalığının öykü yazarlığında olduğunu düşündürdü.
Kimi fantastik kimi distopik kimi psikolojik gerilim türünde diyebileceğimiz bu sekiz öyküyü hayranlıkla ve keyifle okudum. Bir yandan Cortazar'ın öykülerini okumaya devam ettiğim için başka bir öykü kitabı okumanın diğer yazara haksızlık olacağını düşünüyordum. Nettel bana adeta ''Beni küçük görme!'' diyerek şovunu yaptı. Özellikle kitaba adını veren Yoldan Çıkanlar-ki kendisi albatroslardan bahsetmesiyle de favorim- uzun zamandır okuduğum en güzel giriş bölümlerinden birine sahip.
Çocukluk bizim çocukken dilediğimizin aksine öyle bir defada sona ermiyor. Orada duruyor, önce olgun sonra çökmüş vücutlarımızda çömelmiş, sessizce bekliyor, ta ki yıllar sonra bir gün, omuzlarımızda taşıdığımız acı ve umutsuzluk yükünün bizi telafisi mümkün olmayan bir yetişkine dönüştürdüğüne inandığımızda, bir yıldırım hızı ve kuvvetiyle yeniden ortaya çıkana, tazeliğiyle, masumiyetiyle, şaşmaz saflığıyla canımızı acıtana, ama hepsinden önemlisi bunun gerçekten ondan kalan son titrek ışık olduğunun kesinliğiyle bizi yaralayana dek.
Mateo García Elizondo'nun üzerine yine Meksika'dan çıkmış harika bir eser okudum bu vesileyle. Ocak ayını sıcak ülkelerde geçiyor, Latin Amerika Edebiyatı'na bir kez daha hayran kalıyorum.
Kimi fantastik kimi distopik kimi psikolojik gerilim türünde diyebileceğimiz bu sekiz öyküyü hayranlıkla ve keyifle okudum. Bir yandan Cortazar'ın öykülerini okumaya devam ettiğim için başka bir öykü kitabı okumanın diğer yazara haksızlık olacağını düşünüyordum. Nettel bana adeta ''Beni küçük görme!'' diyerek şovunu yaptı. Özellikle kitaba adını veren Yoldan Çıkanlar-ki kendisi albatroslardan bahsetmesiyle de favorim- uzun zamandır okuduğum en güzel giriş bölümlerinden birine sahip.
Çocukluk bizim çocukken dilediğimizin aksine öyle bir defada sona ermiyor. Orada duruyor, önce olgun sonra çökmüş vücutlarımızda çömelmiş, sessizce bekliyor, ta ki yıllar sonra bir gün, omuzlarımızda taşıdığımız acı ve umutsuzluk yükünün bizi telafisi mümkün olmayan bir yetişkine dönüştürdüğüne inandığımızda, bir yıldırım hızı ve kuvvetiyle yeniden ortaya çıkana, tazeliğiyle, masumiyetiyle, şaşmaz saflığıyla canımızı acıtana, ama hepsinden önemlisi bunun gerçekten ondan kalan son titrek ışık olduğunun kesinliğiyle bizi yaralayana dek.
Mateo García Elizondo'nun üzerine yine Meksika'dan çıkmış harika bir eser okudum bu vesileyle. Ocak ayını sıcak ülkelerde geçiyor, Latin Amerika Edebiyatı'na bir kez daha hayran kalıyorum.
November 11, 2024
The Accidentals is a collection of short stories by award winning novelist, Guadalupe Nettel. This collection deals with people coping with isolation, estrangement and the unknown.
My favourites were the title story about a boy and a girl who are the closest of friends but end up living in different countries; Torpor which imagines a family's life in a world coping with a virus for which there is no vaccine; Pink Door which tells the story of a man enticed into changing his life simply by eating a piece of confectionery. I think Pink Door edged it with the favouritism because it seemed so plausible - we are dissatisfied, we want a change but are we ever prepared for the outcome of change.
The writing is superb and I found myself wanting to rush through these stories and had to force myself to slow down. They are well worth savouring.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Fitzcarraldo for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
My favourites were the title story about a boy and a girl who are the closest of friends but end up living in different countries; Torpor which imagines a family's life in a world coping with a virus for which there is no vaccine; Pink Door which tells the story of a man enticed into changing his life simply by eating a piece of confectionery. I think Pink Door edged it with the favouritism because it seemed so plausible - we are dissatisfied, we want a change but are we ever prepared for the outcome of change.
The writing is superb and I found myself wanting to rush through these stories and had to force myself to slow down. They are well worth savouring.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Fitzcarraldo for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
September 6, 2023
“A pensarci bene, l’abitudine di fare visita al luogo in cui riposano le ossa delle persone che amiamo è assurda, ma nella vita errabonda che avevamo sempre condotto, la mia famiglia era stato il mio unico nido, la mia unica tana.�
Guadalupe Nettel conferma la sua bravura anche in questa raccolta di otto racconti: in ogni racconto, con un incipit ad effetto, il lettore è subito catapultato nella storia e il finale va sempre in una direzione diversa da quanto ci si aspetta.
Scrive Cristina Taglietti, su La Lettura del 3 settembre 2023: “Racconti in cui l'ordinario e l'anomalia, il quotidiano e l'insondabile, il reale e il fantastico si incontrano lasciando nel lettore una sottile, fertile inquietudine.�
Mi sembra che in ciascuno di questi racconti la Nettel si collochi nella zona d’ombra che separa il senso di appartenenza dall’estraneità:
“Quindi, domandai ancora una volta a Ernesto Palleiro, che a quel punto mi guardava con sospetto, come se avesse davanti una persona che sta perdendo la ragione: dopo vent’anni passati a mettere radici in un altro paese, ci si può reinserire come se niente fosse nel luogo d’origine?
«Non lo so» rispose lui, alla fine.�
Ci sono alcuni racconti che mi hanno colpita più di altri:
- L’imprinting
- La confraternita degli orfani
- La vita altrove
- Albatri vaganti
- Il torpore
Questo ultimo racconto, in cui si affrontano il tema della pandemia e dei cambiamenti climatici, è realistico e al tempo distopico, a mio avviso� infatti non è così lontano da ciò che potrebbe davvero accadere.
È una questione di confini.
È anche una questione di rifugi:
“Alcune mattine mi sveglio e mi sento soffocare, sull’orlo di un attacco di nervi, con il desiderio di correre per ore. In quei momenti il mio rifugio è il balcone della cucina, dal quale si vede un pezzettino di cielo. Mi dico che quello spazio di cinque metri quadrati è tutto ciò che distingue questa casa da una tomba.�
Guadalupe Nettel conferma la sua bravura anche in questa raccolta di otto racconti: in ogni racconto, con un incipit ad effetto, il lettore è subito catapultato nella storia e il finale va sempre in una direzione diversa da quanto ci si aspetta.
Scrive Cristina Taglietti, su La Lettura del 3 settembre 2023: “Racconti in cui l'ordinario e l'anomalia, il quotidiano e l'insondabile, il reale e il fantastico si incontrano lasciando nel lettore una sottile, fertile inquietudine.�
Mi sembra che in ciascuno di questi racconti la Nettel si collochi nella zona d’ombra che separa il senso di appartenenza dall’estraneità:
“Quindi, domandai ancora una volta a Ernesto Palleiro, che a quel punto mi guardava con sospetto, come se avesse davanti una persona che sta perdendo la ragione: dopo vent’anni passati a mettere radici in un altro paese, ci si può reinserire come se niente fosse nel luogo d’origine?
«Non lo so» rispose lui, alla fine.�
Ci sono alcuni racconti che mi hanno colpita più di altri:
- L’imprinting
- La confraternita degli orfani
- La vita altrove
- Albatri vaganti
- Il torpore
Questo ultimo racconto, in cui si affrontano il tema della pandemia e dei cambiamenti climatici, è realistico e al tempo distopico, a mio avviso� infatti non è così lontano da ciò che potrebbe davvero accadere.
È una questione di confini.
È anche una questione di rifugi:
“Alcune mattine mi sveglio e mi sento soffocare, sull’orlo di un attacco di nervi, con il desiderio di correre per ore. In quei momenti il mio rifugio è il balcone della cucina, dal quale si vede un pezzettino di cielo. Mi dico che quello spazio di cinque metri quadrati è tutto ciò che distingue questa casa da una tomba.�
December 28, 2023
Espléndida, maravillosa. Los 8 cuentos son Mágicos.
Guadalupe me fascina y me hipnotiza con sus historias, en donde inventa personajes que hablan muy cerca de mi.
Fue una inmersión total en historias que confrontan miedos y realidades, familia, migración, pertenencia, identidad, maternidad y en todos los cuentos invoca las relaciones filiales y lo hace de una forma aterradora y estremecedora pero es adictiva y hechizante.
Los relatos son todos ágiles. Cierra sus finales como entradas de un diario en donde parece que mañana te contará un poco más.
Si me viera obligada a tener uno favorito sería “los divagantes� que me ha tocado muy profundamente.
Una galaxia para Nettel que me roba el corazón y el alma con su escritura.
Guadalupe me fascina y me hipnotiza con sus historias, en donde inventa personajes que hablan muy cerca de mi.
Fue una inmersión total en historias que confrontan miedos y realidades, familia, migración, pertenencia, identidad, maternidad y en todos los cuentos invoca las relaciones filiales y lo hace de una forma aterradora y estremecedora pero es adictiva y hechizante.
Los relatos son todos ágiles. Cierra sus finales como entradas de un diario en donde parece que mañana te contará un poco más.
Si me viera obligada a tener uno favorito sería “los divagantes� que me ha tocado muy profundamente.
Una galaxia para Nettel que me roba el corazón y el alma con su escritura.
December 31, 2023
"Pero el mundo –lo sé por experiencia� está lleno de aves raras que ni siquiera sospechan que lo son."
May 16, 2024
L’estraneità del quotidiano
Una raccolta di otto storie che culminano con un finale aperto, un universo in cui la linea sottile tra realtà e immaginazione è molto sfumata, dove i protagonisti si confrontano con le loro paure e l'ignoto.
Guadalupe Nettel riesce a catturare il soprannaturale nella quotidianità.
La prosa delicata dell’autrice crea un'esperienza letteraria leggera e nello stesso tempo profonda come quando ritrae l'infanzia in "Albatri vaganti", dove cattura l'essenza dell'innocenza perduta nella consapevolezza che quell’età non finisce mai
“Rimane lì, rintanata e silenziosa nei nostri corpi maturi, poi appassiti (�) � ricompare con la rapidità e la potenza di un lampo, ferendoci con la sua freschezza, con la sua innocenza, con la sua dose infallibile di ingenuità�
Ogni racconto, porta con sé una gamma di emozioni, offrendo una prospettiva unica sulla vita e sulla natura umana.
In essi c'è spazio per l'universo oscuro dei segreti, ma anche per quello dei desideri, dell'amore, dell'odio, della speranza, dell'indifferenza, del dolore o del silenzio.
Sono terreno fertile per riflettere sulla famiglia sullo scorrere del tempo, sul desiderio di diventare adulti, sulla nostalgia del passato e gli esili forzati, su ciò che possediamo e a cui non diamo valore.
Ogni racconto poi è legato allo sradicamento che, per ragioni diverse, irrompe e increspa l’anima di ciascuno
"La vita altrove" è anche un inno alla metamorfosi dell’esistenza, sempre in bilico tra realtà traboccante di fantasia e la paura di varcare l'altro lato dello specchio
Una raccolta di otto storie che culminano con un finale aperto, un universo in cui la linea sottile tra realtà e immaginazione è molto sfumata, dove i protagonisti si confrontano con le loro paure e l'ignoto.
Guadalupe Nettel riesce a catturare il soprannaturale nella quotidianità.
La prosa delicata dell’autrice crea un'esperienza letteraria leggera e nello stesso tempo profonda come quando ritrae l'infanzia in "Albatri vaganti", dove cattura l'essenza dell'innocenza perduta nella consapevolezza che quell’età non finisce mai
“Rimane lì, rintanata e silenziosa nei nostri corpi maturi, poi appassiti (�) � ricompare con la rapidità e la potenza di un lampo, ferendoci con la sua freschezza, con la sua innocenza, con la sua dose infallibile di ingenuità�
Ogni racconto, porta con sé una gamma di emozioni, offrendo una prospettiva unica sulla vita e sulla natura umana.
In essi c'è spazio per l'universo oscuro dei segreti, ma anche per quello dei desideri, dell'amore, dell'odio, della speranza, dell'indifferenza, del dolore o del silenzio.
Sono terreno fertile per riflettere sulla famiglia sullo scorrere del tempo, sul desiderio di diventare adulti, sulla nostalgia del passato e gli esili forzati, su ciò che possediamo e a cui non diamo valore.
Ogni racconto poi è legato allo sradicamento che, per ragioni diverse, irrompe e increspa l’anima di ciascuno
"La vita altrove" è anche un inno alla metamorfosi dell’esistenza, sempre in bilico tra realtà traboccante di fantasia e la paura di varcare l'altro lato dello specchio
November 8, 2023
El libro de relatos de Guadalupe Nettel, una colección de ocho historias intrincadamente tejidas transporta a los lectores a un universo donde la delgada línea entre la realidad y la imaginación se desdibuja. Enfrentando a sus protagonistas con sus propios miedos y lo desconocido, Nettel captura la esencia de lo sobrenatural en lo cotidiano. "La impronta", "La puerta rosada�, “Un bosque bajo la tierra� y “Los divagantes" se destacan entre los relatos que más me han gustado, cada uno llevando al lector a un viaje inquietante y sorprendente, con giros inesperados que mantienen la tensión hasta la última página.
La prosa de Nettel es una danza delicada entre lo surreal y lo realista, creando una experiencia literaria que se siente ligera y elegante, pero a la vez profunda y reflexiva. Su habilidad para retratar la niñez en "Los divagantes" es excepcional, capturando la esencia de la inocencia perdida y los caminos no tomados. Cada cuento, con su propio tono y época distintivos, presenta una gama de emociones que van desde lo hermoso hasta lo desolador, ofreciendo una perspectiva única sobre la vida y la naturaleza humana.
A través de sus narrativas magistrales, Nettel desafía las convenciones sociales y nos invita a explorar la individualidad y la autenticidad. Sus historias sugieren la importancia de desviarse del camino trazado y de abrazar lo desconocido, fomentando un sentido de autonomía y autenticidad. En definitiva, este libro cautiva con su inquebrantable exploración de lo extraordinario en lo cotidiano, dejando una huella indeleble en el lector y generando un deseo irrefrenable de sumergirse más profundamente en el mundo literario de Guadalupe Nettel.
La prosa de Nettel es una danza delicada entre lo surreal y lo realista, creando una experiencia literaria que se siente ligera y elegante, pero a la vez profunda y reflexiva. Su habilidad para retratar la niñez en "Los divagantes" es excepcional, capturando la esencia de la inocencia perdida y los caminos no tomados. Cada cuento, con su propio tono y época distintivos, presenta una gama de emociones que van desde lo hermoso hasta lo desolador, ofreciendo una perspectiva única sobre la vida y la naturaleza humana.
A través de sus narrativas magistrales, Nettel desafía las convenciones sociales y nos invita a explorar la individualidad y la autenticidad. Sus historias sugieren la importancia de desviarse del camino trazado y de abrazar lo desconocido, fomentando un sentido de autonomía y autenticidad. En definitiva, este libro cautiva con su inquebrantable exploración de lo extraordinario en lo cotidiano, dejando una huella indeleble en el lector y generando un deseo irrefrenable de sumergirse más profundamente en el mundo literario de Guadalupe Nettel.
April 13, 2024
4.5
Buenos relatos me mantuvieron interesada en la lectura , muchos sobre las relaciones personales, de matrimonios así como de re encuentros.
Todos tienen algo que resalta pero desde mi perspectiva los primeros 3 son los que me resultan mas perturbadores , los demás ya se me hicieron mas ligeros.
Saludos a quien me lea
Buenos relatos me mantuvieron interesada en la lectura , muchos sobre las relaciones personales, de matrimonios así como de re encuentros.
Todos tienen algo que resalta pero desde mi perspectiva los primeros 3 son los que me resultan mas perturbadores , los demás ya se me hicieron mas ligeros.
Saludos a quien me lea
November 28, 2023
Los cuentos de “Los divagantes� se caracterizan por tres cosas:
1. Abordan una amplitud de temas que resultan interesantes.
2. Construyen un corpus que atrapa fácilmente.
3. Se desinflan por completo con finales que parecen apresurados y no llevan a nada.
Me habían recomendado muchísimo a Guadalupe Nettel y, lamentablemente, esta primera experiencia no ha sido del todo satisfactoria. Sí, disfruté leyendo la elaboración de los universos que propone, pero ninguno de ellos me dejó nada realmente rescatable. Y el problema no es tener finales abiertos, sino encontrarse con finales que parecen inconclusos. Luego de cada historia me quedaba con una sensación extraña, un “ah, ya� que me parece terrible como epílogo de cualquier relato. No tendría problema en leerla más adelante, quizás con una novela, donde creo que su pluma puede resultarme más interesante debido a que el corpus del texto será más extenso y, como ya mencioné, ese es su fuerte.
1. Abordan una amplitud de temas que resultan interesantes.
2. Construyen un corpus que atrapa fácilmente.
3. Se desinflan por completo con finales que parecen apresurados y no llevan a nada.
Me habían recomendado muchísimo a Guadalupe Nettel y, lamentablemente, esta primera experiencia no ha sido del todo satisfactoria. Sí, disfruté leyendo la elaboración de los universos que propone, pero ninguno de ellos me dejó nada realmente rescatable. Y el problema no es tener finales abiertos, sino encontrarse con finales que parecen inconclusos. Luego de cada historia me quedaba con una sensación extraña, un “ah, ya� que me parece terrible como epílogo de cualquier relato. No tendría problema en leerla más adelante, quizás con una novela, donde creo que su pluma puede resultarme más interesante debido a que el corpus del texto será más extenso y, como ya mencioné, ese es su fuerte.
January 10, 2024
Uma coletânea de contos acerca, na minha opinião, de realidades alternativas imaginadas, sonhadas ou vividas pelos personagens, torna Guadalupe Nettel numa agradável surpresa. Ainda que alguns contos pudessem ser melhor explorados (pelo menos é a sensação com que fico), manterei esta autora “debaixo de olho�.
Efectivamente, surgiu na América Latina uma geração de autoras prolífica em narrativas fantásticas/surreais que muito me agrada.
A ler, definitivamente.
Efectivamente, surgiu na América Latina uma geração de autoras prolífica em narrativas fantásticas/surreais que muito me agrada.
A ler, definitivamente.
January 27, 2025
Nettel is such an incredible writer. Coupled with Harvey’s stunning translation, this short story collection is just as gripping and well written as Still Born. It obviously doesn’t have the emotional pull or the character building of that novel, but I loved the slightly eeriness of these stories and the deadpan tone which was just perfect. Nettel shows how when we zoom in on the lives around us which seem perfect, strange things are actually happened beneath the surface. This is a collection which will definitely grip you and I genuinely loved every story inside it - they were all a perfect length as well. Can’t wait for more from both of these women!
April 13, 2025
Before he died, my uncle was in hospital for three weeks. I found out due to a coincidence, or what the surrealists used to call ‘objective chance�, to describe those fortuitous events that seem dictated by our destiny.
The Accidentals (2025) is Rosemary Harvey's translation of Los divagantes(2023) by Guadalupe Nettel, a collection of 8 short stories - and these are relatively short, the collection spanning 108 pages in total.
The title story was for me the most effective - two childhood friends now adults: the narrator who travels the world with her itinerant academic parents; and Camilo who stays in the same flat in Mexico where he lived as a child, but who hankers to return to Uruguay, the country from which his parents were exiled when he was an infant. It uses the simile of the rare albatrosses who accidentally crossed the equator, typically in high winds, but are then unable to return (see e.g. here and ), which the narrator deems 'accidentals', as well as drawing on other literary references to the bird:
It was that same year, in my French literature class that they made me read Les fleurs du mal, and I went to request it from the school library. No sooner had they handed me the book than I opened a page at random and the poem about the albatross appeared before me: 'ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et bonteux, where Baudelaire posits it as the poète maudit of nature. I read it tomyfatherthat same night. He, in turn, and very eagerly, read to me the poem in which Coleridge tells the story of a sailor who is damned forever for killing an albatross. The text, as dark as any I've read, troubled me immensely. All men of the sea know this story, my father said. I understood, then, the horror of the sailor in Louisiana when he'd seen that his fishing rod had got caught in the beak of that great bird. I copied out a verse by hand to send it to Camilo in answer tohisphotograph.
(Which reminds me of my favourite literary joke: 'Why was the Ancient Mariner dropped as his team's goalie'; '')
And this theme of 'accidentals' does best tie the collection together, with an unexpected event or a wish fulfilled differently to expectations derailing the lives of the first person narrators. In The Pink Door, a man in his 60s and unsatisfied with his marriage is drawn to the pink door of what he assumes is a new neighbourhood bordello, only to find the shop has other, more fantastical, ways of making his dreams come true, and in ways he comes to regret. In Life Elsewhere another man becomes so obsessed with a flat he and his wife missed out on, that he befriends the couple there and eventually moves in. And in Imprinting, the first story, from which the quote that opens my review is taken, the narrator accidentally comes across a long-lost uncle, the black sheep of the family, and befriends him - but why exactly did he and the rest of the family cut off contact?
The last story The Torpor I found the weakest - a piece of near-future dystopia in a post-pandemic world (with it would seem no vaccine and a virus which reinfects) where the authorities force people to adapt to permanent lockdown, and people take refuge from their loves one, with whom they are too closely confined, in sleep and dreams.
Overall - this was a quick read, but a rather unsatisfying one, none of the stories really grabbing me. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.
The Accidentals (2025) is Rosemary Harvey's translation of Los divagantes(2023) by Guadalupe Nettel, a collection of 8 short stories - and these are relatively short, the collection spanning 108 pages in total.
The title story was for me the most effective - two childhood friends now adults: the narrator who travels the world with her itinerant academic parents; and Camilo who stays in the same flat in Mexico where he lived as a child, but who hankers to return to Uruguay, the country from which his parents were exiled when he was an infant. It uses the simile of the rare albatrosses who accidentally crossed the equator, typically in high winds, but are then unable to return (see e.g. here and ), which the narrator deems 'accidentals', as well as drawing on other literary references to the bird:
It was that same year, in my French literature class that they made me read Les fleurs du mal, and I went to request it from the school library. No sooner had they handed me the book than I opened a page at random and the poem about the albatross appeared before me: 'ces rois de l'azur, maladroits et bonteux, where Baudelaire posits it as the poète maudit of nature. I read it tomyfatherthat same night. He, in turn, and very eagerly, read to me the poem in which Coleridge tells the story of a sailor who is damned forever for killing an albatross. The text, as dark as any I've read, troubled me immensely. All men of the sea know this story, my father said. I understood, then, the horror of the sailor in Louisiana when he'd seen that his fishing rod had got caught in the beak of that great bird. I copied out a verse by hand to send it to Camilo in answer tohisphotograph.
(Which reminds me of my favourite literary joke: 'Why was the Ancient Mariner dropped as his team's goalie'; '')
And this theme of 'accidentals' does best tie the collection together, with an unexpected event or a wish fulfilled differently to expectations derailing the lives of the first person narrators. In The Pink Door, a man in his 60s and unsatisfied with his marriage is drawn to the pink door of what he assumes is a new neighbourhood bordello, only to find the shop has other, more fantastical, ways of making his dreams come true, and in ways he comes to regret. In Life Elsewhere another man becomes so obsessed with a flat he and his wife missed out on, that he befriends the couple there and eventually moves in. And in Imprinting, the first story, from which the quote that opens my review is taken, the narrator accidentally comes across a long-lost uncle, the black sheep of the family, and befriends him - but why exactly did he and the rest of the family cut off contact?
The last story The Torpor I found the weakest - a piece of near-future dystopia in a post-pandemic world (with it would seem no vaccine and a virus which reinfects) where the authorities force people to adapt to permanent lockdown, and people take refuge from their loves one, with whom they are too closely confined, in sleep and dreams.
Overall - this was a quick read, but a rather unsatisfying one, none of the stories really grabbing me. 2.5 stars rounded to 3.
January 31, 2024
Es 3.5.
En general me gustó el libro, algunos relatos me parecen buenísimos y otros poco memorables. Lo que siempre me maravilla de Guadalupe Nettel es su capacidad para escribir una historia en el margen de los acontecimientos. Por ejemplo, la protagonista del primer relato (La impronta) deambula en las orillas de su propia historia, bordeando un secreto familiar que haría temblar los cimientos de su confianza en quienes más quiere.
En el resto de relatos la autora explora dinámicas familiares diversas, jugando mucho con lo que no se dice, con las distintas interpretaciones de la verdad y la realidad, las consecuencias de tomar deficiones con información sesgada e incompleta.
Disfruté mucho el relato de La puerta rosada, pues pienso mucho en lo que es vivir sin reflexionar en cuánto hemos crecido y quienes nos han acompañado. ¿Qué es lo verdaderamente importante de la vida? A veces nos centramos en cosas insignificantes sólo porque no son exactamente como deseamos que sean.
Sin duda es un excelente primer acercamiento si no has tenido oportunidad de leer antes a la autora, pero si ya lo hiciste, es probable que así como yo, prefieras sumergirte de lleno en sus novelas. Mis cuentos favoritos de esta colección son:
La puerta rosada
Jugar con fuego
La impronta
El sopor
Los divagantes
Gracias a @spanishpublishers por el envío del ejemplar, disfruté mucho leerlo :)
En general me gustó el libro, algunos relatos me parecen buenísimos y otros poco memorables. Lo que siempre me maravilla de Guadalupe Nettel es su capacidad para escribir una historia en el margen de los acontecimientos. Por ejemplo, la protagonista del primer relato (La impronta) deambula en las orillas de su propia historia, bordeando un secreto familiar que haría temblar los cimientos de su confianza en quienes más quiere.
En el resto de relatos la autora explora dinámicas familiares diversas, jugando mucho con lo que no se dice, con las distintas interpretaciones de la verdad y la realidad, las consecuencias de tomar deficiones con información sesgada e incompleta.
Disfruté mucho el relato de La puerta rosada, pues pienso mucho en lo que es vivir sin reflexionar en cuánto hemos crecido y quienes nos han acompañado. ¿Qué es lo verdaderamente importante de la vida? A veces nos centramos en cosas insignificantes sólo porque no son exactamente como deseamos que sean.
Sin duda es un excelente primer acercamiento si no has tenido oportunidad de leer antes a la autora, pero si ya lo hiciste, es probable que así como yo, prefieras sumergirte de lleno en sus novelas. Mis cuentos favoritos de esta colección son:
La puerta rosada
Jugar con fuego
La impronta
El sopor
Los divagantes
Gracias a @spanishpublishers por el envío del ejemplar, disfruté mucho leerlo :)
November 5, 2024
3.75. In this short collection, the characters at the center of these stories are often experiencing a change or an incident that brings about long-lasting consequences or at the least, causes the characters to reflect differently on the lives they’ve lived. Some of these experiences are drastic—a man eats a sweet that takes him and his wife back in time—and some are less so—a grown orphan reports the location of a “missing� man to his mother and learns that having parents is not synonymous with a happy life.
Symbolizing these characters and their altered life paths is the lost albatross that makes an appearance in a later story. Away from its home, it fights against the odds, as these characters do, to get back to what is familiar and known but in most cases, this former existence is no longer possible.
A solid collection, if a little unexciting. Nettel’s prose is deceptively simple and evocative, but I think I prefer her long-form storytelling where there’s room to dig deep into examining the interiority of her character’s minds.
Symbolizing these characters and their altered life paths is the lost albatross that makes an appearance in a later story. Away from its home, it fights against the odds, as these characters do, to get back to what is familiar and known but in most cases, this former existence is no longer possible.
A solid collection, if a little unexciting. Nettel’s prose is deceptively simple and evocative, but I think I prefer her long-form storytelling where there’s room to dig deep into examining the interiority of her character’s minds.
April 15, 2025
Çevirdim, artık 5 yıldızı basacağım. Üzerimdeki etkisi geçince buraya döner, daha normal bir yorumda bulunurum.
***
Üzerimdeki ilk etkisi geçti. Bu kitabı aylardır farklı mecralarda, farklı okur gruplarıyla konuşuyorum ve Nettel'in en iyi işlerinden olduğuna, zaten Nettel'in çağımızın en cesur, en kuvvetli Latin Amerikalı yazarlarından olduğuna karar verdim. Notum hâlâ 5 yıldız.
***
Üzerimdeki ilk etkisi geçti. Bu kitabı aylardır farklı mecralarda, farklı okur gruplarıyla konuşuyorum ve Nettel'in en iyi işlerinden olduğuna, zaten Nettel'in çağımızın en cesur, en kuvvetli Latin Amerikalı yazarlarından olduğuna karar verdim. Notum hâlâ 5 yıldız.
September 12, 2023
Attendevo questo libro da quando è stato annunciato a piulibripiuliberi di due anni fa e mi ha delusa tremendamente. Nettel è da sempre una delle mie autrici preferite, ma in questa raccolta, a parte la qualche momento perturbante, ho riscontrato una monotonia che mai mi sarei aspettata da lei. Spero il meglio per il futuro, ma per adesso il nostro rapporto scricchiola.
August 8, 2024
Review in English 🇺🇸
May I interest you in:
🪽 a short collection of short stories
🌳 stories about people's lives and those moments that make up their existences
🍬 Stories revolve around living in a pandemic, wanting to leave, living someone else's life, and wanting to change things.
🚪 Unfortunately, these stories also feature themes of regrets (for a past that could have been, for a life that one could have had), jealousy for others and their lives (without fully understanding what that means), and the classic blame-someone-else but do nothing to change. [Sorry if this disappoints you -- I am a go-getter / no-non-sense human]
----
Recensione in italiano 🇮🇹
Non scrivo mai reviews in italiano, ma siccome ho letto in libro nella mia lingua madre, questa volta ci provo (nota: raramente leggo, scrivo e parlo in italiano, so this review features a butchered Italian).
Leggete questo libro se vi interessano le seguenti:
🪽 una collezione di storie corte che si legge in qualche ora
🌳 storie che riguardano le vite di diverse persone and quei momenti che cambiano/definiscono le loro vite
🍬 storie che includono temi legati a: vivere in una pandemia, voler andare via (tornare a casa), voler vivere la vita di qualcun altro, e voler cambiare la propria vita
🚪 Sfortunatamente, queste storie includono anche rimpianti (per passati che potevano essere, per vite che uno avrebbe potuto avere), gelosia verso altri e altre vite, e il classimo diamo la colpa ad altri, ma non facciamo un granche' per cambiare.
May I interest you in:
🪽 a short collection of short stories
🌳 stories about people's lives and those moments that make up their existences
🍬 Stories revolve around living in a pandemic, wanting to leave, living someone else's life, and wanting to change things.
🚪 Unfortunately, these stories also feature themes of regrets (for a past that could have been, for a life that one could have had), jealousy for others and their lives (without fully understanding what that means), and the classic blame-someone-else but do nothing to change. [Sorry if this disappoints you -- I am a go-getter / no-non-sense human]
----
Recensione in italiano 🇮🇹
Non scrivo mai reviews in italiano, ma siccome ho letto in libro nella mia lingua madre, questa volta ci provo (nota: raramente leggo, scrivo e parlo in italiano, so this review features a butchered Italian).
Leggete questo libro se vi interessano le seguenti:
🪽 una collezione di storie corte che si legge in qualche ora
🌳 storie che riguardano le vite di diverse persone and quei momenti che cambiano/definiscono le loro vite
🍬 storie che includono temi legati a: vivere in una pandemia, voler andare via (tornare a casa), voler vivere la vita di qualcun altro, e voler cambiare la propria vita
🚪 Sfortunatamente, queste storie includono anche rimpianti (per passati che potevano essere, per vite che uno avrebbe potuto avere), gelosia verso altri e altre vite, e il classimo diamo la colpa ad altri, ma non facciamo un granche' per cambiare.
March 12, 2025
“yoldan çıkanlar”la birlikte guadalupe nettel’in türkçedeki bütün kitaplarını okumuş oldum ve romanlarını daha çok sevdiğimi söylemem mümkün.
“yoldan çıkanlar”daki öyküler aslında nettel’in gezinmeyi sevdiği yerlerde geçiyor. sanırım bunların istisnası “pembe kapı� ve “rehavet�, bu ikisi biraz daha fantastik, gerçeküstü gibi ama ben nettel’in çocukluk, aile deşmesini seviyorum, buna kesin karar verdim, o nedenle de bu ikisi en az sevdiğim öyküler oldu ki pembe kapı kitaba muhteşem bir kapak kazandırmış yine de.
ilk öykü kitabın en güçlülerinden “la impronta� çocukluğa, hafızaya ve aileye dair nefis bir öykü. hem şaşırdım hem üzüldüm hem ne kadar olabilir bir gerçekliği yazdığını düşündüm. bunun dışında “ateşle oyun� hem pandemide geçmesi hem de yine yazarın sevdiği anne-çocuk meselesine dair olduğu için bence iyilerdendi. kardeşlik ve iyi çocuk kötü çocuk meselesi benim de didiklemeyi çok sevdiğim şeyler, burada nettel içinde olmak istemeyeceği bir duruma sürüklüyor okuru.
sevdiğim bir diğer öykü “yoldan çıkanlar� oldu, daha doğrusu öykü muhteşem başladı, sıradanlaştı ve öyle bitti. halbuki ilk sayfada çocukluğa dair söyledikleriyle çok heyecanlanmıştım. yine de dediğim gibi kitabın iyilerinden.
“başka yerde hayat”� erkeklerden nefret etmeniz için okunacaklar listesine alabilirim. öylesine sinir bozucu bir erkek karakter var, öykünün sonunda ağzını burnunu kırmak istemem evet biliyorum nettel’in başarısı.
klasik bir dili, uzun cümleleri var nettel’in. yani aslında aykırılık peşindeki latin amerikalı yazarlara göre daha klasik, daha dingin bir herde duruyor gibi geliyor bana. banu karakaş da bu dili ve anlatımı türkçeye yine mükemmel çevirmiş. bunu özellikle uzun cümlelerde çok iyi anladım. eline sağlık.
“yoldan çıkanlar”daki öyküler aslında nettel’in gezinmeyi sevdiği yerlerde geçiyor. sanırım bunların istisnası “pembe kapı� ve “rehavet�, bu ikisi biraz daha fantastik, gerçeküstü gibi ama ben nettel’in çocukluk, aile deşmesini seviyorum, buna kesin karar verdim, o nedenle de bu ikisi en az sevdiğim öyküler oldu ki pembe kapı kitaba muhteşem bir kapak kazandırmış yine de.
ilk öykü kitabın en güçlülerinden “la impronta� çocukluğa, hafızaya ve aileye dair nefis bir öykü. hem şaşırdım hem üzüldüm hem ne kadar olabilir bir gerçekliği yazdığını düşündüm. bunun dışında “ateşle oyun� hem pandemide geçmesi hem de yine yazarın sevdiği anne-çocuk meselesine dair olduğu için bence iyilerdendi. kardeşlik ve iyi çocuk kötü çocuk meselesi benim de didiklemeyi çok sevdiğim şeyler, burada nettel içinde olmak istemeyeceği bir duruma sürüklüyor okuru.
sevdiğim bir diğer öykü “yoldan çıkanlar� oldu, daha doğrusu öykü muhteşem başladı, sıradanlaştı ve öyle bitti. halbuki ilk sayfada çocukluğa dair söyledikleriyle çok heyecanlanmıştım. yine de dediğim gibi kitabın iyilerinden.
“başka yerde hayat”� erkeklerden nefret etmeniz için okunacaklar listesine alabilirim. öylesine sinir bozucu bir erkek karakter var, öykünün sonunda ağzını burnunu kırmak istemem evet biliyorum nettel’in başarısı.
klasik bir dili, uzun cümleleri var nettel’in. yani aslında aykırılık peşindeki latin amerikalı yazarlara göre daha klasik, daha dingin bir herde duruyor gibi geliyor bana. banu karakaş da bu dili ve anlatımı türkçeye yine mükemmel çevirmiş. bunu özellikle uzun cümlelerde çok iyi anladım. eline sağlık.
February 8, 2025
“Yoldan Çıkanlar"sıradan hayatların içindeki ani sapmaları, beklenmedik kırılmaları anlatan bir öykü kitabı. Guadalupe Nettel’in sade ama etkileyici dili, karakterlerin psikolojisini çok güzel yansıtıyor.
Çeviri mükemmeldi. İyi bir çeviri ile okunan kitap su gibi akıp gidiyor. Banu Karakaş gerçekten harika bir iş çıkarmış. Metnin doğallığını, akıcılığını ve duygusunu çok iyi vermiş. Çeviri sayesinde kitabın atmosferine daha kolay girebildim.
Çeviri mükemmeldi. İyi bir çeviri ile okunan kitap su gibi akıp gidiyor. Banu Karakaş gerçekten harika bir iş çıkarmış. Metnin doğallığını, akıcılığını ve duygusunu çok iyi vermiş. Çeviri sayesinde kitabın atmosferine daha kolay girebildim.
February 22, 2025
I greatly enjoyed this series of short stories. They revolve around interpersonal relationships between families and the secrets (both known and unknown) that exist within them. The collection begins more grounded and progresses to being more speculative. There is nothing better than a short story collection that has a shared motif to raise the experience and this has that. However, a couple of stories brought the average down for the collection. Still, a greatly enjoyable reading experience that had a couple of 'ohhh' moments with revelations.
June 12, 2024
Me hizo acordar mucho a los cuentos de Gianni Rodari que leia cuando era chica 🥰
November 12, 2024
The Accidentals
By Guadalupe Nettel
Translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey
Eight short stories with a common theme of displacement in some form another; a sliding door moment, an inadvertent betrayal, a brush with death, a story of being careful what you wish for, a story of watching someone else live the life you wanted for yourself, a dystopian imagining of living 15 years into a pandemic where lockdown is permanent.
At about 15 minutes for each story this collection could be gulped down in one go, but like all brilliant short stories, they each spark something in the imagination that makes them highly discussable. The writing style invites the reader straight in and with the exception of one, I found myself brooding over them and chatting about their premises with anyone who would listen.
My personal favourite is Life Elsewhere, but that is purely down to that whiffle we get when we encounter a familiar and loved location in our reading, in this case Gràcia in Barcelona.
I couldn't recommend this collection enough, a perfect combination of thematically contemporary and technically classical short stories that I could imagine George Saunders giving a big "Russian Greats" thumps up to.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #fitzcarraldoeditions for the ARC
By Guadalupe Nettel
Translated from the Spanish by Rosalind Harvey
Eight short stories with a common theme of displacement in some form another; a sliding door moment, an inadvertent betrayal, a brush with death, a story of being careful what you wish for, a story of watching someone else live the life you wanted for yourself, a dystopian imagining of living 15 years into a pandemic where lockdown is permanent.
At about 15 minutes for each story this collection could be gulped down in one go, but like all brilliant short stories, they each spark something in the imagination that makes them highly discussable. The writing style invites the reader straight in and with the exception of one, I found myself brooding over them and chatting about their premises with anyone who would listen.
My personal favourite is Life Elsewhere, but that is purely down to that whiffle we get when we encounter a familiar and loved location in our reading, in this case Gràcia in Barcelona.
I couldn't recommend this collection enough, a perfect combination of thematically contemporary and technically classical short stories that I could imagine George Saunders giving a big "Russian Greats" thumps up to.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #fitzcarraldoeditions for the ARC
Displaying 1 - 30 of 314 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.