Reviews

The Impostor and Other Stories by Silvina Ocampo

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lostcupofstars's review

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No sorry I’m not reading another dry book.

zoebeketova's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I'm afraid these read to me like the juvenilia of an overwrought teenager. They are written in a style that hints at profundity but no matter how hard I look, there's nothing there. There's an occasional one that has the nugget of an excellent little horror story in it, like The Clock House - a hunchback with a wrinkled suit who possibly comes to a rather horrific end. Or possibly he doesn't - the unreliability of the narrators means that every story is possibly merely the ravings of a madwoman/man/child. Her obsession with death becomes wearing after a while, especially since even that doesn't feel real, but rather a device she is using for effect. The title story is longer and more substantial - rather sub-Poe with the possibly mad narrator again, moderately dark and reasonably effective. But the other stories are shorter, sometimes not much more than fragments, and the impression they leave is fleeting.

There are 48 stories in the book, and I've read about a quarter of them. I'm afraid I'm increasingly reluctant to spend time on something that is giving me very little enjoyment. I don't hate the stories, but I think they rarely rise above the level of mediocre. Maybe there are lots of great stories among the ones I'm choosing not to read. Maybe I'll read more of them one day. Maybe they will work better for people who are fonder of the surreal and the abstract. Maybe it's all more meaningful if you fully understand the culture in which she was writing. Maybe.

2½ stars for me, so rounded up.

cattytrona's review

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4.0

So glad I picked this up on a whim. Some really great short stories — especially the ones that felt like something I’d seen before done in a new way. They felt like magical realism I could click with for the first time. Even the ones I liked less (which tended to be the longer parts, or the ones towards the end of the book), were still compelling: Ocampo is very good.