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A review by alexbookington
El llano en llamas by Juan Rulfo
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
GRRM's Broken Man speech is highly praised. This book is the "show, don't tell" version of that.
It's haunting, it's dark, it makes you think. It never underestimates the reader. It's a fast read with enough variety in each short story, not just in plot but even in style and framing devices, that it keeps you wanting more.
Briefly I thought the book suffered by not including the societal context and backdrop to which the stories are set, but rather it's the complete opposite: it gives the book a cosmopolitan timeless feel.
Same with the vocabulary. It's so alienating but it plays into the perspective of the stories. it both grounds you and unsettles you in a way that is hard to achieve. It goes beyond sympathy, it forces a kind of empathy.
There's a certain genius to the book. It seems so simple at first until something clicks. For me it was realizing the location of The Burning Plain story was not named The Burning Plain, but rather, The Plain. The Plain was burning. The Plain was set aflame by bandits, by soldiers, by war, by revolution, by institutional societal cruelty, by a self-perpetuating cicle of violence.
It's haunting, it's dark, it makes you think. It never underestimates the reader. It's a fast read with enough variety in each short story, not just in plot but even in style and framing devices, that it keeps you wanting more.
Briefly I thought the book suffered by not including the societal context and backdrop to which the stories are set, but rather it's the complete opposite: it gives the book a cosmopolitan timeless feel.
Same with the vocabulary. It's so alienating but it plays into the perspective of the stories. it both grounds you and unsettles you in a way that is hard to achieve. It goes beyond sympathy, it forces a kind of empathy.
There's a certain genius to the book. It seems so simple at first until something clicks. For me it was realizing the location of The Burning Plain story was not named The Burning Plain, but rather, The Plain. The Plain was burning. The Plain was set aflame by bandits, by soldiers, by war, by revolution, by institutional societal cruelty, by a self-perpetuating cicle of violence.