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A review by brogan7
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
dark
medium-paced
4.25
Strange, slightly surreal settings or situations in this book of short stories make for a quirky universe but somehow also a compelling read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
At times the fact that it's a translation leaks through the text, and the author's voice always has that monotone quality, consistent from story to story. But in some stories, in particular "Breath from the depths," the longest story, the dry, pedantic language really works with the creepy world and its situations. This story, about a woman with dementia, is the most moving of the collection, to me. Reminiscent of the film "The father," it gives a sense of the destabilizing nature of dementia, how you can't know what's real and everything gets twisted and you can't connect with other people.
I liked "None of that," also, the very first story, in which a girl and her mother go into strangers' houses and yards to rearrange things; in which the mother's mental illness make her motivations obscure, but lead to lines like: "She's not going to say much more. But that is exactly what we do. Go out to look at houses. We go out to look at other people's houses. Any attempt to figure out why could turn it into the straw that breaks the camel's back, confirmation of the fact that my mother has been throwing her own daughter's time in the garbage for as long as I can remember." (p.4-5)
It's not a pretty phrase, but it works because it is exactly what it feels like to be a teenager and irked with your parent. It's rougher than "wasted her daughter's time," and it's fresher, too. The girl's anger seethes.
I also liked, strangely, "An Unlucky Man," not because I liked where she took the story but because the situation itself was so wild and quirky. Opening line: "The day I turned eight, my sister--who absolutely always had to be the center of attention--swallowed an entire cup of bleach." (p.157). You read this story and you feel like an eight year old, you know that Schweblin has not forgotten what it was like to be eight years old, and it's fresh and funny and vulnerable to be eight years old.
An interesting collection, quick read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Dementia