Contratiempo
Author: Jorge Alberto Perez
Genre: Short story collection
Original publication date: September 30, 2018
Book description (from Good Reads): it plays with the multiple facets of memories, fast forwarding and slowing down the clock in them altering them in a very unique way.
Thouhts:
We see him explore several nonconventional storytelling. It is very refreshing and even if each story has a different style, they don't feel jarring.
Also, it weaves in music some of the pieces are original work and you can find the lyrics and music score as well. It adds to each story where its included. There are quiet a bit of stories here but again short stories it not good to say too much otherwise its spoiled, so I'll describe them very briefly.
*The first tale is Nacimos el mismo dia or we were born the same day.
It is the story about two young people but the timeline is very changing they are bron six years apart, yet they meet during their young years both at the same age, when they met previously when he was older, she was older.
It is all so confusing, they care for one another and yet they are ripped apart from one moment to the next, they ahve time against one another.
It is a short quick read.
*La chica de los dos celulares or the girl with two cellphones (very literal translations)
This is a very interesting narrative. It is told in questions, no answers are provided but you get the idea of the story as the new questions come in.
A very unique way of storytelling.
*Click
A professional photographer is asked to a shooting for which he cannot say no. He gets a few surprises among them he rediscovers the passion he feels for the photograpy. And of course we see what that earns him.
*For sale
This is a life story, a man is telling his story of how he came about his fortune. It starts up as several hit of good luck but then their fortune changes.
*Migrants and Tourists
Its very quick snipet, the first one a young man and women meet under unfortunate circunstances. One of them is heavily discriminated and humiliated. Years later, both moved on, but one of them still remembers clearly that day adn that humiliation. Is revenge worth it? We see the moral struggle of deciding what to do about that fateful day years prior.
*Doors and bells
This is an origin story, it tells in very big leaps and very little details how a family kept traditions. They were moving around very often ooking for a new home in each place and adotpeted a new tradition once they were able to finally reach a place and settle down.
*Imagine a story
Here we see the process of how someone is trying to come up with an idea, a story but for which there is already a published work with the same theme. The struggles of how to make something unique and fresh. It is a hilarious journey.
*24
Have you ever felt the need to stay young? How about a perosn who says they are not ashamed of their age and be proud of their years of experience whos imple does not remember their accurate age.
*Rites
It depicts the sanger of mendling with dark arts. Like it!
*I know how to stay in place
A man is trying t catch up with the new order of the world. He is a reporter focused mainly in violence and crime in the city. He is deppressed and mostly dissapointed with humanity. Seeing crime and violence everyday simply makes you come up with morbid jokes.
I am still sure I missed something for starters, not sure what the title is related to. Something went over my head here.
*Short of breath
A runaway lung, imagine that. The reason for the decision are even more surprsing.
*An ear's story
This one the run away is an ear. It is very peculiar situation here, a man meets and ear adn they bond. But soo questions arise, who is she really, where is the rest of her? Why did they become two separate entities?
*What time is it over there?
This one of the longest and one of my favorites. Its a bizare tale of a man who during a very incosecuencial movie funciton suffers a change in part of hia anatomy. Teh consecuences of that are incredible. Again we see a few jumps in time, and you get an explanation for a very peculiar body found. I had forgotten the initial question half way through the story.
Again we see a play of time.
*78 rpm
Its a story of a group of teenager in a small comunity who are trying to find something. They want to leave the small town settings, they seek freedom, music, they want to live!
We see them make mistakes but oh well part of learning, they have to face the consecuences of their actions.
* Translator
A very enoyable haiku
A few other very short ones were:
*Words like ghosts
*Books like people
*&
We see him explore several nonconventional storytelling. It is very refreshing and even if each story has a different style, they don't feel jarring.
Also, it weaves in music some of the pieces are original work and you can find the lyrics and music score as well. It adds to each story where its included. There are quiet a bit of stories here but again short stories it not good to say too much otherwise its spoiled, so I'll describe them very briefly.
*The first tale is Nacimos el mismo dia or we were born the same day.
It is the story about two young people but the timeline is very changing they are bron six years apart, yet they meet during their young years both at the same age, when they met previously when he was older, she was older.
It is all so confusing, they care for one another and yet they are ripped apart from one moment to the next, they ahve time against one another.
It is a short quick read.
*La chica de los dos celulares or the girl with two cellphones (very literal translations)
This is a very interesting narrative. It is told in questions, no answers are provided but you get the idea of the story as the new questions come in.
A very unique way of storytelling.
*Click
A professional photographer is asked to a shooting for which he cannot say no. He gets a few surprises among them he rediscovers the passion he feels for the photograpy. And of course we see what that earns him.
*For sale
This is a life story, a man is telling his story of how he came about his fortune. It starts up as several hit of good luck but then their fortune changes.
*Migrants and Tourists
Its very quick snipet, the first one a young man and women meet under unfortunate circunstances. One of them is heavily discriminated and humiliated. Years later, both moved on, but one of them still remembers clearly that day adn that humiliation. Is revenge worth it? We see the moral struggle of deciding what to do about that fateful day years prior.
*Doors and bells
This is an origin story, it tells in very big leaps and very little details how a family kept traditions. They were moving around very often ooking for a new home in each place and adotpeted a new tradition once they were able to finally reach a place and settle down.
*Imagine a story
Here we see the process of how someone is trying to come up with an idea, a story but for which there is already a published work with the same theme. The struggles of how to make something unique and fresh. It is a hilarious journey.
*24
Have you ever felt the need to stay young? How about a perosn who says they are not ashamed of their age and be proud of their years of experience whos imple does not remember their accurate age.
*Rites
It depicts the sanger of mendling with dark arts. Like it!
*I know how to stay in place
A man is trying t catch up with the new order of the world. He is a reporter focused mainly in violence and crime in the city. He is deppressed and mostly dissapointed with humanity. Seeing crime and violence everyday simply makes you come up with morbid jokes.
I am still sure I missed something for starters, not sure what the title is related to. Something went over my head here.
*Short of breath
A runaway lung, imagine that. The reason for the decision are even more surprsing.
*An ear's story
This one the run away is an ear. It is very peculiar situation here, a man meets and ear adn they bond. But soo questions arise, who is she really, where is the rest of her? Why did they become two separate entities?
*What time is it over there?
This one of the longest and one of my favorites. Its a bizare tale of a man who during a very incosecuencial movie funciton suffers a change in part of hia anatomy. Teh consecuences of that are incredible. Again we see a few jumps in time, and you get an explanation for a very peculiar body found. I had forgotten the initial question half way through the story.
Again we see a play of time.
*78 rpm
Its a story of a group of teenager in a small comunity who are trying to find something. They want to leave the small town settings, they seek freedom, music, they want to live!
We see them make mistakes but oh well part of learning, they have to face the consecuences of their actions.
* Translator
A very enoyable haiku
A few other very short ones were:
*Words like ghosts
*Books like people
*&
These are very short pieces, almost like stream of concisouness.
Over all the style is very interesting and I like it. This is Jorge's debut but I am waiting to see what else he comes up with next.
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