Welcome to Litsy!

I wish I could write like this 😭

This is my first book by Melchor. It's also Melchor's first published book, but the third to be translated into English, & it feels right to start here. Based on her experiences as a journalist in her hometown Veracruz in Mexico, these brief vignettes cast a spell on me for the way it drops the reader immediately into the gritty, dark underbelly of Mexican society. Through it all, the "drug war" is the grim reality that shapes their lives.

One of the shortest titles in the #tob24 long list, this is a collection of pieces set in Veracruz that aren‘t quite journalism and also aren‘t fiction. Vivid and bleak but propulsive, it is easy to tear through the entire collection in one sitting. However as per usual, considering my difficulties with most short stories, I struggled with the brevity of each piece. I am not the reader for this one.

Another interesting read from the #ToB longlist. I can see it making the shortlist, due to the unusual style. These are ‘crónicas‘ a word which apparently has no direct translation into English. The nearest definition would probably be narrative non fiction.

I worried that this would be similar to the Booker-nominated If I Survive You, which I didn‘t really connect with, but this felt a lot warmer, involving and engrossing, with only ⬇️

Falling somewhere between fact and fiction, This is Not Miami paints a picture of Veracruz, Mexico, focusing on the underbelly: a woman accused of murdering her children, a possibly haunted house, the introduction of crack, and more. I found this fully absorbing and thought provoking.

NBA longlist, translated literature

Unflinching shorts on narcoterrorism & violence in her native Veracruz, this time in “relatos” (not fiction, not journalism). When does it become exploitative? Melchior at her best when making readers uncomfortable, but is this telling what‘s best for the subjects? Decries dehumanizing, stock roles projected on certain women, yet she herself sensationalizes some subjects (is the murderous beauty queen now a ghost?). Intentional irony? Trans. 2023