Edgard Telles Ribeiro

Two novellas, both well told, one I enjoyed, the other I found disturbing. Each is presented by a different translator.

I liked "The Impostor", in which an unnamed narrator, who translates books, gradually reveals how he has suffered a stroke, was unconscious for several days, seems recovered, but is experiencing more than one timeline, uncertain which one is real.
He and his wife are visiting, or maybe planning to visit Italy.
He talks to his psychiatrist, but feels he is getting more help from visits by his grandson. There are a few other characters he encounters briefly, or dreams of.
And, once, when he was young, his mother told him that a great-granduncle had fallen into Vesuvius.
It is fascinating to follow him, as he describes, "trying to transcend the limits created by familiarity when confronting new realities."

"Blue Butterflies of the Amazon" is twenty-eight short chapters, just like "The Impostor", but narrated in turn by four characters. Elizabeth, in her fifties, is wheelchair bound and unable to speak or move after a stroke, but fully conscious in her own mind. Her husband, her son, and daughter-in-law all live in the same house, and each have their chapters in which they describe their versions of what is happening. There is also a clairvoyant who helps Elizabeth slowly begin to recover. This is a dark tale, making me wonder whether or not to continue reading, but which Telles brings to a satisfying end.
.… (más)

Two enjoyable novellas. In the first, a man travels to Italy with his wife for, shall we say, R&R? Throughout the story, he keeps having memories of boyhood and also, later in life, both before and after a small stroke, after which he feels like he is an "imposter"; he isn't his "real" self. Flashbacks are seamlessly woven into the story. It shows us how powerful memories and perceptions can be.
In the second, we follow the dynamics of a family's relationships: a father, disabled mother, son and his wife. The father is probably at loose ends so that's maybe why he acts as he does and since they live in the same house, the daughter-in-law IS a temptation. He's given up a toy store he ran, but he does have a collection of blue butterflies--not enough to keep him busy, though. We are told the story from different points of view of everyone involved. This aspect is also well done.… (más)