For me, the key to Arvida didn't appear until the final story in the collection, "Madeleines: Arvida III," when Samuel Archibald, describing his development as a writer, says,

"[T]here are always times when I get attached to stories that aren’t stories really, that begin without ending and never get anywhere. Possibilities, dreams, and missed rendezvous. Phantoms and absences.

. . .

Nothing made writing more difficult for me than this fundamental impossibility. Like the anti-madeleines of my father in which all memory is swallowed up, the stories I like are untellable, or suffer from being told, or self-destruct in the very act of being formulated."

I was frustrated by the first six of the 14 stories in Arvida for precisely this reason: they didn't really feel like stories; they didn't go anywhere. I was sure that Arvida was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award ("BTBA") for a reason, though, and once Archibald found his stride, in "A Mirror in the Mirror," he took me to some very dark places indeed.

Arvida's unevenness led to its 3-star rating, but I am glad that I read it and grateful to Biblioasis and the BTBA for introducing me to Archibald's voice.

I received a free copy of Arvida through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Please read my review at the New York Journal of Books:

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/arvida ( )

http://rivesderives.blogspot.ca/2012/11/arvida-samuel-archibald.html ( )