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Winston González and Carmen Lucía Alvarado agree on a very important aspect of Juárez literature. The first says that there is no redemption in Juárez’s literary works (stories and novels). The second points out that his narratives present only what exists (“this is how it is”) and nothing more. I can only agree with these observations. His short stories collected in this book, as well as the novels Portrait of a Drunkard and a State (2008), Atrocities Exposed (2011), Trash (2018) and Dogs, Too Many Dogs (2022) are testaments to González’s observations and Alvarado’s.
However, while there is no redemption in their stories, the tragedy of their characters is that many of them have a desire to save themselves, a desire to find meaning and tenderness, even though life, society and other people do not allow them to find them. This, by the way, reminds me of Camus’ definition of the absurd: the tension between the need to find meaning in life and the meaninglessness of life. I think the same thing happens in Juarez’s literary creation, which expresses the existential mood in the framework of the Guatemalan City underground society.
An example of this impossibility (no salvation, but a desire for tenderness and recognition) is the character in the story at the beginning of the book: A Day in the Life of Oscar Sanabavici,
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In fact, the story takes place in a single day in the life of this character. From riding the abominable city transport, awakening the most violent fantasies to avenge the humiliation suffered, through the inhumanity of work, including the relationships established in large companies, to escaping to that alienated universe where only violence and degradation are reproduced.
However, the final paragraph of the story expresses a desire that the violent and chaotic world the characters live in is not the final outcome. It bears quoting:
«Inside the patrol car, with his head against the window, Oscar couldn’t stop thinking about Rabara’s innocent protestations, just like him, that night all he wanted from life was a hug. A life-saving hug. (p. 27)
The characters can’t find that life-saving hug. Indeed. But the desire for something different—recognition, approval, tenderness, understanding—is there.
The stories in this book make the author a necessary witness to our times and our situation, bearing witness to all that is and the harshness of it.
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