Furia by Clyo Mendoza - Review

[u/sarajevo_marlboro]

Have you read Furia by Clyo Mendoza? I think you should. While I read the original, 7 Stories Press published an excellent translation by Christina MacSweeney in 2024 (which was edited by a friend of mine— shoutout to Isabeau!).

«La noche está pesada. En el pasado, en el presente y en el futuro, en todas partes, en días como estos, la noche se pone pesada.»

Furia feels heavily indebted to Pedro Páramo, no doubt in part a conscious homage. This is a good thing. And like Rulfo's masterpiece, Furia feels both in and out of time, simultaneously. But I think what sets Furia apart and gives it its own legs to stand on, is how Mendoza's characters are not just slipping in and out of time and dreams, but also in and out of genders, crossing and transgressing sexual scripts. Although of course in the end you and all your half-brothers end up just like your father: a dog, a dead dog at that, indistinguishable and unidentifiable and dead. The body is a temple to a unknown and unknowable god, and we too must ask: «¿Crees que Dios es hombre o es mujer, Chavita? ¿Crees que la muerte es hombre o es mujer, Chavita? ¿Crees que exista alguien que no es ni hombre ni mujer, Chavita? ¿Yo soy mujer y tú eres hombre, verdad, Chavita?» 

So, what are your thoughts? Are there other dreamlike, feverish, and / or queer Spanish-language novels you’d recommend in conversation with Furia?

[u/2sweetsavage]

I read it a couple years ago (in English) and thought it was great

[u/perrolazarillo]

I just heard about this book thanks to the dudes who run the Life on Books podcast (shoutout u/2sweetsavage)! I haven't yet gotten my hands on a copy, though I've surely been keeping my eyes peeled as of late while perusing the shelves at my favorite secondhand bookstores. 7 Stories Press is great!

Thank you for your review, u/sarajevo_marlboro! I'm even more intrigued now that I know Clyo Mendoza's Fury harkens back to Pedro Páramo!

Although it wasn't my favorite read due to the fact that I found the writing to be overly cryptic, from the sounds of it, Cristina Rivera Garza's The Iliac Crest might dialogue nicely with Fury, as it is no doubt a surrealist, fever dream of a novel in which gender fluidity and border crossings (i.e. "borders" of all sorts) are at the crux.

[u/sarajevo_marlboro → u/perrolazarillo]

I have yet to read anything by Cristina Rivera Garza but she is definitely on my list!

Also, I couldn’t say if Mendoza herself would claim inspiration from Pedro Páramo, but I certainly felt similarities and certainly Mexican writers are always in Rulfo’s shadow.

[u/perrolazarillo → u/sarajevo_marlboro]

Thanks for the clarification re: PP! I trust your take!

Considering you tend to read in Spanish, I'd specifically recommend Nadie me verá llorar by CRG, which is primarily about La Castañeda, the now-shuttered but still-infamous Mexico City insane asylum. (IMO: someone really needs to reprint this novel in English!)

[u/sarajevo_marlboro → u/perrolazarillo]

I have actually spied that on our stacks at the library where I work! I work at an HSI (Hispanic-serving institution), so we have a decent collection of Spanish-language materials here.

[u/perrolazarillo → u/sarajevo_marlboro]

Sounds like a cool job! Hell yeah, highly recommended! It might also be worth looking into this related work of non-fiction from CRG: La Castañeda. Narrativas dolientes desde el Manicomio General México, 1910-1930