3.5

‘What is life? A little flame at the tip of a candle, exposed to a strong wind.’

Peruvian writer Julio Ramón Ribeyro (1929-1994) was a masterful short story writer with a sly wit and comically pessimistic flair. Despite a lengthy legacy and notoriety, his stories have only recently been made available to the English speaking world through [a:Katherine Silver|124450|Katherine Silver|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s wonderful translation and collected in The Word of the Speechless from NYRB. A sampler plate of stories selected from 10 story collections spanning 1955-1992, The Word of the Speechless offers a delightful look at Ribeyro’s range as he noticeably matures as a writer. Not that this discounts the earlier stories, which are quite playful and witty, but the later half of the stories blossom with a marvelous depth of texture and subtle nuance that really outshines the former stories. Ribyero delivers a unique and fun perception, focusing on failures, shortcomings and disagreements with his characters to reveal with a wink a sardonic humanity inside us all.

The cast of characters across these stories is quite diverse, everything from those living in destitution to stuffy aristocrats. However, most of these characters seem on the fringes of either society or their own lives, frantic and verging on despair. In a letter to his editor, Ribyero explains:

’in most of my stories, those who are deprived of words in life find expression--the marginalized, the forgotten, those condemned to an existence without harmony and without voice. I have restored to them the breath they’ve been denied, and I’ve allowed them to modulate their own longings, outburst, and distress.’

These stories would feel dark or morbid in lesser hands, but Ribyero offers a delightful charm that keeps them upbeat and fairly humorous. Earlier stories may draw comparisons with [a:Jorge Luis Borges|500|Jorge Luis Borges|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1537559279p2/500.jpg] or the more experimental works of [a:Julio Cortázar|25824|Julio Cortázar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496948373p2/25824.jpg] for their ironic situations and clever twists. A man follows a trail of blood to discover it leads to his own body, another in search of his ‘double’, travels around the world only to discover upon returning that his own double had been renting his apartment in his absence. Stories from his middle period have a quality to them akin of [a:Roberto Bolaño|72039|Roberto Bolaño|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1617204588p2/72039.jpg] or Dutch writer [a:Nescio|634032|Nescio|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1266156897p2/634032.jpg]--particularly The First Snow--in that they reach towards something but leave the reader just before the precipice of any revelation. His final period of work, however, may be his strongest.

Ribyero was a bit of an enigmatic figure in his own life. While best known for his short stories, he also penned novels and plays and was a UNESCO ambassador. He lived most of his life in Europe but his heart remained in Peru, where most of his fiction takes place. [a:Mario Vargas Llosa|22515|Mario Vargas Llosa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1569483424p2/22515.jpg], a friend of Ribyero’s who celebrated his short stories, criticized Ribyero in an essay for not having any political convictions or consistency, which he attributed to trying to remain apolitical due to his UNESCO appointment. Ribyero himself avoided taking much stock in political ideology, best characterized in the comedic story The Insignia, which features a man rising quickly in the ranks of a secret political society without ever understanding what they even believe in or stand for.

I came to this collection upon seeing the introduction was by [a:Alejandro Zambra|1267908|Alejandro Zambra|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1467812977p2/1267908.jpg] (whom I HIGHLY recommend as well). Zambra, it seems, takes some inspiration from Ribyero, particularly the story For Smokers Only. The story, at 30pgs making it one of the longest in the collection, verges towards autobiography as a history of life with smoking and other famous authors for whom smoking was part of their identity. Zambra’s own I Smoked Very Well seems to follow in Ribyero’s footsteps, continuing the legacy of smoking in this canon of authors Ribyero weaves together. This story is a must read for anyone who enjoyed [b:Zeno's Conscience|84737|Zeno's Conscience|Italo Svevo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634559146l/84737._SY75_.jpg|66906] or is a fan of the biliophile narratives of [a:Enrique Vila-Matas|25591|Enrique Vila-Matas|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1420293419p2/25591.jpg].

While this is a joy, it is a tad unfortunate that the collection is so sparse and does not contain a larger selection of stories. Particularly since it will leave the reader hungry for more and, alas, there are not more currently translated. Hopefully this sampler will lead to grants for translations of his full collections or of his two novels, as Ribyero is a bright shining voice in Latin American fiction and resonates well in a modern audience. Playful, witty and charmingly depraved, this is a worthwhile collection and insight into a fantastic writer.

4 / 5

Exceptional, great to have more of his work in English. Read Silivio in the Rose Garden ages ago and have always wanted to read more of his work.

4.5 stars. I was entranced by the tone and worldview of Ribeyro's work, which is maybe harder to get a bead on than any of the 'Latin American Boom' authors that I've read. I'd love to read one of his novels, but Zambra's cheeky introduction seems to dissuade from choosing one indiscriminately. Another wonderful edition packaged by NYRB.