HORACIO QUIROGA BOOK REVIEW

T he author, borne in Salto, Uruguay, in 1878, had some personality trends, close, familiar to your favorite bloguer.  However, the reason to suggest this book is that Quiroga, like Edgar Allan Poe were masters of the short story, my favorite kind of reading.

I encountered Horacio, half a life ago, while in college.  Besides gardening, the whole court, reading in English or Spanish have made life bearable and worth while.

Horacio Quiroga's, 'Anaconda', Editorial Losada, Buenos Aires, deals with nature, flora, fauna and men. Let the record show that our 'Anaconda' has nothing to do with that Hollywood trash film with similar tittle.

It tells the story from the perspective, focus, of two different types of snakes, those with venom and the others. Their relation with animals, horses, dogs and men.


The structure, interaction of its elements, dialogues, setting, atmosphere, moods,
weather conditions, plot, climax and epilogue are really out of the ordinary, at least from my experience of five decades as a reader.


At sixty, it is hard to find captivating stories, particularly one so pertinent and related to the environment, without becoming a treatise or documentary.


Everything one needs to know about snakes;  hunting, aesthetics, colors, form, botanical names, habits, dislike for each other, perception of men,  and their environmental surroundings, is provided in 'Anaconda' from their 'own' view, with botanical, geographical accuracy, but with literary rigor, never a documentary or paper.

In brief  'Anaconda' (over 70 years old) and others from Horacio Quiroga, deserve some attention today, considering the narrative and dialogue vitality irreversible damage to the environment, flora and fauna, water, soil, air in the whole wild world.