A review by ysabellabeya
The Houseguest: And Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 —4.0 stars
It was true stroke of genius to measure suffering by degrees, to assign different categories and limits. Some say that pain lasts forever and never runs out; but I believe that past the 10th degree of my scale, all that's left is the memory of pain, hurting only in recollection.

There's always something about these weird-fic modern fairytale genre that made me fall in love with Latin-American Literature. 

"The Houseguest and Other Stories" by Amparo Davila is one hell of a ride, an experience shrinked into a 144 pages of anxiety, paranoia and hysteria. The book explored themes such as the unwelcomed arrival of death when it's least expected, the inescapable confinement to depression, the fear of owning a body you thought once was yours but just a living shadow of someone, and the slow build up from anxiety to hysteria and dissolve into complete madness. 

After finished reading the book it did not scare me as the usual, gory, visualistic scare but its anxious nature and mundane terrors that fucks you up in the brain is far enough to terrify me. I had a good start with "Moses and Gaspar." Did not like "The Houseguest. " I love the irony in the story "Fragments of a Diary," 'destroying your happiness as you master the art of suffering.' "Musique Concrete," is a personal favorite. "End of a Struggle," there is always something about the idea of doppelgangers that terrifies me. "Tina Reyes," the whole sequence is just a depiction of spiralling down into a rabbit hole of complete paranoia. "The Breakfast," "The Last Summer," and "The Funeral," the endings were good, great execution but I would say, predictable. 

This book is definitely a hit-or-miss and not everyone's cup of tea. The endings are quite predictable for me and did not suprised me at all, I've either read it somewhere or I've seen it in the movies. It had me thinking about maybe I was destined to discover the works of Poe or even Kafka, and maybe even love them. 

The horror of uncertainty of the things that may or may not be there that crept in your mind, spread through your brain until it poisons your mentality have always left me in distraught. This one's a nightmare. 

"Yes, it's me. You can sleep in peace now, my darling, tonight and every other night. The toad will never bother you again."