Short Stories Collections

Today I've chosen two writers who are American but whose parents are Mexican and Indian.

The first I'll mention is Sandra Cisneros. She was born in the USA, daughter of a Mexican man and and Mexican-American woman. Her stories are told in the shape of vignettes, showing the lives of Latin American inmigrants who live in the USA but have families in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Rep. Dominicana, keeping in touch with their roots.

Her stories are focused on women and the limits American culture and language impose on them as well as the Latino culture's preconceptions about their rights and obligations.

The language of the stories is poetic, struggling to shade light even in the darkest corners. One of my favourite stories is about a girl who's eleven but explaining that depending on the circumstances, her emotional age changes: She is eleven when she takes care of her younger siblings but she is two when she getS stubborn and wants the last lollipop.

A very different view is shown in Jhumpa Lahiri's stories. She was also born in the USA, both her parents migrating from India. Her narrative displays the lives of the Indian inmigrants in America, the lives of the women enclosed in their flats, alone, the opinions of others regarding their religion and traditions, their beliefs, their emotions.

The language is simpler; however, there is more than what is shown in the surface. She points out the fact that many Americans consider them as 'exotic', denying them the possibility to blend in their surrounding society. As the tourits following the book guide and taking pictures of every monkey they encounter in their way ( in the story 'Interpreter of Maladies'), Americans separate themselves from these inmigrants, considering them foreigners even tough they were born in American soil, just because of the saris they wear and the colour of skin they have.

One of my favourites stories is 'A Temporary Matter', in which Lahiri shows how the gap between a young couple enlarges as they sit in the dark (only iluminated by candles), telling each other secrets, opening their heart for the first time.

Both collections are enriching, the reader learning with each paragraph, digging in the souls of these characters who are trying to find their place as they have their lives divided between two places, not sure which of them they could call HOME.

Ana Ovejero

mail: ana.ovejero@gmail.com

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