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    Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories
    Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories
    Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories
    Audiobook5 hours

    Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories

    Written by Mariana Enriquez

    Narrated by Tanya Eby

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    An arresting collection of short stories, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and Julio Cortazar, by an exciting new international talent.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateFeb 21, 2017
    ISBN9781681684642
    Author

    Mariana Enriquez

    Mariana Enriquez (Buenos Aires, 1973) es periodista, subeditora del suplemento Radar del diario Página/12  y docente. Desde su incorporación al catálogo en el año 2016, Anagrama ha publicado las novelas Bajar es lo peor y Nuestra parte de noche (Premio Herralde de Novela y Premio de la Crítica 2019); las colecciones de cuentos Los peligros de fumar en la cama, Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego, publicada en veinte países y galardonada en 2017 con el Premi Ciutat de Barcelona en la categoría «Literatura en lengua castellana» y Un lugar soleado para gente sombría; el perfil La hermana menor, acerca de la escritora Silvina Ocampo; las crónicas de Alguien camina sobre tu tumba y sus crónicas periodísticas reunidas en El otro lado. Retratos, fetichismos, confesiones (en edición de Leila Guerriero).

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    Reviews for Things We Lost in the Fire

    4/5

    487 ratings84 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a mixed bag of dark supernatural stories set in or around Argentina. Some stories are liked more than others, while some feel like a punchline that never landed. The haunting atmosphere is well set up, but there are concerns about the end of chapters being cut. Overall, the collection is impressive, wonderfully dark, and beautifully written. The narration is spot on and the book belongs on the shelves.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A dark and sometimes macabre collection of stories set in Argentina reminiscent of Shirley Jackson. Descriptive, enthralling, and deeply human, Enriquez evokes a range of emotions from fear to suspense to sympathy and disgust. The author explores the underbelly of human nature with a variety of psychological and physical horrors. A wonderful collection from a Latin American author that is certainly not for the faint of heart.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      After having read The Dangers of Smoking in Bed; I had to give this one a try.
      Mariana Enriquez stories are purely intriguing; I get so into it that I completely loose track of time.
    • 5/5
      Very impressive narrative. I love the fact that you have absolutely no idea where the stories are going.
    • 3/5
      Enriquez sets up the haunting atmosphere so well but this was a mixed bag for me. Some I liked a lot more than others. Some felt like a punchline that never landed.
    • 5/5
      It’s such an amazing collection of stories! Need to get more of her translated into English.
    • 1/5
      Are the end of chapters cut? Seems like they end in a mid sentence?
    • 4/5
      Dark and creepy short stories set in Argentina that are very well done but too disturbing for my taste. The author was compared to Shirley Jackson and George Saunders but I enjoy those authors' stories a lot more. A pretty good collection but just not for me.
    • 4/5
      Die argentinische Journalistin (Jg. 1973) veröffentlicht in ihrem international beachteten Erzählband 12 Geschichten: Eine Frau wohnt in einem ererbten Haus in Buenos Aires. Ein Armenviertel in dem überall der Tod lauert, Stromsperren und Drogenkriminalität sind an der Tagesordnung. Sie beobachtet einen Straßenjungen, kümmert sich um ihn und zerbricht fasst daran, als ein Kind tot geborgen wird.- In einem heruntergekommen Spukhaus dringen Kinder ein u. versuchen den bösen Geistern die Stirn zu bieten, doch der Tod lauert in diesem Höllenhaus. - Ein zerstrittenes Ehepaar reist nach Paraguay um dort auf dem Markt günstig einzukaufen. Aber die Zustände im Nachbarland sind deprimierend, Dreck, Armut und Kriminalität lauern an jeder Ecke. -Ein psychisch gestörtes Mädchen verstümmelt sich selbst und übt eine faszinierende Macht auf ihre Mitschülerinnen aus, eine andere junge Frau wurde von ihrem Mann verbrannt. Sie ist furchtbar entstellt und bettelt in der U-Bahn für ihren Lebensunterhalt. Verstörende Stories einer verlorenen Gesellschaft, die dem Leser einiges abverlangen. Für ausgebaute Bestände möglich.
    • 5/5
      A fantastic collection. Wonderfully dark. Beautifully written. And the narration was spot on.
      Loved every story.
      Can't even favour one, to be honest.
      I also have no doubt I will read this one again sometime, and I'll definitely be looking to be buying myself the hardback edition, that's for sure.
      This one belongs on the shelves.


      Five stars.

    • 5/5
      Things We Lost in the Fire stories by Mariana Enriquez is haunting in its scope and depth of humanity and horror. These stories cover the bleakness of the slums of Argentina and desperation of the inhabitants there. There is contempt for the poorest of the poor and how the land is treated with filth, waste and ignorance. While there is the supernatural horror element in these stories, there is also the human horror of how the individual is treated, especially women. In these stories women fall out of love; disobey some rule; struggle with mental illness; women are burned alive and ultimately women forge ahead to a "different kind of beauty." Enriquez gives the reader an excellent collection of work that examines differing types of horror both internal and external forces. I enjoyed these works especially final story "Things We Lost in the Fire" where the concept of new kind of beauty and rebellion through pain springs forth from the hands of punishment(which is not explained). I would read these stories again to tease out the nuances that make it a rich collection of horror.
    • 4/5
      A great collection of stories set in or around Argentina. Each has a dark supernatural element to it while maintaining what I imagine it feels like to grow up and live in those areas
    • 3/5
      An interesting collection of short stories, many of which were dark. I was most fond of the final tale: one in which women burn themselves as a way to bring attention to their mistreatment. It's the kind of subversive idea I like, but that also possesses a kind of horror, which the author leans into.
    • 4/5
      A collection of contemporary stories all set in Argentina.

      All the stories are dark, creepy, scary, gruesome, terrifying. The repeating themes are haunted places and ghosts, child abuse and abused children, drug abuse, homelessness, people who are mutilated either by birth or accident or through cruelty or (shockingly in the title story) by choice.

      I want to think I'm not a fan of dark short stories, but my reading list and reviews tell me I really love to be shocked and horrified - but only for 10 or 20 pages at a go.

    • 4/5
      I am a huge fan of Shirley Jackson so the description of this book called out to me and I had to have it.
      The stories are quite dark, but not your usual blood and guts kind of horror. Most of the stories begin with ordinary sounding circumstances which lends them a taste of realism that you don't often get in today's horror. The fear builds slowly and subtly. I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite, as they were all quite good. I was definitely impressed with the title story which was saved for last. As well as "The Inn" where two friends sneak into a hotel room that has been host to a violent past. "Adela's House" was a chilling tale of a one armed girl and the night she and her friends would have been better off to avoid an abandoned house. "An Invocation of the Big Eared Runt" is an excellent tale of a happily married man who works the "murder tour" taking tourists along the paths of infamous murders. The more obsessed he becomes with a child murderer the less happy he is with his wife and new baby....
      "Spiderweb" by contrast had the main characters in an unhappy marriage. Juan Martin is a know it all who knows nothing, not even that his wife has had just about enough of his complaining and uselessness.
      A young woman who has suffered with depression has some horrific suspicions about what is going on in "The Neighbor's Courtyard."
      If you enjoy dark tales of the macabre and malevolent this is the book for you.
      I received a complimentary copy for review
    • 5/5
      All of these stories are great. And some I absolutely loved. If someone ever created an art series about these, I'd decorate my library with the prints. The stories are so incredibly beautiful and graphic. They'd make a good TV series too.

      Enríquez's writing, translated by Megan McDowell, reminded me a lot of Francesca Lia Block's writing in that they both manage to infuse a lot of magic into the places and women they write about. It's darkly romantic and fantastical. This made me want to live in Argentina as much as Block has made me want to live in L.A. The stories were a mix of horrific, creepy, and ominous and all seemed to deal with different aspects of girlhood and womanhood.

      My favorites were The Intoxicated Years, An Invocation of the Big Eared Runt, and Things We Lost in the Fire.

      My only very minor complaint is that some of these felt like they ended too soon. I wanted more.

      I can't wait to buy this in Spanish and explore more of Mariana Enríquez's writing.
    • 5/5
      Thrummingly strange dark stories. Some of them are straight-up horror in the classic molds; others barely have any supernatural twinges at all. But all of them, as translator-extraordinaire Megan McDowell's afterword notes, grapple with the darkness that shot through Argentina in the years after the end of the dictatorships. Some of these tales will remain seared into my mind for a long time, and I can't wait to read more Enríquez.
    • 4/5
      3.5?

      Not the best collection I've read in the last year, but there are several super strong stories here that almost carry the rest of them. Creepy, messed up, gory.
    • 5/5
      Excellent writing.
    • 4/5
      The horror may just be what people do to themselves, what they do to others, what insanity does to them, or maybe there is really something horrific.
    • 3/5
      A collection of 12 short stories set in Argentina. From the description of the book, I was expecting horror stories. I guess these could be classified as such, but not in the traditional sense. Some of these stories have a paranormal element to them. Others rely on the horror of humanity acting badly. The stories were all fairly short and very readable. I thought all were interesting, but I was left with an overall feeling of disappointment. I wanted more from the book. I wanted to feel invested in the characters, and I wanted to feel scared. This did not happen.

      My favorite stories in the collection were Adela's House, Spiderweb and Things We Lost in the Fire.

      I received a free ARC from Penguin's First to Read program.
    • 4/5
      The first story in a collection has to set the tone for the rest. This book opens with one of the grimmest crimes imaginable - but, mercifully, it doesn’t get worse from there. Still, the sense of dread hangs over every scenario that follows. A great, weird, spooky set of stories that mixes ghosts and grisly gang murders with South American politics. Definitely worth a look.
    • 5/5
      Argentina has a beguiling reputation as a country. Visit and you might think you’re somewhere in Europe with its Instagram-worthy architecture and alluring cafe culture. But it also has a dark past, which isn’t so obvious on the surface. Memory is so short but in the seventies and early eighties, Argentina witnessed an incredible purge. People were abducted, tortured in killed in the thousands, political enemies of Pinochet’s military dictatorship. It’s this brutal past that you see in Things We Lost in the Fire, the short story collection by Mariana Enriquez.

      I’ve always wondered how you write against a background of such brutality. Enriquez takes an interesting approach, mixing that history with the supernatural, in a kind of harsh magical realism mode. Be warned, children are murdered in this as they were under the regime, but in the stories they are caught up in something supernatural.

      Things We Lost in the Fire is dark is a cathartic read. Lit nerds will see it written in a tradition of Latin American fiction, channeling Borges, Cortazar, and others. But it is couched in social and political themes that are sobering. They cast a light on historical violence, trauma, issues of inequality and injustice and live side by side with folklore. What is real, what isn’t? In an upside down world, there is no difference between the horror of real life and the horrors of the supernatural because it’s all heightened. Like a fever dream. A unique voice and fantastic read.
    • 5/5
      Gothic with a frisson of Lovecraftian terror

      There is a slow burn in this book of a dozen short stories that simmers from reserved beginnings to more explicit terror by the end. Each of the stories still has its intimations of ghosts and lurking menace in them but these are not always in the forefront.

      I'm not going to go into spoilers here except to say that when you see wording and phrasing such as "YAINGNGAHYOGSOTHOTHHEELGEBFAITHRODOG" and "In his house, the dead man waits dreaming." in the story Under the Black Water, there is no way to ignore the hint of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft's saying "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn" (In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming) is a regular catchphrase in the mythos. Another Lovecraftian touch occurs in several stories where the final sentence packs the largest impact of horror even though it may seem innocuous if quoted out of context.

      This first English language book by Mariana Enriquez is an excellent collection of creepy stories that is well translated by Megan McDowell (also the translator of Samantha Schweblin's "Fever Dream") who provides historical context about Argentinean history and Argentinean gothic fiction in a translator's afterword note.
    • 3/5
      This was a quick read. Some stories were interesting, some were not.
    • 3/5
      This was an interesting but uneven collection of stories. They had a certain creepiness that was appealing, but some of them fell a bit flat by the end. Still, Enriquez is an author I'd look for again.
    • 4/5
      Dark and creepy short stories set in Argentina that are very well done but too disturbing for my taste. The author was compared to Shirley Jackson and George Saunders but I enjoy those authors' stories a lot more. A pretty good collection but just not for me.
    • 4/5
      Things We Lost in the Fire was a great book of short stories, perfect for reading in the month of October! Each story more haunting and unsettling than the last. Mariana Enriquez has a great writing style for short stories, she reels you in, scares you a little bit, and then ends the story with you wanting more. But do you really want more? Perhaps continuing the story would be more terrifying than what she has already given us. I look forward to reading more by this author and will probably see pieces of her stories in my dreams/nightmares for a little while.
    • 4/5
      Gorgeous and unsettling are the best ways to describe this collection of short stories set against the hot, everyday backdrop of Argentina. The writing and pacing are excellent and compel you to finish these all in one sitting but are best enjoyed slowly, story by story.
    • 3/5
      So much of the grotesque here; it was not to my taste even though many of the narratives were striking. Very well written and powerful, but disturbing.
    • 4/5
      Super creepy (sometimes over-the-top creepy). These 12 stories are probably some of the darkest horror stories I've read in awhile. I'd compare them to things you'd see published by Cemetery Dance--darker than Stephen King. Many of the stories seem so dark because they make the reader think about the choices one makes, morality, and consequences in the most horrific ways.