Lately, I have paid special attention to the debut novels of contemporary writers belonging to different cultures, novels that bring into question a variety of themes. That’s how I came to Samanta Schweblin and her ’Fever Dream’.
About the author
According to Samanta Schweblin’s author profile from Goodreads platform, the young Argentinian writer, born in 1978, was chosen among the best 22 Spanish-language writers under the age of 35, by Granta magazine. She is the author of three award-winning short stories volumes, including the prestigious Juan Rulfo Story Prize, the volumes being published in over 20 languages. “Fever Dream”, her first novel, won the Tigre Juan Award (2015) and it was nominated for the Man Booker International Award (2017). In 2018, Samanta Schweblin published her second novel, “Kentukis”. At the moment, the writer lives in Berlin.
About the book
I look for my words and I can’t find them because Samanta’s dream is, rather, a delirium, which pulls you out of normalcy without notice and without giving you a final explanation for what you went through. You can only say goodbye to logic and sink …
On a hospital bed, Amanda lives the last moments of her life, with the strange boy, David. He had gone through an experience similar to Amanda’s and, in order to stay alive, the woman living in the green colored house had managed to transfer part of his soul into another body. The whole book is a dialogue between these two characters, in an attempt to find out the exact moment when the worms entered the body – these are a symbol of the poison which intoxicated Amanda. David seems to know when the woman will die and, if you still don’t find this story dizzying, add a plush toy in the form of a mole, dead horses, ducks buried alive, 28 graves, disabled children etc., and tell me if you changed your mind.
Strange characters are passing in the dizzying scene, all of them being seen through the dying woman’s eyes: Nina – Amanda’s little girl, to whom she always refers by a “safe distance” – this is the title of the book in Spanish – „Distancia de rescate”; Carla – David’s mother, Omar – Carla’s husband, the healer woman who has 7 grown-up sons, sick children etc.
The book is very small (125 pages, pocket format), so it can be read in one breath, which is also recommended. It “comes and goes” as David obsessively repeats, referring to fever and pain. It’s just that after it passes, you can only wonder: what was that? Half of the book I frowned, waiting for it to begin and for me to understand what’s all about, and the other half I waited for the ordeal (mine and the characters’) to end.
There are opinions stating that the novel is an allegory having as a starting point the problem of genetic mutations that occurred as a result of the widespread use of pesticides in soybean crops. Asked explicitly about this hypothesis, as well as about other forms of interpretation of the text, the author offers answers that deepen the mystery rather than elucidate it.
Lovers of magical realism could appreciate the state of uncertainty, of walking blind through the dark world created by the author, in search of the hidden meaning.
In an attempt to decipher this book, I remembered a young’s man experiment done at a modern art exhibition in San Francisco. Being disappointed by the value of the exhibition, he put a pair of glasses on the museum floor. In a short time, many visitors were fascinated by the “work of art”, as they gathered around and started to photograph it. Sometimes, however, what at first glance seems to be a nonsense, can prove to be a sign of genius.
Do dark labyrinths captivate you too? Do they hide meanings and pleasant sensations in an inexplicable way? Do you like weird stories in which your own imagination can (re)write the ending?
Sit comfortably in an armchair and find out the answers yourself. A book is… lust for flying.
Samanta, ¿Qué está pasando en este extraño universo tuyo? (Samanta, what’s happening in that strange universe of yours? – Google translation, Spanish language)
Excerpt
“Strange can be quite normal. Strange can just be the phrase 'That is not important' as an answer for everything. But if your son never answered you that way before, then the fourth time you ask him why he's not eating, or if he's cold, or you send him to bed, and he answers, almost biting off the words as if he were still learning to talk, 'That is not important', I swear to you Amanda, your legs start to tremble.”