Adrián Astur Álvarez reviewed Moldy Strawberries by Caio Abreu
Review of 'Moldy Strawberries' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Exceptional prose written in a style that inhabits a liminal space between dreams and waking. Each story begins with a clap ("Suddenly, he started to dance beautifully and walk toward me." - Fat Tuesday. "'Hermes!' The whip cracked against the worn wood of the table." - Sergeant Garcia. "It was like her head was plunged under water, and an organ grinder was playing by the river." - Music Box) and after the initial shock of action and lyrical setting Abreu immerses the reader into the phenomenology of character. I found the technique overwhelming at times. Yes, the prose is fluid and lends to quick reading but that same pace of reading was just too fast for me and I had to force myself to slow down or even re-read certain paragraphs. I was always rewarded for doing this. That magic trick of easy diction and dense content was something I …
Exceptional prose written in a style that inhabits a liminal space between dreams and waking. Each story begins with a clap ("Suddenly, he started to dance beautifully and walk toward me." - Fat Tuesday. "'Hermes!' The whip cracked against the worn wood of the table." - Sergeant Garcia. "It was like her head was plunged under water, and an organ grinder was playing by the river." - Music Box) and after the initial shock of action and lyrical setting Abreu immerses the reader into the phenomenology of character. I found the technique overwhelming at times. Yes, the prose is fluid and lends to quick reading but that same pace of reading was just too fast for me and I had to force myself to slow down or even re-read certain paragraphs. I was always rewarded for doing this. That magic trick of easy diction and dense content was something I admired throughout. I really got a sense that I was encountering different characters. Encountering in the Buberian sense.
As usual, Archipelago has produced this text in an artful way. I love the square shape of the book, the font size and the feel of the cover. They are a premiere publisher in the United States and they have published a tactically approachable volume which is also an intellectually approachable introduction to Abreu's writing for English speakers. I've never seen Abreu's work in Portuguese but Bruna Dantas Lobato's translation felt natural, rhythmic, and rich with a mix of formal and colloquial word choices depending on the story. I was never pulled out of the story and came away feeling like I had a grip on Abreu's voice.
Highly recommended!