Zambra~ My Documents
- Zebra Reads
- May 11, 2023
- 3 min read
Alejandro Zambra's My Documents is a contemporary compendium of short fiction (?) stories, translated by Megan McDowell.
Zambra is a Chilean author. He was born in 1975, so fairly young, but he grew up in the 70s and 80s when Chile was ruled over by a dictator. This experience definitely influenced his writing.
I do not look up the authors of these books until after I have read them and written the actual review. And I do that so I am not influenced by who the author is when I read the book. But, doing that also means that once I look up the author I tend to view the books in a slightly different light. So, now knowing how Zambra spent his younger years I have gained a bit more appreciation for the book.
Zambra is extremely educated. He has an undergraduate degree in Hispanic Literature, Master’s Degree in Hispanic Studies, and a PhD in Literature. He has written quite a wide variety of things. He started writing poetry and he has published a couple compilations of poetry. He has written several novels, two of which have been made into movies. And then he has a few of these short story compendiums, along with several published essays and criticisms.
He claims that he became a writer only because he was much worse at everything else, and digging in there is some bit of suggestion that he is more gimmick than substance. For instance, writing a 10,000 word novel called Bonsai or an entire book written in the form of multiple choice questions similar to Chile’s University Entrance Exams (aptly called Multiple Choice). However, it is clear that gimmicky or not, he is certainly making an impact through his writing.
Overview: Four chapters of short stories, all revolving around Chile and most with reflections of Chilean writers. The title is perfectly appropriate—a compilation of started notes that read almost at times like diary pages. The odds and ends stories a writer has stored in their My Documents folder. The subject deals within the time since personal computers have become such an integral part of our lives, with the special experiences of Chilean socio-cultural fluctuations as a backdrop.
My Take: I can’t say that I did not struggle through this read. I also cannot say I disliked it. But, the stories do not flow together, and I wanted a single, coherent story. I wanted the author’s story. It was not clear if any of the stories were really his, or if they were all products of imagination. Bits of truths seemed to percolate through all of them. Drugs, poverty, lies (odd how lies portend truth), sex. They reflect these bits of honesty and I wanted to try hard enough to find the one thread of truth woven through all of them such they would tell me Zambra’s story. I never found it. I also wasn’t ever quite satisfied. The stories came on too quickly, ended too soon for any of them feel fully told, fully expressed.
Who would love it: People who love short stories or are engaged fully by the human experience. The words are lovely. The stories are dynamic. The pictures painted are hard and beautiful. I was surprised by how real the experience of someone so far away, so divorced from my own experiences, can feel. There was no history lesson in these stories, but in the same way The Grapes of Wrath or The Great Gatsby are not history lessons. You can understand just the way the world was for these men and women, struggling to be authentically Chilean in a Chile of a different era, in Mexico, or in Belgium. I don’t often read short stories, but the allure here was real and I can see where others may cling fast to them. There is no room for building a plot or a character. Everything is real, raw, and direct from start to finish.
Who might avoid it: Content warnings abound: Rape, incest, child abuse. There is drug use, sexual experimentation, strong language, and so many lies. If the lowest lows of the human condition depress you, or seeing vulnerability exploited hurts you, stay away, or tread lightly. This is not lighthearted. The humor, when it comes, is more ironic than blissful. Plot twists go unfollowed, and the fate of the characters we become immediately attracted to go left undescribed. If you need a happy ending, or even just a peaceful one, you’ll not find it here. Emotions (anger, annoyance, frustration, confusion) run high during this read, proceed with caution.
Bottom Line: Read it to gain a different sense of culture than what you might be used to, but don’t expect a linear story.
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