First Love & Look for My Obituary

by Elena Garro

"Excellent translation of Busca mi esquela and Primer amor, two novellas awarded the 1996 Sor Juana Inâes de la Cruz Prize. Provocative, haunting fiction whose author deserves to be studied and read for works other than her Recuerdos del porvenir"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58. "First Love," Barbara and her daughter make friends with some German prisoners of war in France, and in "Look For My Obituary," a doomed romance arises between a young man and a woman facing an arranged marriage

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

102 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1996

About the author

Elena Garro was a Mexican author, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as one of the pioneers and an early leading figure of the Magical Realism movement, though she rejected this affiliation. Alongside the works of Juan Rulfo, her first three books: Un hogar sólido (1958), Los Recuerdos del Porvenir (1963), and La Semana de Colores (1964), are considered to be among the earliest examples of Magical Realism in Latin American literature. Garro's writing, despite being mostly fictional prose, borrowed heavily from poetry and its literary elements. Author and biographer Patricia Rosas Lopategui has described Garro's style as "an attempt to rescue the use of everyday language in the form of poetry". Her style has also been compared to that of french writers like Georges Schehadé, Jean Genet, as well as Romanian-French playwright Eugène Ionesco, due to the surreal nature of her stories. A close friend of Albert Camus, her works were also heavily influenced by his style and philosophy. She was the recipient of the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize in 1996.
Her tumultuos marriage with writer Octavio Paz, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature, has been the subject of much scrutiny. Garro herself would describe the relationship as "filled with forbiddance, resentments, and rancour for not making each other happy". Despite the hostilities, they are considered among the most talented couple of writers to emerge during the Latin American literary boom of the twentieth century.
Garro is seen as one of the unsung figures of the boom; her legacy was influenced, in part, by her rejection of Magical Realism as she considered the term "a cheap marketing label". Contemporary historians and literary biographers consider her work as seminal and view her as having been as important as figures like Juan Rulfo, Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, and others.

Reviews

[el · Rating 3 out of 5]

→ "first love": i was with this one for the first 2 pages while we set things up, then i realized the story was about seeing humanity in nazis because the war is over and they're 'just some guys' now, humbled by hard manual labor. i have to laugh. like specifically at all the scene work of wealthy people spitting on our main character for trying to fuck an aryan viking who was most certainly committing mass atrocities under hitler BITCH AM I SUPPOSED TO SHED A TEAR? he can die❤️

→ "look for my obituary": i enjoyed the atmosphere in this a lot. it's hard for me to buy into insta-love though, even when it's literary in nature, so the concept of a married man falling deeply in love with a girl on the run within moments of meeting her........girl you are not in love. you are just a man without self-control who hates his wife because she's the woman you chose. the writing here was much better than in "first love," however, specifically the stakes + pacing and the web of lies.

2.5/5. elena garro can write, i'm sure leagues beyond her infinitely more famous husband, the translation was great, but this was a questionable introduction to her. roberto bolaño, i need to know what you thought of this woman.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elena Garro is a fine novelist and story writer: elegant, slightly surreal, wonderful in her depiction of desire and obligation; societal expectations versus the heart's deep desire, the need to rebel. She should be better known but was forever overshadowed by her husband, Octavio Paz, while their marriage lasted and long after it ended.

Here are the beginning sentences of these novellas (trans. David Unger):

"There are always men in train aisles," thought Barbara, as a man offered to help her cross from one car to the next. (First Love)

The young women ran down the street, indifferent to the rain's and night's emptiness.In her rush to escape, she forgot to shut the gates of her house. Her feet pounded on the pavement as if knocking on the rainy night." (Look for My Obituary)

How can you not want to keep on reading?
Go on, get the book. Or another by Garro.

[Sonja Vukovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Busca mi esquela" y "Primer amor" son dos cuentos cortos bien escritos. Elena Garro usa un estilo de escribir claro que evoca imagenes poderosas. "Busca mi esquela" es un cuento sobre un amor irregular entre una jovencita y un hombre mayor y casado. Tiene un tema central sobre el destino. El fin es una sorpresa que no decepciona a nadie.
El período de historia de "Primer amor" es después la segunda guerra mundial. Una madre y su hija van a vacaciones a Francia dónde ellas se encuentran con prisioneros alemanes. La madre desarrolla sentimientos de atracción sobre uno de los soldados, que provoca al lector a preguntarse el significado del amor, y si hay razón para dos personas estar enamorados a pesar de sus pasados. El tipo de amor en ambos cuentos es controvertido y provocará el lector a pensar; es un libro profunda pero es muy fácil de leer y comprender para todos los públicos.

[Rayiull Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

El libro contiene personajes con personalidades prácticamente extraídas de la realidad, y se nota, son básicamente un reflejo de vivencias de Elena Garro, no es queja, simplemente es fenomenal encontrar personajes tan desarrollados en menos 60 páginas por obra; la trama es sencilla y digerible. Las palabras prácticamente salen volando de lo maravillosa que es el estilo de su narrativa. El primer cuento te hace sentir ansias y una sensación de que algo anda mal con la protagonista, y el segundo te deja sintiendo compasión por los prisioneros. Recomendaría leer un poco acerca de la vida de Elena Garro antes de leer esto para disfrutar más de la obra.

[destanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So beautiful, but I found it hard to sympathize as much as I was obviously supposed to with the rich young blonde protagonist and the German prisoners of war she becomes attached to in France after WWII. It's complicated, of course, but come on. These characters were so gloriously Aryan that I wondered if Garro was a model for one of the writers in Bolano's Nazi Literature in the Americas, but she was married for a while to Octavio Paz, and he would definitely have included that fun fact, so I guess not.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I preferred the second novella to the first, but both were some highly solid writing. The second is absolute magic though, so haunting. Absolutely beautiful.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Love was okay. Look for My Obituary was great -- a good twist in it.

[Teabooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Como todo lo de Elena Garro, es excelente; muy buenos personajes, muy buen escenario que denota la nostalgia y la melancolía de lo que pudo haber sido; la desesperación de un amante que nunca amo, y cuando siente amar, a quien ama se escapa de forma seguida.
Con un final sorpresivo.
Gracias Elena Garro por el legado que dejaste en la literatura mexicana; hubiéramos deseado que el reconocimiento se te haya hecho en vida, por desgracia no fue así; tendrás el reconocimiento que te mereces, eres junto con muchas mujeres escritoras, el orgullo de México.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Busca mi esquela me ha gustado pero todo el tiempo estaba esperando un gran golpe, quería ver un giro fuerte en la trama e incluso un poco de terror porque la chica me parecía muy extraña para ser un humano promedio, al final terminé un poco decepcionada de que toda la historia la sentí plana, el punto más fuerte para mí es la narración: es muy atrapante y está muy bien hecha.

No tuve la oportunidad de leer Primer amor pero quería registrará Busca mi Esquela para no olvidar la primera vez que leo a Elena Garro, espero leer más de sus cuentos y novelas en el futuro:)

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how to feel about these two novellas! The first is about an unhappy young mother, taking the perspective of her young daughter post-WWII, and how they befriend and fall in love with Nazi prisoners on their summer vacation. I am all for questioning war and our biases…but did this story really need to be written? The second is about arranged marriages in CDMX when a married man falls in love with a haunting young girl. Ugh not love, nothing interesting going on here. Overall well written.

[Luis Alv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Novela corta (Busc ami esquela) pero de un gran contenido desde muchas perspectivas: género, estructura narrativa, tono, conciencia narrativa, personajes, ambiente.

Busca mi esquela plantea toda una crítica al sistema de valores mexicano y a las narrativas masculinas de una forma que, digamos, las "reproduce" de una forma que obliga al lector a replantearse todo el texto para la comprensión de esta crítica. Maravilloso.

[Laura Esquivel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es la primera vez que leo a Elena Garro y estoy anonada. Dos cuentos con historias desgarradoras, pero muy bien escritos y contados en tan pocas páginas. Ambos con una belleza inexplicable que, aunque tristes, hace que quieras leer hasta el final. La forma de narrar es magnífica; hace que te sientas en los lugares, con los personajes y que vivas con ellos los hechos. Indescriptible lo que estos cuentos me hicieron sentir. Tienen que leerlos para entender la pluma tan precisa de Elena Garro.

[Suertudon GV · Rating 5 out of 5]

No volvería a leer estos escritos estando triste, en realidad si, porque la Elena Garro a pesar de la nostalgia, añoranza, ("saudade" sería más certero) que imprime en esta letras de tristeza aparentemente incurable, te atraviesa como el último rayo solar resistiendo la noche hasta entender que es mejor abrazarle.

[Carlos Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Respecto al primero, me produjo durante toda la historia sentimientos de tragedia, desilusión y angustia lo que hacía que me produjera un insaciable deseo de terminar la historia y ver el final. En cuanto al segundo libro, es muy similar a lo que menciono en el primero sin embargo creo que cuebta con un mayor sentido de esperanza

[Verónica Juárez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aunque hace tiempo había leído en una antología uno de sus cuentos, considero que este ha sido mi primer acercamiento a Elena Garro y no puedo más que sentirme muy contenta por haberme decidido a leerla. Estas dos historias están repletas de nostalgia, tristeza y lo que no pudo ser.

[Adam Eggers · Rating 4 out of 5]

2 long short stories, beautifully written. She evokes sympathy for unlikable characters. Feelings of love and loss permeate both stories. The translation is rendered in careful prose that never feels forced. A wish more of her writing was available in English.

[Evelyn Gonmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gustaron las dos historias aunque la primera se me hizo más de terror jeje.
La segunda historia se me hace muy bonita, nunca había leído algo de una mamá soltera, 🤍 me encantó en todos los sentidos.🫂

[Alejandra Espino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ambas historias me encantaron y también me rompieron un poquito el corazón.

[Josshua Tenoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Busca mi esquela es una Nouvelle llena de nostalgia. Una pequeña historia que habla sobre el amor después de la muerte, sobre el estar destinado con alguien.

[Armando Pinzón · Rating 5 out of 5]

te cu eme elena garro

[fer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desgarrador.

[Azul Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Llore mucho. Fin.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Love & Look For My Obituary are two novellas--almost short stories, really--that delve into the pain of love found and tragically lost, and like the work of Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate) these stories focus on women in particular and bring light to the emotional duress endured in a patriarchal societies where a woman's voice is usually not heard.

The late Elena Garro's reputation in her native Mexico as a writer was nothing short of brilliant, and it shows in these stories of love. In First Love, the love in question is a German prisoner of war in post-WWII France, who befriends mother and daughter tourists amid the disapproval of the local folk. Trapped in an unhappy marriage and thankful for the break from domestic life, mother Barbara soon cannot deny her attraction to the soldier while her daughter (also named Barbara) feels an infatuation for the same man which is the catalyst for her growth into a mature young woman. Look For My Obituary is not as straightforward a tale as its predecessor. This story tells of a young husband and father, unhappy in an arranged marriage, whose passion is awakened by a beautiful, mysterious stranger. With relentless determination he pursues this woman, though is careful not to cause scandal within his own loveless union, until his clandestine meetings with his love end with her "death"--her printed obituary is really an announcement of her own arranged marriage.

First Love & Look for My Obituary offers powerful sociological commentary and is evidence of Garro's own concern for the mistreatment of women in her culture. Garro wrote with an eloquence accented with her Mexican heritage, yet both stories are not too immersed as to be confusing to those unfamiliar with the culture.

[Marcela Monserrcat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primer amor. Hermoso, triste y corto.

[Andrés Aquino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante interesante y ligero..