Schweblin has a new collection of stories out, and reviews of it always mention her "unsettling" novel Fever Dream. So I picked up a used copy at Powell's.
The author is indeed a master at building mood. The plot is almost beside the point, serving primarily as a delivery medium for creeping dread. It involves two mothers with young children, natural poisons, dying animals, and a terrible vacation town. You can read the entire book in one sitting, proven by the fact that I did so.
As an aside, I am not a fan of the title Fever Dream, because the term has become an overused cliché for anything that has an undercurrent of anxiety. I have to direct my complaint to the publisher of the translation, because Schweblin called the book Distancia de rescate ("rescue distance"), which actually relates to a theme in the story.
The author is indeed a master at building mood. The plot is almost beside the point, serving primarily as a delivery medium for creeping dread. It involves two mothers with young children, natural poisons, dying animals, and a terrible vacation town. You can read the entire book in one sitting, proven by the fact that I did so.
As an aside, I am not a fan of the title Fever Dream, because the term has become an overused cliché for anything that has an undercurrent of anxiety. I have to direct my complaint to the publisher of the translation, because Schweblin called the book Distancia de rescate ("rescue distance"), which actually relates to a theme in the story.
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