Antipodes Stories

by Padilla, Ignacio; Reid, Alastair

• ISBN13: 9780374105334
• ISBN10: 0374105332
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-05-12
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Summary

From the author of the award-winning novelShadow Without a Name, comesAntipodes, the first collection of his short fiction to be translated into English. This lively, eclectic, and highly imaginative volume spans time, place, and culture as the narratives move from the scorching heat of the Gobi desert to the glacial heights of Mount Everest. Here, among others, are the stories of a great Scottish engineer, left to die in the middle of the desert, who is rescued by a tribe of nomads and inspires them to build an exact replica of the city of Edinburgh in the dunes; of a dying, cross-dressing pilot who allegedly climbs Mount Everest and then mysteriously disappears; of an English colonel who swears on his life to make the trains in Zambezi run on time, only to be forced to honor his word when they are always ten minutes late; of a monk who conjures the devil to prove the devil's existence; and of a young administrator of a psychiatric hospital who is appalled by the treatment of the patients, and devises his own bizarre solution. Based on history, legend and an awe-inspiring power of invention,Antipodesdelights, terrifies, and entrances. Ignacio Padillawas born in Mexico City and is the author of several award-winning novels and short story collections. His novelShadow Without a Namewas the first of his works to be translated into English. Alastair Reidis a poet, a prose writer, a translator, a traveler, and a regular correspondent forThe New Yorker. He has translated the work of many Latin American writers, Borges and Neruda in particular. From the author of the critically acclaimed novelShadow Without a NamecomesAntipodes, a stunning volume of fictions that evoke the work of Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino. Here are twelve short stories that effortlessly move across time, place, and culture, from the Gobi Desert to the heights of Mount Everest and the jungles of Java. In "The Antipodes and the Century," a great Scottish engineer, left to die in the middle of the desert, is rescued by a tribe of nomads and inspires them to build an exact replica of the city of Edinburgh in the dunes; "Ever Wrest: Log of the Journey" is the tale of a dying cross-dressing pilot who allegedly climbs Mount Everest and then mysteriously disappears; Hagiography of the Apostate" tells of a monk who conjures the devil in an effort to prove the devil's existence; and in "A Bestiary," the line between the spectators and the creatures on display becomes alarmingly blurred. Interweaving history and legend with dazzling ingenuity,Antipodesconfirms Ignacio Padilla's reputation as one of our inventive contemporary writers. The result is a work that delights and terrifies as it entrances. "Mixing memory, imagination and inspired lunacy in ways that sometimes recall Borges, the Mexican writer Ignacio Padilla's fine new collection of stories, his first to be published in English, tells of men dancing on edges, falling off and occasionally climbing back only to tumble down again . . . In this silky translation by Alastair Reid, Padillahe is also the author ofShadow Without a Name, a noveltraverses his own edge, on the ramparts of the absurd where the old rules don't apply."James Polk,The New York Times Book Review "An elegant translation of a disquieting book of short stories. Despite its length, it manages, in twelve stories, to takes us to locales ranging from the Gobi desert to Mount Everest to the jungles of Java. These imaginary leaps across geographies, characters and cultures make for a reading experience that is both thrilling and unsettling. Reminiscent of the great Latin-American author Jorge Luis Borges, Padilla's collection of short stories have a sense of mystery and confusion, which keep the reader engaged. They often force us to imagin

Author Biography

Ignacio Padilla was born in Mexico City, and is the author of several award-winning novels and short-story collections. His novel, Shadow Without a Name (FSG, 2002) was the first of his works to be translated into English.

Table of Contents

Antipodes of the Century

Chronicle of the Second Plague

Ever Wrest: Log of the Journey

Ballistics: Some Notes

Rhodesia Express

Darjeeling

Hagiography of the Apostate

A Bestiary

Amends in Halak-Proot

About Our Flour

The Chinamen with the Heads

Time Regained

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