I've been a fan of Richard Yates for quite a while, but this is the first time I've read any of his short stories. They are gems. Each story deals with individuals disappointed in some way with their lot, whilst often leaving other protagonists also disappointed in them. Whilst firmly rooted in 1950's America, the feelings he describes of discomfort, insecurity and disappointment are surely universal. My personal favourite? Drill Sergeant Reece. Yates' sympathy for an unsympathetic character is typical of the collection as a whole. ( )

beautiful and tragic ( )

Onze histoires de solitude, de déceptions et de coeurs brisés, dans lesquelles la cruauté est rarement absente.
La première ("Doctor Jack-o'-lantern") relate l'expérience cuisante d'une jeune prof désireuse d'accompagner un pauvre gamin solitaire et rejeté, la deuxième celle d'un mariage perdu d'avance ("The best of everything"). "Builders" est l'histoire étrange d'un type fauché qui écrit pour le compte d'un chauffeur de taxi.
Style fluide et sens avisé pour les dialogues.
Une découverte intéressante. ( )

Once relatos cortos ambientados en el área metropolitana de Nueva York, especialmente en el barrio de Queens. Publicada por primera vez en 1962, la edición que leí yo es una reedición de 2017 con traducción de Esther Cross que cuenta con derechos. La traducción evidencia claramente un origen rioplatense de la traductora lo que juega en contra del ambiente que percibe el lector; se hace difícil imaginarse en Queens cuando un personaje se dirige “a lo de Irene y Marty”, por ejemplo. Son relatos muy cortos, fácilmente digeribles, que trata de personajes solitarios, abrumados, hasta cierto punto patéticos y el tema de la soledad aparece en la mente del lector de manera natural. Concuerdo con el autor en que son relatos de soledad, pero afortunadamente la soledad nunca se menciona.

Frecuentemente sentí que el lenguaje no correspondía a lo que se contaba, algo bastante subjetivo e indefinible, pero cuando accedí a partes del original en inglés, entendí que no estaba equivocado. Las sensaciones fueron distintas y las descripciones de hechos, personajes y ambientes, totalmente pertinentes con lo que la traducción queda al debe.

"Eleven Kinds of Loneliness" is Richard Yates' first collection of short stories; it was published in 1962, one year after his novel "Revolutionary Road". The stories, like the novel that precedes them, represent a powerful debut that promised a stellar writing career. Under the circumstances, it is hard to understand why Yates never received widespread public recognition for his writing. It may be revealing that a major publication like The New Yorker routinely rejected his short stories. And although his works received professional acclaim, and was highly regarded by his contemporaries (e.g., Kurt Vonnegut, John Cheever, Dorothy Parker), public recognition did not follow.

A reader new to Yates' fiction could do well to begin with this stellar collection of eleven works -- 10 short stories plus a longer (35 page) work. All are set in the 1950s or early 60s, in the environs of New York City (the Queens borough). The stories are beautifully written, with well- drawn believable characters that evince the reader's deep sympathies. The overall tone is commonly one of sadness, of loneliness, of alienation. Among the most notable, in my opinion, is Doctor Jack-O' Lantern (a heart- wrenching story of a disturbed young schoolboy, placed in a new school). Another is "The Best of Everything", depicting the day and night before the wedding of a woman who (the reader comes to realize) is about to make the worst mistake of her life. Yet another is "Builders" -- in which a prospective young writer is hired by a cabdriver to turn into fiction the trivial episodes of that man's life. Yet another is (again) a wrenching tale, "A Really Good Jazz Piano" for which no half- sentence summary can do justice.

I highly recommend this collection to readers who love short stories, and certainly to anyone who likes the work of John Cheever, John Updike, or Raymond Carver.

Below are the stories, along with my personal reactions (on a scale of 1 to 5 stars):

Doctor Jack-o'-Lantern – 4*
The Best of Everything – 4*
Jody Rolled the Bones – 3.5*
No Pain Whatsoever – 3.5*
A Glutton for Punishment – 3*
A Wrestler with Sharks – 3*
Fun with a Stranger – 3*
The B.A.R. Man – 3.5*
A Really Good Jazz Piano – 3.5*
Out with the Old – 3.5*
Builders – 4* ( )