Alberto Ruy-Sánchez

First a little background. I purchased this online along with two other books, this being the most expensive of the three. Picture my disappointment when i unpacked it and found it was this slim little volume of only 90 pages!
It was going to have to do something really impressive to counter my initial hostility... and it did :).

Firstly a nice little touch is that all the writing is indented.. as if it were done on a typewriter with really heavy keys. This gives it a tactile feel which is entirely appropriate to the story.
Secondly this certainly didn't feel like 90 pages! The text is so purple and over the top. Its the literary equivalent of a really rich desert, the kind you can only eat in small amounts. Now i'm sure some readers will be able to breeze through it and those may find it short but i could barely get through a couple of chapters a day (of only about 5-6 pages).

I will say that the writing doesn't always land. Thats always the risk with this kind of purple prose, if it doesn't land it can come across as pompous or silly. Of course this is also a translation and one can never be quite sure how much is lost in the process.

There seems to be three main sections to the story. It starts off feeling like the Arabian Nights. Then it feels like the filthy version of the Arabian Nights. I remember first hearing about this version in, of all things the film 'Bram Stokers Dracula'. Mina and Lucy are looking at this very naughty book which i at first thought was a version of the Karma Sutra but turns out to be the Arabian Nights. Anyway the first two-thirds of Mogador reminded me strongly of this.
However as we progress the writing calms down somewhat and the story becomes more and more realistic. Which isn't as pleasant as the early unreal elements but thats rather the point.

What i took from the book is that its about how we perceive each other. How we rarely actually know (or care) what people are like and instead invent a version of them in our minds to suit ourselves. Its very similar to the superstitions of old. In our heads we turn people into vampires, angels, sirens or monsters, and our view of reality is as absurd now as it has always been.
If you dislike purple prose or are squeamish about sex then you'll hate this. Personally i was very impressed :D.… (meer)