Paradais
{{Short description|2022 novel by Fernanda Melchor}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Paradais
| image = Páradais (Fernanda Melchor).png
| alt =
| caption = First edition cover
| author = Fernanda Melchor
| title_orig = Páradais
| orig_lang_code = es
| translator = Sophie Hughes
| country = Mexico
| language = Spanish
| genre =
| publisher = Literatura Random House
| pub_date = 2 February 2021{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinlibros.com/us/literatura-contemporanea/249359-libro-paradais-9786073187978|title=Páradais|website=Penguin Libros|language=es|access-date=7 November 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108042626/https://www.penguinlibros.com/us/literatura-contemporanea/249359-libro-paradais-9786073187978|archive-date=8 November 2022}}
| english_pub_date = 23 March 2022{{cite web|url=https://fitzcarraldoeditions.com/books/paradais|title=Paradais|website=Fitzcarraldo Editions|access-date=7 November 2022}}
| media_type = Print (paperback)
| pages = 200
| isbn = 978-607-31-8797-8
| isbn_note =
| oclc = 1179050066
| dewey = 863/.7
| congress =
}}
Paradais (originally titled Páradais in Spanish) is a novel by Mexican author Fernanda Melchor. It was published in its original Spanish in 2021 by Literatura Random House.{{cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671667/paradais--paradise-by-fernanda-melchor/|title=Páradais / Paradise|publisher=Penguin Random House|accessdate=2022-11-07}} An English translation by Sophie Hughes was published in 2022 by Fitzcarraldo Editions and New Direction Books.
Benjamin P. Russell of the Houston Chronicle described the novel as a "commentary on" the "often haunting facts" of Mexico, stating "a more incisive commentary [...] would be hard to find."{{cite web|last=Russell|first=Benjamin P.|url=https://preview.houstonchronicle.com/books/mexican-author-fernanda-melchor-explores-the-17192436|title=Mexican author Fernanda Melchor explores the human capacity for violence, and grace|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2022-05-25|accessdate=2022-11-07}}
This was the second Melchor novel to receive an officially published English translation.{{cite web|last=Pressly|first=Lowry|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-the-tongue-a-knife-in-the-knife-a-tongue-on-fernanda-melchors-paradais/|title=In the Tongue a Knife, in the Knife a Tongue: On Fernanda Melchor's "Paradais"|work=Los Angeles Review of Books|date=2022-05-23|accessdate=2022-11-07}}
Contents
The setting is the gated community Paradais, located in the state of Veracruz. The novel is about a teenage duo, Franco Andrade and Leopoldo "Polo" García Chaparro,{{cite web|last=McGee|first=Marcus|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-beautiful-and-terrible-paradise-on-fernanda-melchors-paradais/|title=A Beautiful and Terrible Paradise: On Fernanda Melchor's "Paradais"|work=Los Angeles Review of Books|date=2022-08-28|accessdate=2022-11-07}} who do criminal activity together.{{cite web|last=Torres|first=Justin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/books/review/fernanda-melchor-paradais.html|title=Inside a Gated Paradise, Evil Breeds and Strikes|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2022-05-10|accessdate=2022-11-07}}
Characters
Franco, who lives in Paradais, has the nickname "fatboy". Franco is from a wealthy family, has little social success. Franco wants to have intercourse but has not found a willing female partner. Gabriella Martin of Harvard Review wrote that Franco is "Exhibiting all the qualities of a classic “incel,”[...]" Franco's father is a lawyer. Franco has a sexual obsession with Señora Marián.
Polo is from a low socioeconomic background and works at Paradise by gardening. Polo, who did not graduate from senior high school,{{cite web|last=Martin|first=Gabriella|url=https://harvardreview.org/book-review/paradais/|title=Paradais|newspaper=Harvard Review|accessdate=2022-11-07}} is 16 years old. Justin Torres of The New York Times compared Polo to Bigger Thomas.
Señora Marián is married to a television host and has two children. She lives adjacent to Franco.
Reception
Justin Torres of The New York Times stated that the work is "seductive" despite the "unbroken wall of text" that makes a "visual effect", and he praised the work of the translator for showing "vitality of the prose".
The English translation of the novel was longlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize.{{cite web |title=The 2022 International Booker Prize |url=https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/international/2022 |website=thebookerprizes.com}}
See also
- Hurricane Season - A novel by Melchor
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite web|last=Iberico Lozada|first=Lucas|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/culture/fernanda-melchor-qa/|title=Raw Speech, Raw Stories: A Conversation With Fernanda Melchor|newspaper=The Nation|date=2022-06-02}}
External links
- [https://www.ndbooks.com/book/paradais/ Paradais] - New Direction Books
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