''Paradais'' (originally titled ''Páradais'' in Spanish) is a novel by Mexican author
Fernanda Melchor
Fernanda Melchor (born 1982, Veracruz, Mexico) is a Mexican writer best known for her novel '' Hurricane Season'' for which she won the 2019 Anna Seghers Prize and a place on the shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize.
Life and care ...
. It was published in its original Spanish in 2021 by
Literatura Random House
Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House.
On April 2, 2020, Bertels ...
. 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."
This was the second Melchor novel to receive an officially published English translation.
Contents
The setting is the
gated community
A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...
Paradais, located in the state of
Veracruz. The novel is about a teenage duo, Franco Andrade and Leopoldo "Polo" García Chaparro,
who do criminal activity together.
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,][ Justin Torres of '' The New York Times'' compared Polo to ]Bigger Thomas
Bigger Thomas is a fictional character in the novel ''Native Son'' (1940) by American author Richard Wright.
In the original 1951 film, Bigger is played by Wright himself, while he is portrayed by Victor Love and Ashton Sanders in the 1986 fil ...
.[
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.]
See also
* '' Hurricane Season'' - A novel by Melchor
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Paradais
' - New Direction Books
2021 novels
Mexican novels
Random House books
Novels set in Mexico
{{Mexico-stub