
Los inocentes
«Vito apretó fuerte al Ángel de la Guarda en su puño y sintió una voz suave, como una música linda, hablarle adentro del pensamiento. La voz le decía que tenía que salvar a los corderos, que tenía que sacarlos de la granja antes de que los encontrara la cuchilla afilada de su padre.» (Fragment)
In the richness of these stories, lies a disturbing suspicion: perhaps childhood is not as pure and crystalline as some say. Perhaps it is, rather, an unpredictable whirlwind in which truths are put to the test. That is what children do in these stories. They wonder about the mystery of death, play with the limits of their imagination, look for clues on the side of the road, try to decipher the language of animals, decide to be heroes and dare to believe in other possible worlds.
Their questions are a force that moves and shapes the malleable matter they are made of. Selva Almada’s sharp eye shows, once again, that a secret is always hidden in anything truly sacred.