Contemporary Short Stories from Central America.

• Author: Mujica, Barbara

With the exception of Ruben Dario and Miguel Angel Asturias, Central American writers have been woefully neglected. They hardly figure in anthologies and courses on Latin American literature, and most are unknown not only in the United States and Europe, but also in Spanish-speaking countries other than their own. Enrique Jaramillo Levi and Leland H. Chambers have brought together the works of some of Central America's most accomplished writers, but, although the editors claim in their introduction that they have attempted to be highly selective, at times one has the impression that they have been rather too inclusive. While most of these stories shine, a few are tedious, predictable, or repetitive.

As might be expected, poverty, war, and political repression are major themes here. Even some of the selections from Costa Rica, with its long democratic tradition, deal with these subjects. One of the most powerful pieces is "The Rat Catcher," by Franz Galich (Guatemala), the hair-raising tale of a man for whom eating live rats is an almost erotic and religious experience. Reminiscent in voice and intensity of Camilo Jose Cela's The Family of Pascual Duarte, "The Rat Catcher" conveys the dehumanizing effects of poverty and violence, while at the time raising questions about the individual's responsibility for his acts in an amoral environment. Other stories are more specifically political. In "The Forbidden Street," Pompeyo del Valle (Honduras) captures the horror of repression through a series of fantastic images, and in "The Last Act," Edilberto Borjas (Honduras) satirizes puppet dictators by depicting the tyrant as a marionette who gets tangled in his own strings. "Burned Soldiers," by Jose Ricardo Chaves (Costa Rica), is the poignant tale of a woman who attempts to nurse to health two soldiers charred beyond recognition, in hopes that one of them is her beloved Narciso. Although the soldiers fought for opposite sides, war has reduced them both to anonymous dolls into which the woman strives to breathe life. Although the most obvious theme here is war as a dehumanizing force, the story also addresses the healing power of love and the devastation of coming to terms with misplaced emotions.

Several of the stories deal with diverse aspects of sex and procreation. Alienation, social resentment, and male identity are the themes of "Pregnant City," by Lizandro Chavez Alfaro (Nicaragua), the gripping tale of a bitter mechanic who takes vengeance on...