The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Blood Pact and Other Stories by Mario Benedetti
Andria Spencer

Mario Benedetti. Blood Pact and Other Stories. Trans. Daniel Balderston, et al. Curbstone, 1997. 213 pp. Paper: $13.95.

This superb collection, nearly thirty stories spanning forty years, brings together tales of urban romance and political strife from the beloved Uruguayan writer. The fictions, most only a few pages long, are masterful in form, at once succinct and evocative. Many of the early tales from the forties and fifties (before the devastation of the countries totalitarian coup) are thematically reminiscent of Kafka—though with none of the weighty mood. Benedetti’s language is light and playful (often in direct opposition of the plot), full of humorous generosity to the reader. The story opening the collection, “The Budget” is representational of those examining the bland menace of bureaucracy in urban life. A small government office is promised a new budget, but convoluted excuses and endless waiting prove more unbearable than the companionable monotony of their job. The longest story is the superb “The Other Side,” narrated by a comical seventeen-year-old Uruguayan exiled on the other side of the river in Buenos Aires. Imprisoned and beaten in Montevideo for a minor political prank, upon release he flees across the border where he meets a whole community with tales of torture and despair. The last and title piece of the collection is a bittersweet narration on life coming to a close. Eighty-four-year-old Octavio, living with his daughter’s family, refuses to speak, except to his little grandson. They have a blood pact: Octavio will tell his grandson a new story from the past everyday if the boy promises not to reveal that Granddad can actually speak. An apt story to close the collection, for Benedetti is that rare thing—a true storyteller. This is only the third of his many works to be translated into English, and it is a welcome occasion. [Andria Spencer]