Hurricane Season

No spoilers. 4 1/2 stars. This story isn't for everybody... I'm going to start off with the warnings: graphic sex and violence on almost every page and rampant profanity...The story begins with the dead body of a small Mexican town's resident witch discovered floating in an irrigation canal...The story then digresses and we are given several accounts about what led up to the witch's murder and about the witch itself...The accounts are brutally direct and unflinching which can leave some readers feeling abused and beaten up themselves...If you find yourself slowing to view a bad traffic accident, you'll probably find this a good read because it allows the reader to view the most Intimate and gut-wrenching details...If I had to describe this novel overall: it was like reading about one big multi-layered orgy... of every variety... and then some...Some readers may not like the author's style of using long, looooooong sentences but if you stick with it you'll soon learn how to break them at the commas.I removed half a star due to the avalanche of profanity. If you can take the content, the story is very thought-provoking.Read this story to understand why the witch had to die (and who's zoomin' who).

This book heralds a new talent to the world of Latin American fiction. Fernanda Melchor, a Mexican writer and former journalist, has written a jaw clenching account of a murder, an account somewhere between a hypnotic dream and an opium nightmare, of life for the citizens of a dusty, dirty, Mexican town. A town of little hope and even less economic opportunity, the townspeople, are less likely to live their lives than they are to count off the days that make those lives so unbearable. Written in a graphic, expletive laden style, the characters do not so much narrate their day to day concerns, as present them in a horrific guttural inexorable scream. The result is a gripping, sweat soaked read, that leaves the reader questioning what to make of these characters who enter a page or chapter only to morph into another being as a new character narrates the story from a different perspective. The writing seems to vacillate between fiction and non-fiction and the author has said she originally thought of writing this as non fiction. The outcome is a kind of literary Haskell Wexler's "Medium Cool" the iconic cinematic marvel decades ago.Some reviewers compare Ms. Melchor to Bolano, or Vasquez, but she is clearly her own person and she nurtures her own voice. She is a major literary force to be reckoned with, hopefully for years to come.

The funny thing is, I can't quite say I enjoyed or even exactly LIKED this book. And yet, I thought it was evidence of tremendous talent and am glad I read it. It's quite grueling, harsh in imagery and events, and really quite unremittingly dark. And yet that all felt intentional and, surprisingly, not at all gratuitous. The author's prose is fantastic and the translator deserves 5 stars all by herself - must have been wildly difficult to translate and she did an absolutely exceptional job.

This is one of those books that is not an easy read. It is challenging both stylistically and content-wise, and I can't recommend it enough. Let this book open your mind, let it break you. It is truly one of a kind. Melchor is a living master of her craft.

I loved this book! Well written, a great voice, the author kept me enthralled throughout the book. I loved the fact that the book understood the culture and people involved yet made them even more compelling by focusing on art rather than writing. I wished this book was longer many times while reading it. I'm not usually a fan but in this case I don't mind sounding like one! Excellent!

Amazing, couldn’t have put down. A mixture of Bolano, Marquez, and Krasznahorkai. Don’t miss this unforgettable debut. I love literature.

This book was full of depravity, disgusting imagery and all out offensive.The run on sentences and lack of paragraphs both irritated me and intrigued me.But I still give it 5 stars. Good storytelling, interesting characters, all set in a wasteland.

Melchor's English language translation has been rated one of the best books of 2020 and that is definitely the case here. Be warned, the language is explicit but necessary.

This is a brutally honest novel about the precarious situation among the poor Mexican population where the vicious cycle between depravity, prostitution, drug addiction and smuggling is parallel with the presence of huge levels of violence and hopelessness. It's a very sad book despite the occasional glimpse of empathy and attempts of community care. Powerful and brave!

This is pretty strong stuff. The unrelentingly tough existence is not easy reading. I liked the way the story unfolds as seen through different eyes, so you see more depth in some of the characters than met the reader at first.Not my cup of tea but pretty compelling in a rather horrid way.

Boring and slow. Stuck with it for about 2/3s through. Then binned it!

It was delivered with tears on the edges and the spine

This review is for the product:A very beautiful and expensive-looking edition of Hurricane Season with great paper quality- heavy and crisp and a semi-jacketed cover. Got it for a steal at Rs. 384Although, The cover is slightly perforated on the sides and has a few dust specks as if it was handled by dirty hands but its not very noticeable. Overall I'm quite happy with my purchase.Hurricane Season was a nominee for the International Booker Prize. I recommend this to every fan of transgressive literary fiction.