Book Review: "Thus Were Their Faces" by Silvina Ocampo

I've been back to the library looking for books I haven't really heard of. I have, however, heard of this author before even though I haven't read much of her work. Silvina Ocampo was an Argentinian writer and poet from Buenos Aires. She often wrote in this almost Angela Carter-mixed-with-a-hint-of-realism sort of way. One of the biggest authors of surrealism, Ocampo created entire worlds inside of characters' heads. I found this book almost by accident and was surprised to read that the introduction was by Helen Oyeyemi, the writer of the book Gingerbread. There's also a short preface by Jorge Luis Borges. It's completely on-brand for this author to have those other greats within.

One thing that really got me into the book was the introduction written by Helen Oyeyemi. She starts off with the fact that Ocampo's prose was decidedly 'too cruel' to allow her to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and that her natural way of writing is rather dark. There are comparisons that arise between the writer and Emily Bronte, looking not just at the darkness and the rugged nature of the stories but also at the fact that both had literary sisters. She takes a look at how Ocampo compares to writers like Blake and other greats, finishing on the note that this writer deserves more recognition for her ability to create characters who are basically living almost conditionally. One disaster away from oblivion.

One of the stories that is a great example of her psychological depth is called The Imposter. A reigning madness that pervades the novella is first seen upon a train where the narrator is anxious about a woman who is talking to him as he observes the woman's daughter and her necklace that reads 'Maria' in jewels. Finding out that they are both aware of the person he is going to visit, he becomes more and more agitated, only to find that the person in question, Armando Heredia - is a recluse who has been begged back home by his father.

The question of Armando's sanity runs deep underneath the text as the more the narrator becomes involved with his life, the more he realises that this man does not only live frugally, he lives without desperation or any kind of distraction. Nature is overgrown and rowdy, there's a story about how Armando's grandfather shot and killed the swans out of fear that they were bad luck and there's a psychologist mentioned only by name as a man who has told Armando to make a diary of his dreams - though Armando himself doesn't dream at all. The creeping dread in the narrator's mind does not go away - if there is an imposter in this life, then who is it?

Another great example of her psychological storytelling is within the much shorter text entitled The House Made of Sugar. This story explores the way in which previous occupants of a house can have an unsettling influence on those who just move in. We see Cristina and her husband, two newlyweds, try to find a house that nobody has lived in before due to the wife's superstitions - ultimately they find one. It is a pristine and beautiful house which Cristina initially feels they can call a home. However, there was a previous occupant named Violeta that Cristina did not know about and she starts to adopt the mannerisms and even the name of this woman. The author tracks this transformation which is tied in with yet again, a strange and creeping dread. The ending of the story is conceptually terrifying though nothing 'scary' by trope has happened.

Yet another story in this anthology which is wicked with psychological discomfort is entitled The Velvet Dress. This is almost an Angela Carter-esque narrative circling around the nature of a velvet dress embroidered with the image of a dragon. Once the woman whom it has been made for tries it on, she notices her difficulty in breathing but also the power the dress has over her, the narrator is stunned into a weird silence. She states she is leaving right now for a trip and thus, would like to take the dress with her, discarding the fact that the dress is literally suffocating her. This culminates into a darkly comedic situation which also shows us the power of materialism as the dress becomes an evil force of nature.

Many more stories within, including the title story, mess and meddle with the mind of the reader, showing us the true extent of ignorance and belief. Superstitions lurk around in the book, waiting to be uncovered. People often shrug off beliefs that perhaps they should pay a lot more attention to. On top of this, madness permeates through each character, each narrator and every theme of the stories within.

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