Song of the Blind

Name: Song of the Blind
ISBN: 9787532783113

卡洛斯·富恩特斯 / 袁婧Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaFeb 2021

4.2

Word count: 92K words
Chapters: 8
ISBN: 9787532783113

Report an error Find this book

Summary

The book consists of seven wondrous stories full of magic: "The Two Helenas," "The Doll Queen," "Fated," "Old Morality," "The Cost of Living," "Pure Souls," and "Catching the Sea Serpent," four of which have been adapted into films. Each story is intricately conceived, its plot full of dramatic tension, and the protagonists' fates often take a sudden turn at the end, catching the reader off guard. The title "Blind Man's Song" comes from the final section of the Book of Good Love, a poetry compilation put together in the fourteenth century by the Spanish poet Juan Ruiz, the Archpriest of Hita. The book was published ten years after Fuentes's debut, Where the Air Is Clear; in those ten years, through the four novels Where the Air Is Clear, The Good Conscience, The Death of Artemio Cruz, and Aura, Fuentes accumulated rich writing experience and honed his craft, all of which made Blind Man's Song, published in 1964, a classic work worthy of the author's name.

Editor's review

Carlos Fuentes's short story collection Blind Man's Song is a literary tour de force that vividly depicts the many facets of Mexican society and the subtleties of human nature. One of the leading figures of the Latin American Boom, Fuentes uses masterly narrative technique and keen social insight to build a world rich in metaphor and symbol. Through a series of stories that are both independent and interconnected, the book explores the eternal themes of power, desire, solitude, and identity; its prose is at once imbued with the marvelous imagination of magical realism and rooted in Mexico's history and social reality. Unlike the sweeping epic scale of The Death of Artemio Cruz, Blind Man's Song focuses more on dramatic moments in everyday life and on psychological depth, showing the author's extraordinary mastery of the short form. Reading it offers not only a taste of Fuentes's signature ornate and complex style but also, through the central metaphor of "blindness," a chance to reflect on what it truly means to "see"—our perception of ourselves, of others, and of society often lies in the blind spots of vision. For readers who wish to understand the essence of modern Latin American literature and to appreciate finely crafted short fiction, this book is an excellent example.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Seasoned literary readers interested in works from the Latin American Boom
Deep readers who enjoy exploring the complexities of human nature and social metaphor
Writers who appreciate concise, richly symbolic short story structures
Readers who want to understand Mexican culture and society through a literary lens

Not a good fit for

Casual readers looking for light entertainment or fast-paced plots
Readers entirely unfamiliar with Latin American history and culture who are unwilling to do any background reading

Reading tips

It is best to treat each story as a separate work of art; pause after each one to savor its silences and overtones.
Reading alongside the history of mid-twentieth-century Mexico will help readers better grasp the stories' dimension of social critique.
Pay attention to the recurrence and variation of "sight" and "blindness" throughout the book; this is key to understanding its central philosophical metaphor.

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
两个埃莱娜
娃娃女王
命中注定
旧道德
生活的代价
纯洁的心灵
捉海蛇

FAQ

Is this book very different in style from Fuentes's novel The Death of Artemio Cruz?

The difference is striking. The latter is a panoramic historical novel of great sweep, whereas Blind Man's Song is a short story collection—more condensed and more symbolic, focused on probing the depths of human nature and psychological moments in specific situations, revealing a different side of the author's work.

What exactly does the "blind man" metaphor refer to?

"Blind man" refers not only to physical blindness but also metaphorically to various forms of "blindness" in social class, emotional relationships, and self-perception. Through this, Fuentes explores truths that are deliberately ignored, desires that cannot be spoken, and the individual's sense of being lost within social roles.

Does the book have a clear narrative throughline?

There is no traditional plot thread running through the whole book. It is a short story collection; each story has its own characters and plot, but they echo one another in theme (such as solitude, power, and illusion), setting (Mexico City), and literary technique, together weaving a rich literary collage.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

卡洛斯·富恩特斯 Author

Carlos Fuentes is an important author in the field of foreign literature. His representative works include Aura, The Death of Artemio Cruz, The Years with Laura Díaz, The Blind Man's Song, The Glass Border, Diana, the Lonely Huntress, The Five Suns of Mexico, and The Eagle's Throne. Public information about his nationality, birth and death dates, and similar details is limited and cannot be confirmed. The library holds nine of his works, covering novels and short stories. His writing often interweaves reality and fantasy, with intricate narrative structures, and he is skilled at connecting history with individual destiny in a language full of tension. Translated into Chinese, his works provide an important reference for readers to understand Latin American literature, and they have influenced the narrative ideas of many later writers, occupying a unique place in contemporary foreign literature.

袁婧 Author

Yuan Jing is an author about whom limited public information is available; her writing and editorial work center mainly on general reading and practical personal-growth topics. Seven of her titles are held in the collection, spanning health, foreign literature, management, popular science, and inspirational growth, reflecting a cross-disciplinary interest in bringing knowledge to everyday life. Representative works include The Complete Writing Guide: From Afraid to Pick Up the Pen to Able to Write Anything, How to Become an Interesting Speaker, The Art of Communication: Handling Social Occasions with Ease, and A Guide to "Small Talk," most of which focus on everyday skills such as writing, expression, and interpersonal communication. These books tend toward a practical, accessible style that turns methods into workable steps. The Laws of Human Nature and Song of the Blind touch on foreign literature and observations of human nature, while Reshaping the Learning Brain addresses learning and cognition. Overall, her editorial choices target general readers and emphasize readability and applicability.