The Seamstress and the Wind

César Aira has an extraordinarily fertile and idiosyncratic imagination. He also is extraordinarily prolific. Born in 1949 (in Coronel Pringles, Argentina), Aira has published over fifty books. For almost two decades, he has written two or more novella-length books per year. Roberto Bolaño, about seven years ago, called Aira "one of the three or four best writers working in Spanish today."This is the second of his novellas that I have read (the first was "An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter"), and I must say that Aira is a singular writer. THE SEAMSTRESS AND THE WIND is both a surreal farce and an adult fairy tale (or "fable", as Aira refers to it near the end). It is set in Aira's hometown of Coronel Pringles and in Patagonia. Nominally, it is narrated by César Aira himself and concerns a chain of events that happened when he was a boy. The central characters are Delia Siffoni, a seamstress and mother of César's best friend Omar; her husband Ramón, a truck-driver; their neighbor Chiquito, another truck-driver; and the Wind (Sir Ventarrón). While Delia is working on a lavish wedding dress for Silvia, a scandalously pregnant art teacher, her son Omar disappears. She mistakenly thinks Omar was hiding in Chiquito's truck when he embarked on a long trip to Patagonia, so she hires a taxi to chase down Chiquito, taking the wedding dress with her to continue to work on it en route. Ramón, in turn, chases after Delia, and Silvia chases after Ramón, hoping that he will lead her to her wedding dress. In Patagonia, one or more of the human characters encounter a horrendous car accident, an all-night poker game, a monster, and a Paleomobile (the shell of a gigantic Paleozoic armadillo fitted out with the engine, wheels, and axles salvaged from the wrecked car). And the wind.The tale unfolds in a relaxed and at times dreamlike fashion, in carefully crafted sentences and with a certain charm and sly humor. What's the point? I am not sure there is one, though there are assorted musings about forgetting (it is "richer, freer, and more powerful" than memory.) But the fable is entertaining and, as with the classic fairy tales, aspects of it will be long-remembered.

The central story and fiction in this are fantastic. Aira flits between short scenes, pushing the reader through the race- a short sprint of a little over 100 pages. The story certainly has a foot in realism and a forgotten leg in fantasy. Aira's language is beautiful, especially in the scenes where the wind, Sir Ventarron, and the seamstress, Delia, interact. It reads like a long adult fairy tale, with interesting twists and turns, and sudden surprises. There's also a few themes that echo throughout the book, like travel and nowhere. The ending was a shade disappointing as Aira ends this crazy world and situation he's created, rather quickly and quietly.I could have done without the brief metafiction in the beginning and end, both ran as rather dull and took away from the book's overall feel.Lovely Line: "To think I had to eat what a thieving wind brought me!"I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fantastic journey with lots of shallowly interesting characters.

Aria is a unique phenomenon in the writing field. In my opinion he needs to be viewed in the same way many view James Joyce's work, ground breaking and experimental. If you read 'Seamstress' expecting a nice neatly arranged plot with a well defined ending, then you'll be disappointed. If you read it with an open mind to the possible different perspectives on storytelling and narrative style, then it can be an interesting exploration. Aria's writing prowess is probably better demonstrated in 'Landscape Artist', but any of his work is worth reading if you value literature as an art form, rather than simply as entertainment.

If you do, wedding gowns that travel hundreds of miles through the air, and in my memory, semi's too, than read this book. Otherwise, it's a short disappointment, for the book takes just a few hours to read. Aira has a good sense of humor, the symbolism (when I understood it) was provocative. The problem was that I didn't "get" a lot of it, I think. I think. I don't know. All of a sudden I've come to the conclusion that it's a good read for a book club.

I was a bit disappointed in this book.It was well-hyped but I could not relate to the fantasy elements in it.

The Seamstress and the Wind is a wonderful novel by the wonderul César Aira. One of my favorite ones of his novels so far. It is very difficult to describe Aira's novels. You simply have to read them yourself. Be smarter than the Nobel Prize Committe and start reading Aira. I've been suggesting Aira for some years now in my mind, but the Nobel Prize Committe seems not to be listening to me or my thoughts, or not enough people are familiar with Aira as of now. Once you've picked up one of his novels you will understand what I mean. I would suggest either to begin with this one, or The Literary Congress.

This is one of my two favorite Novels by Cesar Aira, and I've read almost every one of his novels translated to English or German so far. I've read this modern fairytale a while ago, and now I've bought it again as a gift. Aira isn't and most likely never will be an author celebrated by the masses, but his books are perfect gifts for literate people enjoying good stories.

too much magic realism, not enough megic and no realism,