376 Coasta Rica: A Traveler’s Literary Companion

As the book is a compilation of short stories rather than a collection – there is little in common between the stories – in terms of the theme, the tone, the narration or the literary devices used. The stories were about a lot of things – about racism, about children’s games, about adventures, about grief, even about nothing in particular. There was magic realism, dystopias, humour, mystery etc. Naturally, such a disparate collections had its hits and misses – there were stories I liked a lot, and there were stories which went entirely up my head.

A lot of stories had a sort of timeless quality to them – As one story beautifully described – ‘It takes place any time in history we like best; we can dress the ladies in crinoline and hoop skirts or put wimples on them’. Most of them beautifully captured the scenery of Costa Rica.

Some of my favourite stories: 

1. Believe it or Not: The lovable exaggerations of a lovable story-teller don Fulminante
2. The Lizard with the White Belly: A magic realist story of a lady trying to give her daughters a pleasant life.

   The daughters were in imminent danger. That goes without saying.

    

3. The Targua Tree: Two brothers resolve their age old differences
4. The Diary: The lives and views of a conservative and a progressive colonial settler friends in Costa Rica

Net-net this is an okay collection which will have at least some stories for everyone. And it definitely makes a wonderful ‘Literary guide to Costa Rica’.