Absit by Angélica Gorodischer, 2013
The magic trick:
Using a simple plot to challenge the reader’s notion of justice
Be warned, this story is very unsettling.
It takes a straight-line, simple plot – a man with the evilest of intentions is foiled by the young girl he targets – to force the reader to consider their own definitions of justice and morality.
And that’s quite a trick on Gorodischer’s part.
The selection:
“Go on, go on, little girl, go tell the fellow at the newsstand there was an accident, tell him to come, to bring a rope, no, a ladder, no, better a rope, go on.”
“Okay,” said the girl, “but, are there corpions down there?”
“No, no there aren’t. Go on, sweetie, go look for the newsstand man, tell him to bring a rope, to bring a rope because there was an accident.”
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