This was such a fun read, and a perfect introduction to Garro’s work. I share the opinion of most other reviewers, “Look for my Obituary” was the stronger of the two. The metaphors, unpredictable character behaviors, unnerving shifting of setting, and flairs of passion are nearly dizzying in this one.

“First Love” is the tale of two European tourists befriending German soldiers, now prisoners, post WWII. Mother and young daughter both called Barbara are attracted to prisoner Siegfried for different reasons. They start frequenting the beach the prisoners are stationed to fulfill their labor duties, despite the remarks of disapproval from the bourgeoise guests at the hotel they are staying in. Look for my Obituary” is the story of married man Miguel rushing to the aid of lost, frantic Irene. They begin a fleeting romance— where the police are constantly prohibiting shared affection between the two, Irene can never stay for long or reveal her past, and Miguel dooms over his loveless marriage arranged by his family, his stagnant life, and his refusal to walk away from his mysterious first love.

Both novellas deal with passionate affairs of the heart and characters imposed with limitations of their desires. Protagonists from both are dealt with being in loveless marriages and are therefore stripped of the freedom to explore independency they desire. Garro is a phenomenal wordsmith, and the surrealist imagery in both novels is the bow these stories are wrapped in. “First Love” was a little too Nazi sympathizery for me lol… especially reading about Garro’s husband’s politics

So beautiful, but I found it hard to sympathize as much as I was obviously supposed to with the rich young blonde protagonist and the German prisoners of war she becomes attached to in France after WWII. It's complicated, of course, but come on. These characters were so gloriously Aryan that I wondered if Garro was a model for one of the writers in Bolano's Nazi Literature in the Americas, but she was married for a while to Octavio Paz, and he would definitely have included that fun fact, so I guess not.

Es la primera vez que leo a Elena Garro y estoy anonada. Dos cuentos con historias desgarradoras, pero muy bien escritos y contados en tan pocas páginas. Ambos con una belleza inexplicable que, aunque tristes, hace que quieras leer hasta el final. La forma de narrar es magnífica; hace que te sientas en los lugares, con los personajes y que vivas con ellos los hechos. Indescriptible lo que estos cuentos me hicieron sentir. Tienen que leerlos para entender la pluma tan precisa de Elena Garro.

Elena Garro is a fine novelist and story writer: elegant, slightly surreal, wonderful in her depiction of desire and obligation; societal expectations versus the heart's deep desire, the need to rebel. She should be better known but was forever overshadowed by her husband, Octavio Paz, while their marriage lasted and long after it ended.

Here are the beginning sentences of these novellas (trans. David Unger):

"There are always men in train aisles," thought Barbara, as a man offered to help her cross from one car to the next. (First Love)

The young women ran down the street, indifferent to the rain's and night's emptiness.In her rush to escape, she forgot to shut the gates of her house. Her feet pounded on the pavement as if knocking on the rainy night." (Look for My Obituary)

How can you not want to keep on reading?
Go on, get the book. Or another by Garro.

Ambas historias me encantaron y también me rompieron un poquito el corazón.

Llore mucho. Fin.

Desgarrador.

Busca mi esquela es una Nouvelle llena de nostalgia. Una pequeña historia que habla sobre el amor después de la muerte, sobre el estar destinado con alguien.

Bastante interesante y ligero..

Primer amor. Hermoso, triste y corto.

te cu eme elena garro

First Love & Look For My Obituary are two novellas--almost short stories, really--that delve into the pain of love found and tragically lost, and like the work of Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate) these stories focus on women in particular and bring light to the emotional duress endured in a patriarchal societies where a woman's voice is usually not heard.

The late Elena Garro's reputation in her native Mexico as a writer was nothing short of brilliant, and it shows in these stories of love. In First Love, the love in question is a German prisoner of war in post-WWII France, who befriends mother and daughter tourists amid the disapproval of the local folk. Trapped in an unhappy marriage and thankful for the break from domestic life, mother Barbara soon cannot deny her attraction to the soldier while her daughter (also named Barbara) feels an infatuation for the same man which is the catalyst for her growth into a mature young woman. Look For My Obituary is not as straightforward a tale as its predecessor. This story tells of a young husband and father, unhappy in an arranged marriage, whose passion is awakened by a beautiful, mysterious stranger. With relentless determination he pursues this woman, though is careful not to cause scandal within his own loveless union, until his clandestine meetings with his love end with her "death"--her printed obituary is really an announcement of her own arranged marriage.

First Love & Look for My Obituary offers powerful sociological commentary and is evidence of Garro's own concern for the mistreatment of women in her culture. Garro wrote with an eloquence accented with her Mexican heritage, yet both stories are not too immersed as to be confusing to those unfamiliar with the culture.