Lilus Kikus and Other Stories

by Elena Poniatowska
translation & introduction by Elizabeth Coonrod Martínez
illustrations by Leonora Carrington
2005 (translation)

Thirty-two pages of my 127 pages (don't hate me because I'm skinny) are given over to the Introduction, and my title 12-chapter "novel" takes up fewer than 50 pages (and that's including 12 pages of illustrations). Just don't expect me to do the math with regard to the sum of my parts.

I admit I'm self-conscious about the length of my Introduction. But because the very very short novel Lilus Kikus makes for charmingly enigmatic reading, and I am its first English translation ever, a lot of context and a little theory strikes me as quite called for. And obviously I have to say something about Poniatowska's life and career. Lilus Kikus, published more than 50 years ago, was her first book, so it's probably also important to describe Mexico circa 1954. Oh, and how could I not devote a few pages to the original illustrator, fellow transplanted Mexican treasure Leonora Carrington? So that just leaves, oh, eight or so pages that make me wish I could eat my words. I mean, I spend all that time and space explaining the short stories, and then when I get to the stories themselves I don't exactly agree with what I —

Oh, I haven't even mentioned my four short stories yet, and I think they're some of my best features. (Or at least the features easiest to appreciate upon a first reading.) "The Philosopher's Daughter" is beautifully written and beautifully translated, and "You Arrive by Nightfall" is fun, funny stuff. "Happiness" is a Molly yes Bloomish bed yes monologue; you could totally get an A on a paper comparing and contrasting the story to the end of Ulysses. Well, I could. Don't hate me because I'm skinny and have a way with literature.