James Salter: Tales of the Master

James Salter, who died days after his 90th birthday in June 2015, He only came to publish six novels and two short story collections during his lifetime.. This was enough for him to be immortal among humans.

In 1970, Salter met her friend Robert Phelps, who is also a writer. By then, Salter had published her first two novels, “The Hunters” and “Game and Distraction,” and had already enjoyed fair literary recognition. But Robert Phelps opened the door for him to meet other writers.. One of them was the Russian Isaac Babel. The overwhelming intensity of Babylonian stories impressed Salter so much that he became one of his literary teachers from then on, along with Balzac or Flaubert.

Salter said that Isaac Babel “has three pillars of greatness: style, structure, and authority.” Salter has written two short story collections, ‘Twilight’ and ‘Last night’. in the defining intensity of those key moments in life, the emotional charge of those little storiesHe also had that basic trio that made him great, like Salter, Babel. In a special way, in style. For Salter, as for Flaubert or Babel, style is decisive; it is the style that depends not only on the pancake but also on the counting method. For Salter, style is entirely authorial. There is realism, objectivity, but the style is permanent.

All this can be judged by a remarkable singularity in ‘Complete Stories’, compilation of all his short stories It has just been published by Salamandra, who has already taken care to publish his other novels in Spanish.

With a foreword by John Banville pointing out that “Salter is a masterful historian of everyday life,” the volume includes twenty-one well-known stories and a hitherto unpublished “Charisma” in Spanish.

Salter’s elegant prose is perfectly suited to the form of the tale.contact here a new pinnacle of elegance and breathtaking virtuosity. They are stories that reflect an author in their artistic fullness, that can provide the reader with poetic memories written in simple, almost synthetic prose, where you sometimes have to search for what the author skipped.

In this collection of short stories, we can best appreciate Salter’s defining features: that pulse of simple style, this obsession with the everydayLike Balzac, who magically transforms his legendary certainty into essential and necessary substance.

Salter was encouraged not by the immediate, but by the important.. In these stories, he makes an indelible mark as a writer who deftly and beautifully captures his outlook on life and the tensions in human relationships, especially in couples.

Unprecedented depictions of ‘Carisma’ the impossibility of a lasting love affair between a wealthy, flirtatious and possessive man and a young and inexperienced woman. “No one was like him with his energy, his charisma.” She ran away from him, but never let him go. He never completely escaped.

The story of ‘last night’ is amazing. Walter’s wife, Marit, has terminal cancer. Unable to endure the pain any longer, she agrees with her husband to end her life. She makes a mistake in administering the lethal injection and reappears as her husband and young friend plan their future love affair. A story that questions our previous assumptions about values, morality, intentions and motives.. An unforgettable story.

Also overwhelming’Twenty minutes‘, HE It chronicles the last twenty minutes of the life of Jane Vare, who fell while riding a horse and was fatally injured.. During this time he reviews his life and bright moments while seeking help. It’s a raw and fast-paced story, but also full of suspense, heartbreaking, poignant and sensitive. His urge comes from being written in real time, those last twenty minutes he’s been presenting his entire life.

At Palm Court, a man is given a second chance; the love of your life returns. Everything seems to be going well when talking to him on the phone. He hadn’t changed. As always, she could only tell from his voice that she was speaking to him. But somehow it’s not the same. The charm is gone and her life is on fire knowing this love is gone forever.

The enchanting’eyes of stars‘. No longer childless and lonely, a woman who achieved professional success after being widowed, yet looks back to remember the summer of her youth. He remembered the beer bottles rolling in the back of the car when he was fifteen, and he didn’t know if he was making love to her every morning and starting life or throwing her away, but he loved her and he would never forget her. IT.

Each of these stories a measured calmness with an enduring blend of tenderness. Masterfully and elegantly compressed, these stories show Salter at his best.