Book Review: Not a River by Selva Almada 3/5 stars

  I picked up this short novel, really a novella (104 pages!)  as part of my 2025 Water theme. 

It was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize and has garnered many accolades. 

I was really excited to read it, I'm a fan of sparse prose and so I thought this was going to be precise and insightful. It was precise and - perhaps I missed the insightful part. There was a lot going on in this little volume and I can see it being an important read and discussion for literature classes, but for me... 

it didn't quite do it for me. 

  We have a story of an ill fated fishing trip of sorts, in rural Argentina, which is peppered with lots of flashbacks, making it almost a dual timeline narrative- except it's really more of a multiple timeline, which, was a little bit difficult to follow with the audio book.  This may be one novel that would have been better for me to have the actual book in my hands. Themes that emerged: life and death, masculinity and toxic masculinity, rural life and community, and a touch of magical realism (really not even a touch, a whisper of this) . 

  I do think I'd read more from this author, the writing was very good - I just somehow did not quite engage as I thought I would with the actual plot/storyline, and thus, it left me very happy when it ended. This, I think is a fault of me- the reader- and not the writer. In addition, it is a translated work, so it is not exactly the original and that can change quite a bit for readers.  Indeed the translator notes herself that this was a difficult work to translate due to some slang and idiosyncrasies in the novel. Which made me wonder if a lot of the magic was really lost in translation despite a very serious effort. 

 So, who is this for? People who like really evocative sparse writing, those who want a shorter novel, persons interested in Argentina, students of literature, and those exploring expressions of masculinity. 

While this wasn't for me, I do see the value of this work, it's clear that it is well regarded and I'm not discouraging a read of this novel, but I will say, in the end, this will not be in my top 12 for the year! Have you read this novel?  Please share your thoughts! 

STATS

First Published  May 2025

Pages: 104

Available as an Audio Book : Yes

Trigger Warnings:  Death, misogyny, alcohol, violence

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)