Each story serves as a microscopic look at how individuals cope with the "difficulty of being." Whether it's a street musician in an indifferent Paris or a young man trying to turn a dying man's last breaths into literature, the focus is always on the visceral reality of the body and the soul. Style and Impact
Written over two years, the book is noted for its "overwhelming talent" and "unity of purpose". Aramburu demonstrates a mastery of the short form, creating deep atmospheres in just a few lines. No ser no duele - Fernando Aramburu [todolibros...
The collection features a cast of social outcasts and "nobodies," such as Avelino Armisén, whose private habits take on a lethal power, and Silas, a patient forgotten in a desert-like hospital. Each story serves as a microscopic look at
While the subjects are often macabre—including a hospital where terminal patients organize a betting pool on their own deaths—Aramburu’s prose remains "fun" and "seductive," using irony to make the unbearable readable. The collection features a cast of social outcasts
The title itself, which translates to "Not being doesn't hurt," sets a philosophical tone for stories that grapple with mortality, abandonment, and the absurdity of life. Aramburu uses what critics call "literary alchemy" to link seemingly disparate characters through a secret "Ariadne’s thread" of shared human vulnerability.