Live Loud & Suffer in Silence
Gina Laventura
Independently Published (2020)
ISBN: 979-8657424874
Reviewed by Lily Andrews for Reader Views (12/2024)
In Gina Laventura’s “Live Loud & Suffer in Silence,” a lucid anthology of prose and poem, the stellar balance of realism and imagination provides the perfect backdrop to read, savor, and reflect upon after the reading is done. Diverse in style and theme, the stories begin with foregrounded poetic verses that provide a striking introduction before you are immersed in short stories that highlight charged issues through the human condition.
The writer delves into the unfamiliar shadows of hidden truths, subjects that remain covered, concealed from the light, yet deserve to be discussed and shared. The text aims at inspiring those who are suffering, feeling lonely and lost. It seeks to encourage them not to give up, to look up and identify that loss can be a win, further encouraging them to change their perspective and build anew.
These fully formed works read like real-life stories indicating the author’s artistic craft. Some characters here seem to be oblivious of their vulnerabilities yet in others, the protagonists seek to find ways to get out of their miserable situations. Others have no control over their emotions, opting to be free as they reflect on their personal significance.
For the most part, the stories are stand-alones. In the first piece, the narrator takes an unfamiliar route, taking on a trail one night in February, contemplating the subject of immortality. In another story, a woman living in a small attic apartment has everything in its place. Still, she engages in a desperate search for belonging. In another, like a cannonball of bottled frustrations, the weight of rage comes to life like a wave in the persona’s body, overpowering the intense physical pain she is experiencing while seated at the A&E with a friend.
In High Upon the Hilltop, the protagonist finds solace in sitting high up on the hilltop, reflecting on the freedom of detachment from the human psyche, allowing herself to linger in the loneliness that often creeps up on her. Ms. Laventura goes ahead and tackles sensitive topics such as depression, death, bullying, rape, suicide and pain. For example, in Dear Mary-Lou, Ms. Laventura handles the topic of bullying deftly through an epistolary approach where the persona writes to a former schoolmate, delving into the bullying the girl endured and the narrator’s inability to stand up for her at the time.
This author is no doubt an astute observer of human experiences, exploring deeply the turmoil that lingers on in the confines of the heart, desperate to come out, often surrendering to silence. The poetic verses are rich in concept too and build upon the suspense to read the story that follows up.
As expected, some stories are more hard-hitting than others but collectively, all are worth a read and bound to elicit various emotions for anyone who puts their hands on this book. Vivid language and the subtle interplay between the obvious and mysterious are the text’s strong points, setting it apart from many of its genre. “Live Loud & Suffer in Silence” by Gina Laventura is a book that will appeal to those who love emotionally resonant short stories that leave you reflecting on your own life as well.