The Taker and Other Stories

The Taker and Other Stories is a collection of short crime fiction stories by Brazilian writer Rubem Fonseca. The stories have a wide range in page length and in severity of crimes, but all follow themes of class inequality, justice, and, entitlement. For instance, in the story of "The Taker" the main character feels entitled to everything. He feels that those in society who have something he doesn't owe him that thing. So, he takes it. The criminals usually feel justified in their own actions and treat things such as murder as things that have to be done. In the stories "Night Drive" and "The Other" the main character seems to commit his crime or crimes for the sake of his own sanity.^[1] Christopher Ballantyne remarks on Fonseca's inclination to examine order in a world of violence. Even though his publication came out before this collection of short stories was released, his point holds true for this piece of Fonseca's work as well as his older ones. He notes that, above all, this is what Fonseca's work excels at doing.^[2] "The Taker and Other Stories" also presents many different worlds caught between violence and order.