Hello. I hope you are all healthy and safe. I’ve read two books this week but am only reviewing one of them to keep you in suspense.
The news coming from Mississippi in the aftermath of the tornado is absolutely horrendous. Though we can’t bring back those who have perished, we can come together to support those who have survived. In this spirit, I’ve included a list of organizations that you can donate to in order to support those in need. Please consider doing so.
Español:
La Vorágine, por José Eustasio Rivera
“Entre tanto continuaba el silencio en las melancólicas soledades, y en mi
espíritu penetraba una sensación de infinito que fluía de las constelaciones
cercanas.”
La Vorágine es una novela famosa sobre el “boom” del caucho en Colombia. El protagonista es un poeta que está siguiendo su amante en la selva Amazónica. Él encuentra un hombre llamado Silva, que habla sobre la explotación de los trabajadores de caucho, y desde allí, la trama se convierte en una secuencia de actos de violencia hacia a los maestros de los caucheros.
Tiene tres partes.
Me parecía que Parte 1 fue aburrido, tratando de mostrar la malicia de las ilusiones, pero usando el tropo de la mujer idealizado que fue usado en muchos libros, desde el Quijote hace Pedro Páramo—aunque muchos de estes libros, como Páramo fueron publicados después de La vorágine.
También incluyó esfuerzos del autor para manipular el lector a través de filosofo/sobre-enfatizando su tema central, un tratamiento que es intelectual pero no es efectivo (en mi opinión), porque destruye el sentido de la humanidad de sus personajes, que para mí es la fuente de toda la simpatía y cualidades efectivísimas de una novela.
Parte 2 fue mucho mejor. El personaje de Silva literalmente rescataba el cuento. Él está tratando de rescatar su hijo de la explotación, y fue muy conmovedora. El narrativo obtenía un sentido de realismo en que el escritor no estaba tratando de manipular el lector. Solamente describió lo que ocurría, y los detalles fueron suficientemente impactantes por sí mismos para funcionar bueno.
Mientras, Parte 3 contiene algunos de las peores frases escritos que había visto en mi vida. Mi favorito es este, sobre la matanza del antagonista de la novela:
“Bogábamos en el bongo furiosamente, y la cabeza desaparecía, rápida como pato zambullidor, para emerger en punto impensado, y Martel y Dólar seguían la ruta en la onda carmínea, aullando presurosos en pos de la presa, hasta que presenciamos sobre la costa el cuadro crispante: ¡uno de los perros cabestreaba el cadáver por el remanso, al extremo del intestino, que se desenrollaba como una cinta, larga, siniestra!”
La comparación de su intestino con una cinta es absolutamente lúdicra (pero tiene asonancia muy linda).
De todas maneras, pienso que Parte 2 es suficientemente bueno para leer por sí mismo (sin leer Parte 1 o Parte 3). Yo recomiendo.
English:
The Vortex, by José Eustasio Rivera
“Meanwhile the silence continued in the melancholy solitudes, and into my spirit there penetrated a sensation of infinity that flowed from the constellations nearby.”
This is a book about the rubber boom in Colombia. The protagonist is a poet who is following his lover into the Amazon jungle. He meets a man named Silva, who talks about the exploitation of rubber workers, and from there, the plot devolves into a series of violent acts against the managers of the rubber tappers.
There are three parts. It seemed to me that Part 1 was boring, trying to show the harmfulness of illusions, but using the trope of the idealized woman that exists in many other books, from Don Quixote to Pedro Páramo—although many of these books, like Páramo, were published later. The Vortex also included efforts by the author to manipulate the reader through philosophizing/overemphasizing his central theme, an approach which is intellectual but ineffective (in my opinion), because it destroys his characters’ sense of humanity, which to me is the source of all the sympathy and effective qualities of a novel.
Part 2 was much better. Silva literally rescued the novel for me. He’s trying to save his son from exploitation, a subplot which was very moving. The narrative gained a sense of realism in that the writer was not trying to manipulate the reader. He just described what was going on, and the details were shocking enough on their own to work well.
Meanwhile, Part 3 contains some of the worst writing I’ve ever seen. My favorite is this sentence, about the killing of the novel’s antagonist:
“We rowed furiously in the bongo, and the head [of the villain] disappeared, fast as a diving duck, to emerge at an unexpected point, and Martel and Dólar followed the route in the crimson wave, howling hastily after the prey, until we witnessed on the coast the excruciating scene: one of the dogs was dragging the corpse through the pool, at the end of the intestine, which unrolled like a long, sinister ribbon!”
The comparison of the intestine to a ribbon is absolutely ridiculous (but it does have very nice assonance to it in the Spanish).
In any case, Part 2 is good enough to read on its own, without reading Parts 1 or 3. I’d recommend. You can find the novel’s English translation here: https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Novel-Jos%C3%A9-Eustasio-Rivera/dp/0822371103
As promised, here’s a list of organizations you can donate to in order to support people suffering in the wake of the Mississippi tornado:
The Red Cross: Mobilizes disaster workers, and gives money to people so they can buy what they need after the tornado. Donate here: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/
The Mississippi Center for Legal Services: Provides legal aid to low-income Mississippians, who will need legal help to get relief and file insurance claims. Donate here: https://mscenterforlegalservices.org/donations-form/
Mississippi Food Network: Provides nutritious food to Mississippians in need. Donate here: https://www.msfoodnet.org/donate-now/
Cooperation Jackson: The city of Jackson, Mississippi has been left without drinkable water. Donate here to help support their efforts to restore access to drinking water: https://cooperationjackson.org/donate
Danielle Ranucci 