I read the introduction to the book before the first story, and I must say, it gave me a bit of a negative impression. Did anyone else read the intro first as well? While her discussion of the process was engaging, Rodrigeuz came off a little self-congratulating, I felt. While writing a book, especially one as great as 'and a body to remember with' is a wonderful achievement, if she felt humility, it didn't come across in the introduction. She writes about how she orginally hired professional translators, then decided to do it herself, as she (and others) felt she could do a better job. There is a strong emphasis on the amount of work required to translate the stories back and forth, until she "felt that both the tips of my tongue and my two sets of ears were satisfied with the final product."
Personally, I guess I like to imagine that brilliant books just flow out of the pens of brilliant authors. Although I know that this untrue, I think that usually pride stops authors from detailing the vicissitudes and work involved in the creation of their pieces. I think of literature like ballet: the beauty comes from a difficult and skillful art appearing effortless. Is Rodriguez attempting to impress her readers with her description of endless translations and intensive effort?
Given the humility and self-deference she communicates throughout the rest of her stories, I doubt that the introduction was intended to be the ego-stroke it struck me as. An entirely different interpretation is possible: is Carmen Rodriguez, by detailing the writing process, humanizing herself into a figure the reader can relate to? Perhaps this is a way of showing her audience that she struggles just like they do, and thus her stories are relatable. Thoughts?
4 comments:
"I guess I like to imagine that brilliant books just flow out of the pens of brilliant authors."
If only, Leanna, if only!
Hey Leanna,
I think Rodriguez mentions her struggle with bi-lingual writing in part because sometimes things cannot be translated one-to-one by another person (at least this is what she told Max and I during our interview with her). I think that sometimes though the words are the same, the meaning can be lost in translation. For example, I think one story is completely omitted from the spanish version of the book "De cuerpo entero". In her interview Rodriguez said some things in her story just didn't translate, and in one story when the tango is used, it creates certain feelings for the reader of "De cuerpo entero" that are usually missing for those reading "And a body to remember with". Hope that helps!
initially i got a similar feeling from the introduction. i thought the stories would be on a completely different subject, more along the lines of cisneros's style. i would have expected an introduction to these stories telling us a little bit of her history and why she chose to write about her past experiences and those of others. a little bit misleading maybe....i think we should ask why is the writing style and translation process so important to her stories that she found it necessary to include it in her intro?
I liked your post, and I thought it was great how you didn't dismiss it as a self-congratulation before investigating further, something that is tempting to do. Although, I say authors are some of the few in this world who almost have a right to be self-congratulatory, given the painstaking process their live revolves around. You're a good writer also, you might want to try your hand at literature someday also!
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