Carlos Gamerro: The Islands

[Eric]

No review yet, as I haven't read it as I only got it through the post yesterday. But this Argentinian novel looks promising, even though I'm not a great fan of detective novels and thrillers (maybe the blurb simply used those words to catch the eye). It is evidently a mixture of fantasy and reality, part of the latter being the Falklands War (or Malvinas, if you prefer).

Carlos Gamerro's novel "The Islands" is translated from the Spanish by Ian Barnett, an English expat living outside Buenos Aires, with an introduction by Jimmy Burns, who was evidently the only full-time British correspondent to remain in Argentina during the Falklands War. It is published by the up-and-coming British publishing house & Other Stories, that publishes a large proportion of translations.

[MichaelS]

Hi Eric

We had a thread on Carlos Gamerro about six months ago - I was wondering if anyone had read him in Spanish. I think The Islands sounds great, but I'd prefer to read it in the original. Seems impossible to find a copy here in Spain though.

[Eric]

I prefer to read any book in the original. But they haven't invented a drug or microchip yet that gives you instant access to all the world's languages at native-speaker competence level. So people in all countries of the world have to rely on a large number of translations, unless they want to narrow the field of their reading down to their mother-tongue and the one foreign language they know well enough to read a novel in.

I know a few languages myself, but Spanish, with Argentinian idioms, at a level where I get all the jokes and allusions in a novel, isn't one of them. So I'm happy to have language access to the Gamerro, if I find the time. And another problem for residents of Spain is that you will have to buy a pig in a poke from an online bookshop, as Spain clearly isn't open-minded enough culturally to import large numbers of Latin American books that you can browse through before you buy.

Wouldn't you find me a trifle offhand, if I were to say that I prefer to read a Swedish book in the original, one which you can't? What are translations for if not to spread knowledge to people who are not good at languages.

[Eric]

One service to us who don't read Spanish very well that MichaelS has provided is the URL of the interview, which I will repeat here to save people having to go back to Michael's original thread:

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/...rlos-gamerro-/


I'd never heard of the Argentina Independent before, so that interview and the newspaper publishing it are interesting additions to my knowledge.

And the book section is here:

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/...ature-culture/

[MichaelS]

Wouldn't you find me a trifle offhand, if I were to say that I prefer to read a Swedish book in the original, one which you can't? What are translations for if not to spread knowledge to people who are not good at languages.

No, I'd think that was fine. And obviously I'm not going to disagree with that second point.

I think this book sounds great and I'll certainly be reading it in one language or another at some point

[pigeonweather]

The interview mentions that Carlos Gamerro was raised bilingual (English and Spanish), so it must be especially interesting for him to be able to easily read the translation of his work.

an amusing story of his is available online - Bad Burgers (a sampling: "Anyone can forge an acquantainship with a waiter at a traditional restaurant, but to get to know an employee at McDonald’s, and what’s more, to be recognized by him, is something of which only a few, I believe, can boast.")

http:// http://www.argentinaindependent.com/the-arts/literature-culture/bad-burgers-by-carlos-gamerro-/

[Eric]

Yes, Pigeonweather, there is a traditional community of people with English backgorunds, some of whom are bilingual with English living in Argentina. They were in a pretty awkward position during the Falklands War, but I think that things are back to normal by now. Naturally, if the President of Argentina once again begins to lay claim on the Falklands / Malvinas, these people will again be in the firing line.

You can read about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Argentine