Maybe you are looking for ways to hone your Spanish language skills. If that is your case, my first recommendation is you to try my Spanish language class by Skype, but if you are looking for some reading and your level is advanced, let me talk to you about one very Spanish way of writing:
Magical Realism in Spanish
The letters on the screen pulsate and flicker, as if they are about to tumble onto the keyboard below. Black and white, black and white, what color will it end on? Was it just the computer? Or is it just easy to get lost between the spaces? The screen vibrates with electricity and for some reason the keyboard trembles as two words are typed out: realismo mágico.
Known as magical realism in English, it is a genre that can best be described as the literary equivalent of HDTV (or High Definition Television). It brings out the mysterious and hyper-realistic textual imagery of the mundane in such a way as to make it seem fantastic.
Three well-known Spanish language authors known for such an artistic endeavor are Isabel Allende, Gabriel García Márquez, and Carlos Fuentes. If you are looking to practice your Spanish reading comprehension, they are a good choice that will not only help you expand your vocabulary but will also help you see things in an interesting light.
Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American author who first received literary acclaim with the 1982 debut of her book La casa de los espíritus (The House of the Spirits). The need for love and liberty is at the axis of the wheel upon which the actions of the characters revolve. The Del Valle and the Trueba families offer two political views of the world – the first is progressive and the latter is conservative. The women are clairvoyants and the men live anguished lives among them. There is love and revenge, conspiracy and terror.
Gabriel García Márquez was a Colombian author whose greatest work Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) tells the Liberal political story of Colombia’s historical evolution from a colonial lifestyle to that of trains, industrialism, and a military massacre. Seven generations of turmoil are explored and at the end one is left asking if any of it could have been prevented if the men of the family had been able to decipher and believe in the mystical ability to see beyond their immediate lives. You may learn more about Márquez on the Nobel Prize page dedicated to this author.
Carlos Fuentes was a Mexican author whose best work was perhaps the book La muerte de Artemio Cruz (The Death of Artemio Cruz). It is a little dark in that it is told from the deathbed of Artemio, who remembers his life as a corrupt jack of many trades. He is the embodiment of the Mexican Revolution, with an agonizing death surrounding his thoughts on religion, scandals, and his attachments to sensuousness all cutting out pieces of him. What is to be expected of a soldier or a politician, a journalist or a tycoon, or even a lover, especially if corrupt – he was all of those and more!
Do you need a review of a book in Spanish?
I can write it for you. Actually, I have a blog dedicated to book reviews in Spanish where you can see examples of my writing. Actually, I am a reading animal and love tou keep track about what I have read before.
Contact me if you think that I can help you!
