[ES] Suikacider's reading log

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In the same spirit as my JP reading log, this is mostly just a space for me. I’ll make brief comments about each book I read, so you may find something interesting, if you wish.

I’ve read ~4M words in Spanish, but this has virtually all been YA fantasy/adventure in translation—the stuff I wish I would have read when I was younger, and/or the books with prose I just can’t stomach in English.

I’ve only just recently gotten into the world of actual Spanish literature, and hope to find a nice balance between nutritious and non-nutritious books.

Finished

Currently reading

I plan to read

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Elena sabe (novel) (7/10)

Book summary

An old woman with Parkinson’s braves the streets of Buenos Aires to prove that her daughter did not commit suicide, but rather was murdered. Her daughter couldn’t have committed suicide because it was raining, and her daughter was afraid to go to church on days where it rained, for fear that a bolt of lightning would strike the steeple and kill everyone inside.

The book is very physical, with each scene playing out aroud Elena’s health—she can only move during a few key windows of time during the day, when her medication takes effect. The book begins with several pages worth of effort on Elena’s part to standup from the chair she’s sitting in, and continues in similar fashion.

The book is heartbreaking and terrible but also wonderful.

Do I recommend it for learners?

No.

The prose is unique and very stream-of-conscious: there are no quotation marks, very few dialogue tags, only occasional notes that the speaker has changed, and virtually ever sentence is a run-on. This creates a cool disorienting affect that I felt benefitted the book, but at several points I was confused because I had no idea who was saying a particular line.

I enjoyed it from an artistic perspective, and I thought the plot played out quite nicely, but I think the unconventionalness of the prose makes it not super suitable for learners.

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Dioses menores (novel) (8/10)

Book summary

In a world where a god’s power is directly proportional to the amount of people who believe in them, Om, the god of gods finds himself with a problem: he’s become a helpless turtle lost in the desert. As Omnianism grew, people gradually began placing their faith in the church, not in Om. In fact, there’s only one single person of faith left on the planet—and he’s not terribly bright.

Did I like it?

Pratchett is very witty and I found his prose to be a bit of a hurdle initially, but acclimated within a few chapters. By the end of the book I grew to love his style and was reading as much for the prose as for the story. He’s got some incredible one liners and turns of phrase.

I’ve head that his books are kind of hit or miss, but I definitely want to read more Pratchett.

Do I recommend it for learners?

Not as a first read, but if you’ve got several books under your belt, it’s worth a try!

The book is difficult in that Pratchett is very playful with his prose, but it’s not convoluted or needlessly obscure.

Many of the characters have pretty distinct ways of talking, and their desires are all quite well established, so you can kinda follow along even if you miss some things.

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Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego — (short stories) (???/10)

I have read the first 2 short stories. Really enjoying it so far. The stories are all dark and gritty in theme, but not gruesome. They present hard situations without a clear or defned answer and make you think—not necessarily about anything in particular, but to consider where your values lie.

Have been pleasantly surprised with how accessible the prose is. Normally I find that I need a bit of a period of time to acclimate to an author, but this has been a super easy read from the get go.

1. El chico sucio

A young woman who is apparently wealthy becomes concerned about the young homeless boy who lives in front of her house. She lets him inside one day when it rains, which upsets the boy’s mother to an exteme degree.

The author creates a wonderfully tense/unnerving atmosphere that is maintained through the story but not really resolved.

(Brief summary since I read this several months ago…)

La hostería

Florencia’s mother takes her and her sister Loli to the family’s holiday home to get Loli, a drunk partier who causes problems, out of dodge. While there Florencia reconnects with an old friend whose father has recently lost his job at a hotel for seemingly no good reason. Florencia is roped into a plan to get revenge on the hotel—which, according to Florencia’s friend, is haunted.

SImilar vibes as the first story—wonderful atmosphere, but just kind of ended, rather than being resolved.

Los años intoxicados (to read next)

asd

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5

El camino de los reyes (pentalogy)

Have books I should be finishing, but am on a bit of a fantasy kick recently. I read the Mistborn trilogy in Spanish last year and found it to be very easy/enjoyable, so I’ll continue on with Brandon Sanderon. God knows he has enough to keep me busy
:melting_face:

Prologue

Coming from Mistborn, the “these legendary kick-ass warriors of yesteryear kicked ass, and now we’re dealing with the problems” vibe seems similar

Supposedly the vibe of Sanderson’s different series are quite different, so I’m excited to see how this one develops

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