Cormac McCarthy's Spanish dialogues

Submitted by testmeat_ t3_10gbdbi in books

I'm about a fifth of the way through The Crossing, which is the third novel of his I've read, and I'm getting irrationality irritated by his switching to Spanish for what feels like half of his dialogues. I know what purpose they serve and that it's like that for a reason, but it kills the pacing for me when I have to have google translate open on my phone so I don't miss any plot points, or quotes like, "Those who cannot remember the blood of war are always the hottest for the fight."

He's one of my favourite authors, and All the Pretty Horses is one of my favourite books, but this is probably my only gripe with his works. Anyone have any tips besides suckimg it up?

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scientist_tz t1_j51xak6 wrote

I just pushed through those sections going on what little Spanish I know. Anything that went over my head, so be it. I don’t feel like it diminished the overall impact of the novel for me.

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testmeat_ OP t1_j546930 wrote

Fair point. For the most part I can sort of get the gist of things, especially now that I know what cazador and lobo means. Thanks! :)

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supkalas t1_j55mcx0 wrote

I’m currently reading Blood Meridian which has a good amount of spanish. I have decided I will only read his books on kindle from here on out so I can easily translate. I even get tired of that so I cannot imagine doing it manually, I honestly probably wouldn’t finish the book lol

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testmeat_ OP t1_j560qau wrote

I've got most of his stuff in paperback from a clearance sale (???), but an epub sounds like a great idea, thanks!

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notqwhiteright t1_j56omdh wrote

What other two have you read? I assume all the pretty horses since you are on the crossing. I'm wondering what the other one is that makes you such a big fan? If you are a big fan you are lucky, that means you have a lot of great reading ahead. My comment comes from a place of jealousy as I only have one book left that I know of.

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testmeat_ OP t1_j56sqln wrote

Yep, All the Pretty Horses (one of my favourite books of all time), and Blood Meridian. I've got the third in the trilogy as well as No Country for Old Men. The latter was the first McCarthy book I tried but bounced off almost immediately, Blood Meridian was what got me hooked.

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notqwhiteright t1_j5d125l wrote

Would you like to read child of God? I'd send it to you wherever you live.

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testmeat_ OP t1_j5dw6j1 wrote

That is so incredibly sweet, thank you <3 my local second hand bookstore is really good at finding books for me for really cheap, so I don't want you to waste your money on what will probably be an outrageous shipping cost. My country's postal service is also absolutely terrible, and I think your kind gift would just languish in a warehouse until the end times. But again, thank you so much!

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notqwhiteright t1_j5ghn0g wrote

What country? Sorry but child of God is insanely poinient as an American

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testmeat_ OP t1_j5i69uf wrote

I'm from South Africa. And yes, from what I understand and know of Appalachia, Child of God captures so much of it.

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crixx93 t1_j526iky wrote

LOL. You shouldn't try Umberto Eco's novels. The guy was a polyglot, and his characters also are. So his novels switch a lot between Italian, spanish, latin, greek, english, French, etc. I don't really mind this. Reading is not a race, I just translate as I go along

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[deleted] t1_j52k35r wrote

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AliceDestroyed t1_j53er0q wrote

Yeah I mean in the united states its the second language. Im suprised people get by without even a rudimentary understanding of the language.

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