La republica de East L.A.: Cuentos

by Luis J. Rodriguez

Overview

Ya sea en la comiquísima y filosofaclora voz de un chófer de limusina cuyo sueño es mejorar su grupo amateur de "rap-metal" en "Mi Carro, Mi Revolució", o en la diatriba en forma de monólogo de Ysela, una evangelista de carpa que da tes-ti-mo-nio en "Oiga", Rodríguez halla humor en las vidas de personajes que no están dispuestos a sacrificar sus sueños debido a las circunstancias que los rodean. Rodríguez le da una voz elocuente al barrio donde pasó muchos años de su vida como padre, organizador y finalmente escritor: un vecindario que le ofrece al mundo más de lo que su apariencia sugiere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060011628
Publisher:	HarperColins Espanol
Publication date:	03/04/2003
Edition description:	Spanish-Language Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.61(d)
Language:	Spanish

About the Author

Luis J. Rodriguez is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including Always Running, The Republic of East L.A., and Hearts and Hands, as well as poetry and books for children. He lives with his family in California.

Editorial Reviews

a flashy take on the vital Spanglish-Speaking culture of East Los Angeles.

Body & Soul

In Spanish and in English, Luis Rodriguez's vivid stories of life in the embattled republic of East Los Angeles bring the barrio alive.

bn.com

In this new collection of 12 gritty stories, acclaimed urban author Rodriguez (Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., 1994) brings to life a whole new cast of characters from the Mexican barrios of downtown and East Los Angeles, where the colors burn brighter and the sounds blare louder than anywhere else in the city. Readers will find young men drifting as they try to find their place in society, scarred young women coming to terms with violent pasts, vato ("guy") gang members, and aspiring writers. Although uneven, the translation by Gonz lez, whose previous credits include Victor Villasenor's Trece Sentidos (Thirteen Senses, Rayo, 2001), does capture the vibrancy and rawness of Rodriguez's landscape. Gonzalez enriches the dialog with Mexican/Chicano slang, like picop for "pick up truck" and "muy en onda" for "cool," and flavors the text with Mexican/Chicano idioms. "I was out in the street" becomes "Me pusieron de patitas en la calle" ("I got put on the street and had to walk on my feet"), and "the skycap you have to bribe" turns into "darle mordida al maletero" ("give the skycap a bite"). But the translations are sometimes too literal and could have been rendered more idiomatically, for example, "chica ruidosa" for "loud girl" instead of "chica escandalosa" ("boisterous girl"). Native Spanish speakers may also be surprised that the dialog follows American rather than Spanish-language style (periods are inside rather than outside quotation marks, and the text employs an em-dash for emphatic use instead of a comma). Also, the translation omits some sentences and includes a few unnecessary repetitions and passive verb forms. Despite these drawbacks, this is an important bookthat gives eloquent voice to a marginalized neighborhood that offers more to the world than its appearance suggests. Recommended, with reservations, to bookstores and public libraries in the L.A. area and other, large urban cities like Miami, Chicago, and Houston.
—Liliana Valenzuela, Austin, TX Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Criticas