Signs Preceding the End of the World
Ratings17
Average rating3.7
Signs Preceding the End of the World is one of the most arresting novels to be published in Spanish in the last ten years. Yuri Herrera does not simply write about the border between Mexico and the United States and those who cross it. He explores the crossings and translations people make in their minds and language as they move from one country to another, especially when there’s no going back. Traversing this lonely territory is Makina, a young woman who knows only too well how to survive in a violent, macho world. Leaving behind her life in Mexico to search for her brother, she is smuggled into the USA carrying a pair of secret messages - one from her mother and one from the Mexican underworld.
Tags
Genre
Reviews
Popular Reviews
Reviews with the most likes.
Beautiful and lyrical, surreal and yet also believable. This was truly masterful and the translator's work here shines alongside the author's.
So, I read the English edition right after the original, and almost dropped it ten pages in. The tone feels all wrong: brusque and choppy, not the indescribable softer touch of Herrera’s oh-so-deliberate Spanish. English lacks sensuousness and depth sometimes. And reflexive verbs! Herrera makes delicious use of this property, and it’s completely lost in translation. I had to go back and reread parts of the Spanish just to remind myself of the flow and tone. I can’t call it a bad translation, it really is quite sensible, it just misses so much.
I'm reminded of The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld. A gripping story told with all the trappings of a fairy tale. It's a hero's journey with shades of myth. Crossing the river, descending underground. While it's clear Makina is coming to the US from Mexico it's never made explicit. She instead walks to the place where the hills meet, takes a bus to the place where the wind cuts like a knife - she's indistinctly placed and that lack of naming carries with it a dreamlike state.
The translation is beautifully done and translator Lisa Dillman offers a look at her process involving frequent collaboration with the author himself and the difficulty in nailing down certain pieces of slang used throughout. A slight 100 or so pages, I actually wished it was longer so that I could linger for a while longer in this world.
