Spanish writing novelists
Why is it that so many Spanish writers insist on ornate styles and syntax that is often convoluted? There is little in English and American writing to rival this wide-spread practice. Henry James is more accessible to the public than the vast majority of Spanish writers I have studied. This all notwithstanding my pedistrian skills at translating. I have read enough to be discouraged, without being totally undone.
4 Answers
I think this is totally a matter of personal opinion. From your point of view as a non-native Spanish speaker, I can understand how the "dancing around words" that is so typical in Spanish literature could discourage you from reading further.
I have studied other Romance languages and have discovered that French, Italian and Portuguese all share this tendency to ornate the language with complex constructions and verbose phrases. I actually find that style beautiful for it shows the richness of the language and the different permutations available to the writer.
I normally recommend reading Isabel Allende in Spanish. Her work is phenomenal and her language can be less intricate than that of other Latin American or Spanish authors I have read. I would start with "La casa de los espíritus" and continue exploring her wonderful work from that point forward.
¡Buena suerte y gracias por tu comentario!
Perhaps a few examples would be in order.. I read Isabel Allende's Haiti and even my rudimentary Spanish skills (plus the great skills of those who write entries for dictionaries) allowed me to read it. And I never had the sense of the writing being "ornate".
I can say the same for the audio books I am listening to: among the authors: Arturo Perez-Reverte, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Luis Sepúlveda, Antonio Muñoz Molina....
I am reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's La sombra del viento and find the story told in a straightforward way. And I have read several of Gabriel García Márquez' books in English -- Would not an ornate style have translated to ornate English, too - it did not.
Whether one appreciates an ornate (...is this the right description) style or not, it surely is not a generalization to be made without a long list of authors to support the idea.
Maybe it is just the names of the authors that are ornate
Easy, as in... Finnegan's Wake?
It occurred to me, mikecarrol, that perhaps Spanish writing seems more ´--let us call it "embellished" to you due to the use of the subjunctive.
We have the subjunctive in English, but if someone uses it, it can sound - well, perhaps ornate
But I think that even young children - teenagers, people with no particular relationship to the academic world - all kinds of people from all walks of all - all use the subjunctive in Spanish quite naturally.
I do not know this - I have only once been in a Spanish-speaking country except on business (not speaking Spanish on business...) one time. But in one book I am listening to there is lots of slang. The protagonist is a young truck driver, just out of jail for having tried to run drugs from Morocco. He has made comments that lead me to think he grew up "on a waterfront" - in a harbor town. And he uses the subjunctive....OK, his writer puts the subjunctive in his mouth, of course. But it must sound pretty natural, the author is a best seller and also outside of Spain.
