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Almost Never (2008)

by Daniel Sada(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1555976093 (ISBN13: 9781555976095)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Graywolf Press

review 1: Fun story, told mainly from the point of view of the main character, hapless Demetrio, whose lucky star wasn't always so lucky for him. The translation was so-so; some odd phrasing and idioms that didn't fit made their appearance. Sada also left us with some loose ends -- after spending so much time offering up intimate details of some characters and plotlines, he drops a few like hot potatoes. For instance, whatever happened to Mireya? Alas, Sada is dead, so we'll never know.
review 2: I read this because of the rave reviews, but I had the feeling much was lost in translation. I know Sada is viewed as a major writer in Spanish, even in Spain, but since I read the novel (his only one translated into English), in English, I am not sure I got to see his use of l... moreanguage; in fact, I am sure I didn't. So, what else was here for me? A wild tale of the virgin, the whore, the mother, and for added spice, the aunt, in dusty, pre-road Mexico. I definitely enjoyed reading it, page by page, and lots of it was very funny, particularly the scenes of the drawn out courtship of the virgin, but I just kept thinking I must be missing a lot here. It felt like an extended hyperbolic joke, one I sort of got, but thought maybe there was a shadow story under the joke, which I wasn't getting. Still, I'm glad I read it, even just to see something by a writer whom Roberto Bolano is quoted as having called "the most daring" of his generation. I hope more of Sada's work is translated, because this does not seem to be the novel to which Bolano was referring, especially considering his own "Savage Detectives." less

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