The Cookie Fairy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alcesverdes) wrote2010-04-07 04:34 pm
alcesverdes) wrote2010-04-07 04:34 pm
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I wanted to like it ;_;
I grew up knowing next to nothing about Pre-Hispanic mythologies. Actually, I don't remember being taught in elementary school nothing about them except for a couple of lessons about the social hierarchy and market days in the Aztec civilization. Even the Wixarikas, who are alive today and have kept their language and who still worship the same gods they've worshiped for many centuries (and live not that far away from my city), weren't deemed important enough by the educational system to let the regular population know much about them. I don't know how things are today, but I doubt the situation has improved much.
Even when I took Pre-Hispanic literature in the university, we had to cover Mayan, Aztec and Quechuan literature in four months. On top of that, the teacher wasn't exactly the best we could have had, and I'm still sort of bitter about it, but going into detail would make this even longer.
That was why I was so happy when I found La panza del Tepozteco (The Tepozteco's Belly) by José Agustín, which is about a group of kids who get lost inside a mountain and meet Aztec gods. This is rare. Since not much people know about them, even less people write about them.
Also, I think this kind of modern retellings are a great way to introduce people to mythology and legends and other older works. They may take some liberties here and there, but they don't hurt, and there's always the chance they pique the reader's interest and make them go learn more about the sources.
So, even if I didn't exactly enjoyed the other one book by this author I read (he's written several novels, and I've been told again and again he's really good, so maybe I'm just unlucky), I bought this one. I don't regret it, but I'm throughly disappointed.
The dialogues want to be too colloquial and capture how young people actually speak, which of course can be done, but when you're writing a literary work, you also have to craft them. Natural-sounding dialogue in fiction is one of the most difficult things to write. Here, well, it misses the mark. (And the italics were quite annoying.)
The prose is very sloppy. It takes too long for the children to actually meet the gods, and it gives too little time about the gods' history and what they do. I don't want to start saying how I think it should have been written, but I'm just going to raise a comparison with the Percy Jackson books. I just started reading the third one, but so far each Greek good or mythological creature gets enough time on scene for the main characters to interact with them, and for the reader to find out who or what this person/monster/thing is. Also, Percy's story is engaging and fun to read.
The worst part about this is that I don't think children's/YA's literature must teach something. I don't want it either. Just like literature for adults, its main function should be to entertain. It's just that good literature --the age group it was marketed to is not important here-- always leaves us something, even if it isn't its intention. In my case, mostly when it isn't its intention.
I just want well-researched and well-written fiction about Pre-Hispanic mythologies. It looks like I'm going to have to do it myself. He.
Truly, I just wanted the excuse.
P.S. All of this reminded me of what Sandra Comino references in her book about censorship. She mentions an article about 'serious' writers who write for children thinking it would be easier than writing for adults and actually relaxing. Well, newsflash! It isn't! Children are smart, can be very critic and they usually say upfront when they don't like something. They do deserve our respect as authors.
__
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Even when I took Pre-Hispanic literature in the university, we had to cover Mayan, Aztec and Quechuan literature in four months. On top of that, the teacher wasn't exactly the best we could have had, and I'm still sort of bitter about it, but going into detail would make this even longer.
That was why I was so happy when I found La panza del Tepozteco (The Tepozteco's Belly) by José Agustín, which is about a group of kids who get lost inside a mountain and meet Aztec gods. This is rare. Since not much people know about them, even less people write about them.
Also, I think this kind of modern retellings are a great way to introduce people to mythology and legends and other older works. They may take some liberties here and there, but they don't hurt, and there's always the chance they pique the reader's interest and make them go learn more about the sources.
So, even if I didn't exactly enjoyed the other one book by this author I read (he's written several novels, and I've been told again and again he's really good, so maybe I'm just unlucky), I bought this one. I don't regret it, but I'm throughly disappointed.
The dialogues want to be too colloquial and capture how young people actually speak, which of course can be done, but when you're writing a literary work, you also have to craft them. Natural-sounding dialogue in fiction is one of the most difficult things to write. Here, well, it misses the mark. (And the italics were quite annoying.)
The prose is very sloppy. It takes too long for the children to actually meet the gods, and it gives too little time about the gods' history and what they do. I don't want to start saying how I think it should have been written, but I'm just going to raise a comparison with the Percy Jackson books. I just started reading the third one, but so far each Greek good or mythological creature gets enough time on scene for the main characters to interact with them, and for the reader to find out who or what this person/monster/thing is. Also, Percy's story is engaging and fun to read.
The worst part about this is that I don't think children's/YA's literature must teach something. I don't want it either. Just like literature for adults, its main function should be to entertain. It's just that good literature --the age group it was marketed to is not important here-- always leaves us something, even if it isn't its intention. In my case, mostly when it isn't its intention.
I just want well-researched and well-written fiction about Pre-Hispanic mythologies. It looks like I'm going to have to do it myself. He.
P.S. All of this reminded me of what Sandra Comino references in her book about censorship. She mentions an article about 'serious' writers who write for children thinking it would be easier than writing for adults and actually relaxing. Well, newsflash! It isn't! Children are smart, can be very critic and they usually say upfront when they don't like something. They do deserve our respect as authors.
__
x-posted to
books