Voices en Español

This month’s book selection isn’t light reading. The title, “Tres tristes tigres”, is the beginning of a popular trabalenguas (tongue twister) and the novel itself defies easy classification. Written by Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Tres tristes tigres tells the story of four friends trying to build their artistic careers in the nightclub scene of Havana, Cuba before Fidel Castro took over. Reviews on Amazon.com call the book  “an anti-novel,” a “feast for the reader” as well as a “nightmare for a translator” due to the extensive puns, palindromes and experimental wordplay which is characteristic of the novel. One reviewer writes:

“The book grabs the reader on page one and takes him on a linguistic roller-coaster, a mental labyrinth, and a chaos of events at once discrete but united, as music might be both cacophonous and melodious. And all of this with Havana’s nightlife as the backdrop. Don’t look for a plot: there is none. But what there is is a rendering of words and language in a format never before seen, nor seen since. Cabrera-Infante’s work will confuse; entertain; at times it may even bore you, but in its entirety you can see the man’s genius. Once you put the book down you will realize that language–what distinguishes us from animals–is nothing more than ink on paper; sounds from mouths; misinterpretations, reinterpretations, random, chaotic inventions that we–just like he–can use for our own purposes. In the end, maybe we can’t trust our ears. Or in this case, our eyes.”

A new Harper Collins edition of the novel goes on sale December 9. You can check out an excerpt by clicking on the link in the box below. You can also find Tres tristes tigresat Amazon.com.