Rita Indiana

I was a good 2/3 sold on the cover alone (just last week I'd been bemoaning the lack of tentacle and marine biology fiction in my home library), THEN I saw "Translated," THEN I saw the Caribbean Writers prize, THEN I flipped it over and saw magic phrases like "Santeria prophecy" and "travel back in time and save the ocean," and "sacred anemone." Like, seriously, I could go on, but I was already sold. Why had I never heard of this book before the magical wizards at Literati put this book in show more front of my face?

Anyway, it seems like all that could be a lot to live up to, but it DID. The book starts out brutal -- with automatic systems that detect virus in Haitian refugees and gas, incinerate, and dispose of them -- and never really lets up. There is rape, there is racism, there is violence. This is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. At least one of the POV characters is an out-and-out asshole, all of them are hardened in some way. As the book goes on it layers more characters and more timelines and just when it seems it may all spin out of control all the pieces start converging and it's kind of amazing when it all comes together.

This book is startling and mud-dragged and glistening and fraught and intellectual and visceral and tawdry and a gut-punch and new.

Amazing. show less

I wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if I had loved Tentacle less, or if this had been the first book by Indiana that I read. Tentacle was one of my favorite reads of 2019 -- so breathtakingly bonkers with time travel, climate collapse, magical anemones, art theory/criticism/history, class & gender criticism... That book could barely be contained. Made in Saturn keeps just enough of some of the themes, particularly the history and language of art, and the legacy of colonialism and show more revolution in the Caribbean to feel like the work of the same author, but with all of the speculative elements stripped away and a rather dislikable narrator. (Many of the characters in Tentacle weren't terribly likable either, but with so much going on, it mattered less.) In the end it had interesting things to say, but I can't help hoping Indiana's future books contain more of the wild exuberance of Tentacle. show less

Dance Like a Butterfly, Sting Like an Anemone
A review of the And Other Stories paperback (November 15, 2018) translated by Achy Obejas from the Spanish language original "La mucama de Omicunlé" [The Maid of Omicunlé] (April 2015).

When I was trying to think of a parallel to Tentacle what came to mind was Icelandic author Sjón's Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was (2013) which was aptly described as a "mind-bending miniature historical epic." So from that I would say that Tentacle could be show more described as a mind-bending miniature science-fiction time travel epic.

See photograph at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/Condylactis_gigantea_%...
A yellow variant of the giant Caribbean sea anemone. Image sourced from Wikipedia.

In the novella length work, the author takes us from a post-apocalyptic Dominican Republic in 2027 and 2037 back to the early 2000's and then even as far back as the days of pirates and buccaneers in the 17th Century. Two characters, the maid Alcide of the original Spanish title and a creepy misogynist artist Argenis, find themselves transported back in time through the voodoo-like powers of the stinging tentacles of Caribbean sea anemones. Alcide's transformation also involves a chemically induced sex-change.

Too much further information would get into spoiler territory but the overall arc of the book is Alcide's mission as a chosen one (her mistress was a voodoo priestess) to go back in time to prevent a reckless decision by the President of the Dominican Republic which made for the environmental catastrophe which poisoned the future lands and seas of the Caribbean. In that, it also has echoes of such things as Chris Marker's cult classic film La Jetée (1962) and its later inspired extension in Terry Gilliam's film 12 Monkeys (1995). There was also a delightful short parody film La Puppé (2003) in which the part of the time traveler was played by a plush toy dog 🤣.

All of that, combined with a quirky varied selection of music tracks (see below) made this a 5 star for me, even if I had reservations about the ending.

It was due to GR friend Berengaria's enthusiastic review that I sought out this book. For a more reserved rating and review (I do agree about the abrupt ending) see GR friend Sportyrod's review. Thanks to you both B and Rod!

Soundtrack
There is a Tentacle playlist that someone has assembled on YouTube which you can listen to here. It includes many if not most of the songs mentioned in the book, particularly at the DJ parties. It does go a bit overboard with 77 tracks and includes some entire albums. There does not appear to be a comparable version on Spotify. show less

Que el español sigue vivo nos lo demuestran los más de cuatrocientos millones de hablantes que farfullamos esta lengua desde la cuna, más otras decenas de millones de personas en el mundo que se han interesado en aprenderla. Que el español literario también lo está es buena muestra esta novela de Rita Indiana.
Sin complejos, con la fuerza de una lengua cibaeña crisol de influencias lingüísticas lejanas geográficamente pero ya seculares en su promiscuidad: españolas, evidente, pero show more también amerindias, africanas, y sin hacerle ascos al inglés, que el vecino del norte pesa e influye mucho. La autora desenvuelve su relato con una osadía y una agilidad de muñeca al empuñar la pluma, o las teclas del ordenador, dignas de admiración. Sin corsés academicistas pero con la rotundidad de un español más vivo en tanto que no es purista pues como decía Cela, cito de memoria, “el español es de todos y cada uno lo habla como le sale de los cojones”.
La novela es todo un ejercicio de prestidigitación léxica al servicio de una trama compleja de seguir en sus saltos temporales e identidades solapadas. Un argumento desquiciante, alocado en su desarrollo que, sin sermonear, no elude hablar de “arte, política y ambientalismo”. Sólo queda decir: “Pasen y lean”. show less