Scan barcode
A review by afoolya
Optic Nerve by María Gainza
4.0
Very beautiful, and not at all what I expected — a series of little vignettes walking us through blurred lines between visual art, historical narrative, and a character's life. The form leads itself to revelation, so I was frustrated about halfway through when it didn't feel as though I was uncovering a mystery or unlocking some big truth, but I came to enjoy the process of just wandering through the woods of this book. I know very little of art history, but Maria Gainza is of course a masterful critic, so the art history and criticism interwoven with narrative made for a dreamy yet surprisingly educational read.
Skimmed through excerpts of the original Spanish and this translation seemed to me to be very precise — detailed concision — I'm used to mid-century maximalism when it comes to Argentinian novels in translation but I think Thomas Bunstead did an excellent job here, coming up with clever turns of phrase that match the author's prosodic pace and flow very well. Will have to seek out some of his other translations soon!
Skimmed through excerpts of the original Spanish and this translation seemed to me to be very precise — detailed concision — I'm used to mid-century maximalism when it comes to Argentinian novels in translation but I think Thomas Bunstead did an excellent job here, coming up with clever turns of phrase that match the author's prosodic pace and flow very well. Will have to seek out some of his other translations soon!