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A review by clarereadstheworld
Salt Crystals by Cristina Bendek
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For Victoria the question of her identity means so much more than just having been born on the Colombian Caribbean Island of San Andrés. After living in Mexico City for several years, she decides, almost on a whim, to return to her native island, and is suddenly confronted once again with the question of who she is, and where she belongs.
There isn't really much plot in this book, instead each chapter reads like a mini essay as Victoria explores a different element of her own identity and history, or the island's identity and history. From it's colonial, slave trade past and her families involvement in it, to the current day crises caused by tourists putting a strain on the islands limited recourses, and tensions between the different local populations, this is an amazing study of the microcosm which is San Andrés.
Another interesting element is the use of language, and the link between language and identity. Victoria herself does not speak the Islands Creole, and so despite being able to trace her origins on the island back generations, she feels like something of an outsider in her home. The politics of language, and the importance of who speaks which languages and how well are also explored through the chapters. Victoria's Spanish speaking is the key that allows her to access certain spaces, but other spaces are closed to her as she does not speak Creole.
Although I can not read the original Spanish, I feel like the translator did a fantastic job in translating this work to English, but leaving sprinkles of the original Spanish and Creole throughout so an English reader can feel the complex tension between languages.
Salt Crystals ask a lot of questions, and there certainly are no easy answers, if indeed answers can be found at all. A very thought provoking read, and an interesting place to start my reading for the year.
There isn't really much plot in this book, instead each chapter reads like a mini essay as Victoria explores a different element of her own identity and history, or the island's identity and history. From it's colonial, slave trade past and her families involvement in it, to the current day crises caused by tourists putting a strain on the islands limited recourses, and tensions between the different local populations, this is an amazing study of the microcosm which is San Andrés.
Another interesting element is the use of language, and the link between language and identity. Victoria herself does not speak the Islands Creole, and so despite being able to trace her origins on the island back generations, she feels like something of an outsider in her home. The politics of language, and the importance of who speaks which languages and how well are also explored through the chapters. Victoria's Spanish speaking is the key that allows her to access certain spaces, but other spaces are closed to her as she does not speak Creole.
Although I can not read the original Spanish, I feel like the translator did a fantastic job in translating this work to English, but leaving sprinkles of the original Spanish and Creole throughout so an English reader can feel the complex tension between languages.
Salt Crystals ask a lot of questions, and there certainly are no easy answers, if indeed answers can be found at all. A very thought provoking read, and an interesting place to start my reading for the year.