The first short work by José Martí attempts to intrigue the reader with its smattering of poetic devices such imagery, metaphors and personification, however despite these bits of colour that intermingle with the greyness of the text, I was overwhelmed with a sense of boredom.
That being said, I feel a bit torn in writing my blog this time...my first impression would be to continue with my “negativity” and be super critical of this “boring” read; and yet, while I was reading the text I will admit that I was in awe of how someone could be so descriptive about a bridge! So...instead of going on about the “tediousness” of this read, I’d like to write about a couple uses of the poetic devices I stumbled upon here.
First I want to discuss the following quotation:
“Oh! broche digno de estas dos ciudades maravilladoras! Oh! guión de hierro—de estas dos palabras del Nuevo Evangelio” (Martí, 1963 Pg. 424)
I thought this was a very interesting metaphor; using a clasp to signify that the bridge is more than just a man-made structure linking two municipalities. Martí develops the metaphor further by stating that the bridge is an iron script between the cities, and that the latter are words of the gospel message on that script. I think this metaphor explains the idea that the bridge is to be a kind of saving grace, providing new opportunities and new life to the towns’ inhabitants...whether or not they themselves would support this metaphor I am unsure of. (I didn’t understand some of the context of Martí’s writing).
The second quotation I’d like to identify is as follows:
“Los hombres pasan, graves y silenciosos a su entrada, fríos, ansiosos, blancos y lúgubres como fantasmas…” (Pg. 429)
I had to read this a couple times, because the imagery describing the “trabajadores” was so striking. I really appreciate when authors are able to describe images or scenarios so poignantly that you can picture exactly what the author is trying to portray. Martí is able to do this repeatedly throughout his work.
Well...I need to wrap this up, so I will conclude with saying that though my first impressions were quite negative in regards to Martí’s first essay, my thoughts after digesting it, have developed into more positive ones. Though I found the topic to be somewhat uninteresting, I enjoyed the style in which this text was written.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I just don't know how you found it boring, though. I mean I understand that "El Puente de Brooklyn" is filled with technical terms and numbers, and if you take it at face value, perhaps you'd consider it boring. But I don't think Marti's purpose is to impose upon you a huge list of numerical figures. The point is to look PAST this and just understand the general vastness of the achievment, the phenomenon of modernity and industrialization, the power of man in numbers. All the numbers in the essay are trying to bring attention to the HUGE scale on which humanity exists and the huge potential we have to change the face of the earth. Instead of boredom, this is meant to bring out very big, very un-boring feelings of awe, fear, amazement, interest.
If you go on to read the other stories, you'll see only the Brooklyn Bridge one is this full of technicalities...the rest of the writing is alive and just refined enough for a little rawness to show through...and its definitely exciting and wonderful and not boring.
Boring, pah!
Yes, I agree with Valerie. In a sense, the details are unimportant... except for the fact that there are indeed so many of them, that the bridge is such a complex construction, even heroic. But as you yourself point out, it's more than a mere construction, "more than just a man-made structure."
I definitely found El Puente de Brooklyn to be anything but boring. Challenging, yes. Full of vocabulary that was not to be found in any dictionary, yes. But boring? I heartily disagree. If Marti had written 10 pages on the purely physical aspects of the bridge, it would have been a mind-numbingly boring read. The text, however, painted beautiful pictures for the reader. It told a story of struggle at the end of which, the people were rewarded. To me, this story was really about the people of Brooklyn and Manhattan. It was about the unity the bridge provided for the communities of New York. His sentences were a delight to read. I was never bored.
Hmm well, unfortunately because of my level of spanish I was unable to pull out more depth from the story other than just what was on the surface...
Post a Comment