Of course, if you knew how long this took me you might be saying why is he bragging. I started the first of this year and just finished up the 1st of July. “What are you bragging about, for gawd’s sake?” you grumble. Legitimate question, I suppose.
I just finished reading The Hobbit and all three volumes of the Lord of Rings… in Spanish.
Just to list a few
I have read a fair number of novels in Spanish. For instance, I have read three of Gabriel Garcia Máquez’s shorter novels in his native language. Isabel Allende’s novel, La casa de los espíritus. One very strange novel by Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo. The novel is supposedly very Mexican, whatever that means. Two novels that I have been told every Filipino school child reads by José Rizal, Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo . Not that they are books for children, but are books that deal with the awful history of the Spanish and the Catholic Church in their country. Also, Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquevil. I was not a big fan of that one as many of the characters were so unlikable. Yo no soy tu perfecta hija mexicana by Erika L. Sánchez. A very moving, semi-autobiographical novel about illegal Mexican immigrants living in Chicago. Plus 10 or 12 books of short stories in Spanish.
However, most of the novels I have read are what are called graduated readers. Books aimed at whatever is your current level with the language. These ranged from the simple to what I would term, for lack of a better word, normal novels. Close to the start of my journey with the language I read The Chronicles of Narnia. I did this by first reading a chapter in Spanish, then in English and going back and rereading the chapter in Spanish. Not something that I would especially recommend at this point.
So why the Lord of the Rings and why did it take me so long
To answer the first, it is a story I know very well. I have probably read the novels a dozen times over my life and listened to the audio books once. Just as an aside I hated the movies. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is that I did not like Elijah Wood as Frodo and their portrayal of this character. Plus, after a dozen readings I had my own Middle Earth constructed in my mind, and it was somewhat different than the one that Peter Jackson gave us.
Now to answer the second question. First, is that I have been having trouble finding time to read of late for various reasons. Plus, I read some other books in English while I was reading these. But the main reason is that when I read a novel in Spanish, I read it out loud. I do this for a few reasons. One is to practice my pronunciation of the language. Another, and perhaps more important, is that reading out loud slows me down. If I read Spanish silently, I will try to read it like I do English. Of course, how I read English varies with what I am reading and especially with the complexity. One of my guilty pleasures is reading trashy detective and sci-fi novels. When I read those, I tend to read them fast, taking in the words, more or less in blocks. I am not at the point with my Spanish that I could do that and get any meaning from the story.
Another reason is that I have a hard time bypassing a word I do not know without looking up the meaning. Obviously, that happens much more frequently in Spanish. Many of the words I could figure out by context, but that is not always so. While there are many cognates between Spanish and English, false cognates can trip you up in a New York minute. While I am reading, in part, for pleasure, I am also reading to expand my Spanish vocabulary. So, to the dictionary or Google Translator I go.
So how was it different reading the books in Spanish over English?
I was scrolling through Substack when I came across a meme that more or less read, “alright, alright Tolkien, you have spent the last two pages describing a single tree. Time to move on.”
This was something that I had not noticed the many times I read the books in English, how much time Tolkien does spend describing the scenery, whether a mountain range, a forest or the inside of mines constructed by the dwarves. The main reason I noticed it in Spanish is that frequently there were a string of words I did not know. Turns out a lot of them were names of flowers, plants, trees, etc. I, for one, would not tell Tolkien to move on. That is part of the charm of the books, how artfully he uses the environment to set the mood and to place the reader in the middle of the story.
One undercurrent I had not noticed in my 12 English readings of these novels were several passages that were vaguely homoerotic. I did get that impression slightly when I listened to the audio books. For example, Sam and Frodo are unwittingly being led up a steep mountain by Gollum to the lair of the monstrous spider, Shelob. They stop to rest. Gollum goes off somewhere, and Frodo falls asleep in Sam’s lap. Maybe it was the way it was read, but the passage came across with undertones stronger than your typical bromance.
Perhaps because while reading in Spanish, I was reading the books slower and concentrating, more or less, on every word, I found some of the sections to be more than vaguely homoerotic. This applies especially to the relationship between Frodo, the Ring Bearer, and his servant Sam. This was emphasized more towards the end of the third book when the burden of the Ring became almost more than Frodo could bear. There was more non-sexual physical contact than is normal between males, as was their avowals of amity .
If they had not been cousins the relationship between Merry and Pippin could have come across as vaguely homosexual. Then there is the scene where after escaping tombs at Barrow Downs, the four hobbits are running around naked in the sun, celebrating their escape. Well, after all the barrow wrights had dressed them in shrouds, which they quickly disposed of.
However, I am going to go with what one commenter thought. He attributed these types of relationships to the time Tolkien spent in the trenches during WWI. Developing close relationship with other men in combat situations is not abnormal. At the end of the day, while there is romance in the novels, it is not one of the primary themes nor is homosexuality, if it is a theme at all. However, a quick Google search revealed a plethora of websites discussing the homosexual themes of these books. Whether there are homoerotic passages in the books, I suppose depends on what you bring into your reading.
At the end of the third book, when Frodo, Gandalf and numerous elves are about to sail off to the west, I found tears welling up in my eyes. I do not recall doing this when reading the passage in English. Well, maybe the first time I read the books, but I really do not recall after nearly 60 years.
Obviously, the books are fantasy. Reading them slowly and carefully in Spanish made me appreciate the literary side of the books more than I ever did in English.
Final thoughts…
Now if I could just get Spanish to come out of my mouth with somewhat the ease that I read books in Spanish.
Not that I cannot communicate with a Spanish speaker, as I spend 3 or so hours a week in conversational practice with iTalki tutors in various countries. But they are patient and used to speaking with folks such as I.
Learning a new language has been fun. Besides the language, I have learned a lot about the Latino culture and how it varies so from country to country. Some of the tutors I have been visiting with for years, and we have developed a bit of a relationship, even if it depends on my paying them.
Supposedly learning a language helps keep your mind sharp. Whether it has sharpened my dull knife somewhat… who knows. However, I would recommend it, if you are willing to put in the work – and it is a lot of work – and be dedicated to the task.
I’m done bragging.
Good bragging, bro.
You should now read the Spanish version of Bored of the Rings. A parody.