Blog 8: Writing with rhythm and sound

Just this month I had the privilege of meeting Cristina García, author and former journalist, as she visited Weber State. I hadn't heard of her before, I did some research and found out about the different books she wrote. Here is an excerpt from her most recent book, "King of Cuba: A novel":

"El Comandante gazed out the window at the stale light of another tropical morning, at the long curve of crumbling seaside buildings. Spindly, sun-sick palms splintered the skies with their spiky fronds. The sea was a rumpled bed of blues. The usual lovebirds tangled on the malecón, verging on public fornication. He'd passed laws against such displays but it hadn't deterred the couples. The seawall remained theirs, as it had for generations of lovers before them. It was bad enough that Cuba had a reputation as the brothel of the Caribbean."

What struck me most is her writing style. She is a Cuban-american writer and as such is bilingual. García said, in one of the meetings I attended on campus, when she writes there are certain things that just flow in Spanish but she is most comfortable writing in English. I feel like I connect with her style of writing because the same happens for me.

As we can read from the excerpt her writing is very descriptive. When someone speaks in Spanish there is also a certain flow or rhythm and sound; therefore, writing in English about a Spanish cultural event should follow that same rhythm and sound.

That is how I write too, sometimes I feel like there are certain things I can't explain in English, although it's my first language. García told me she feels like she is a part of two worlds and through her writing she lives in both also. That is exactly how I feel.