Sojourner Books
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Leopoldo Lugones Leopoldo Lugones (1874-1938) was an Argentinian writer and poet; he belonged to the modernist school and was one of the most influent writers and the forerunner of fantastic short histories in Latin America. Jorge Luis Borges appreciated the work of Lugones and said about him:
His mark was so deep that the day of his birth (June 13) is celebrated as the day of the writer in Argentina. |
Latin America The Gaucho WarLeopoldo Lugones 182 pages / 6 x 9 inches The Gaucho War is the name given to the struggle of militias and guerrillas carried out in the Northwest of Argentina, in the province of Salta, against the royalist armies during the War of Independence of Argentina (1810-1824), during the period between 1814 and 1825. By the beginning of the 19th century, this sector had a strong Spanish presence as it acted as a border between the Viceroyalty of the River Plate and the Viceroyalty of Upper Peru. There, the new central government in Buenos Aires had sent the lawyer Manuel Belgrano to lead the troops against the royalist militias. With some progress to his credit and two major defeats, Belgrano withdrew the revolutionary troops to Jujuy and was replaced by Güemes, who started the Gaucho War. It was a long series of almost daily clashes; mostly just short skirmishes followed by retreats. Under these conditions, poorly disciplined and ill-equipped forces, but supported by the population, did much damage to the invading Spanish army. Lugones describes that struggle in twenty-two stories, using anonymous heroes and martyrs. The last story commemorates Martín Miguel de Güemes, the military leader who protected the north of Argentina from the royalist invasion. The irregular military formations fighting the Spanish were known as “montoneras”. It is believed that the terms “montonero” and “montoneras” are due to the fact that these men marched “in a heap” (in Spanish would be “en montón”), that is disorganized; they gathered and dispersed “in the mountains” (“montes”) and generally fought “mounted” (“montados”). Like “montoneras”, some other Spanish words couldn’t be translated properly, because there are not English words for them, in such cases the Spanish words were not translated, but its meaning is explained in the Glossary, at the end of this book. Also, the first time any of such words appears, its meaning is explained in a footnote, after that, whenever it shows up again, it appears underlined, to signify that it is included in the Glossary. |
Latin America Strange Forces and Fatal TalesLeopoldo Lugones 160 pages / 6 x 9 inches This volume comprises two collections of short stories of Leopoldo Lugones: Stranger Forces (Las Fuerzas Extrañas) and Fatal Tales (Cuentos Fatales). Strange Forces was published in 1906, although most of the twelve stories that it contains were published previously in different newspapers, between 1897 and 1906. They are fantastic stories that mix scientific elements with biblical and legendary myths, combining erudition, irony and fantasy in an unlikely mixture. We have included all twelve stories of that volume, with the exception of the Essay on a Cosmogony in Ten Lessons, which forms the second part of the original publication. Fatal Tales was published in 1924, it gathers five stories that appeared in the newspaper La Nación between 1923 and 1924. All stories share the common note indicated by the adjective of the title: "fatality", as an inescapable force that seems to determine actions and defines the final outcome. |
Latin America Juan MoreiraEduardo Gutiérrez 310 pages / 6 x 9 inches SPANISH/ENGLISH BILINGUAL EDITION Juan Moreira is presented as a bilingual, Spanish/English book, with side-by-side texts. Juan Moreira is a classic gaucho novel by the Argentinian writer Eduardo Gutiérrez, published as a serial history between November 1879 and January 1880 in the newspaper La Patria Argentina. It is inspired by a real police chronicle starring the legendary gaucho Juan Moreira, who was killed by the police in Lobos, in 1874. It is one of the most important texts of Argentine literature and Hispano-American romanticism. As far as I know, there is only one other English translation of this book, made by John Charles Chasteen and published by Hackett under the title El Gaucho Juan Moreira. This translation is very different from Chasteen’s, since instead of shortening and adapting the text to make it more pleasing to the English reader, my goal was to keep this translation as close as possible to the original, without sacrificing its legibility. Some words couldn’t be translated properly, because there are not English words for them, in such cases the Spanish word was left as it was, but we explain its meaning in the Glossary and/or in footnotes. All words included in the Glossary are underlined. I hope this bilingual translation can help English readers to understand better this classic work of the Latin-American literature. Also this book is useful for students of Spanish, to learn Spanish through reading, since the side-by-side presentation of the Spanish and English texts, makes it easy following the original Spanish text. The Translator |
Latin America Don Segundo SombraRicardo Güiraldes 240 pages / 6 x 9 inches SPANISH/ENGLISH BILINGUAL EDITION Don Segundo Sombra is presented as a bilingual, Spanish/English book, with side-by-side texts. This book shows how a rebellious teenager transforms himself into a gaucho of the pampas, under the guidance of Don Segundo Sombra, the image of the ideal gaucho. The gauchos loved their freedom, they were nomads who wandered through the fields, at a time when there were no fences and wild cattle abounded, which allowed them to live off the land. The only looked for temporary work in a ranch, when they needed some money. The figure of the gaucho always appears linked to the horse; they were excellent riders and wranglers. When the fields were wired and the railway connected the pampas with the rest of the country, well into the 19th century, the gaucho lost his freedom and the way of life portrayed in this book came to an end. The original edition of Don Segundo Sombra doesn’t have a Table of Contents because although the book is divided in 27 chapters, they have no titles. To help readers locate easily the different parts of this book we added a TOC with titles for each chapter, but such titles are no part of the original book. There are two other English translations of this book, the 1935 translation by Harriet de Onís, published by Signet in 1966, with an afterword by herself and the 1995 translation by Patricia Owen Steiner, accompanied by extensive critical materials, published by the University of Pittsburgh. Both translations, although very good, are out of print but also, they were not written by people familiarized with the gaucho culture of Argentina, which made them not very faithful to the original text. Don Segundo Sombra was written by an educated man who used the real language spoken by the gauchos of the XIX century; this complicates the translation of this book because it is full of colloquialisms and jargon. This translation is the first one written by an Argentinian, familiar with the culture and the gaucho slang of the time. Some words couldn’t be translated properly, because there are not English words for them, in such cases the Spanish word was not translated, but its meaning is explained in the Glossary. All words included in the Glossary are underlined. Also, the same words can mean different things in different places and times, the Spanish words that do not have the normal meaning in the time and place of this story (the province of Buenos Aires, in some moment of the XIX century), also were underlined in the Spanish text and added to the Glossary. We hope this bilingual translation can help English readers to understand better this classic work of the Latin-American literature. Also this book is useful for students of Spanish, to learn Spanish through reading, since the side-by-side presentation of the Spanish and English texts, makes it easy following the original Spanish text. Buy or look inside the paperback version at Amazon.com USA Buy or look inside the paperback version at Amazon.co.uk UK Buy or look inside the paperback version at Amazon.ca Canada |
Tales of Love of Madness and of Death / Cuentos de Amor de Locura y de MuerteHoracio Quiroga 214 pages / 6 x 9 inches SPANISH/ENGLISH BILINGUAL EDITION This book is a collection of 18 weird tales by the famous Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga. Most of the stories are dark and strange and describe situations that offer no clear way out for the protagonist, who in some cases is an animal (as in three stories, although they are not for children). Some stories are set in the countryside and others in the city, both showing the lives of the poor and disinherited but also of the most favored members of society. Quiroga portrays sharply the social miseries and limitations of the protagonists, which often end up deciding their final destiny. Irony mingles freely with social denunciations, love, madness and death. Also this book is useful for students of Spanish, to learn Spanish through reading, since the side-by-side presentation of the Spanish and English texts, makes it easy following the original Spanish text. The full text of all tales in Quiroga's book are included in our translation. |
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The tales presented in this book are:
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Latin America Sub Terra
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Latin America Gossamer Stories and Smoke-colored Stories
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