Daphne Young:
Page 835-836
I move a few steps so that the light from the candles won’t blind me. The girl keeps her eyes closed, her hands at her side. She won’t look at me at first, then little by little she opens her eyes as if she were afraid of the light. Finally I can see that those eyes are sea green and that they surge, break to foam, grow calm again, then surge again like a wave. I look into them and tell myself it isn’t true, because they’re beautiful green eyes just like all the beautiful green eyes I’ve ever known. But I can’t deceive myself; those eyes do surge, do change, as if offering me a landscape that only I can see and desire.
He moves a few steps so that the light from the candles won’t blind him. The girls keeps her eyes closed, her hands at her sides. She won’t look at him at first, then little by little she opens her eyes as if she were afraid of the light. Finally he can see that those eyes are sea green and that they surge, break to foam, grow calm again, then surge again like a wave. He looks into them and tells himself that it isn’t true, because they’re beautiful green eyes just like all the beautiful eyes he’s ever known. But he can’t deceive himself; those eyes do surge, do change, as if offering him a landscape that only he can see and desire.
I didn’t find it particularly difficult or have any problems going from second person to first or third person. In fact, in doing so, I was able to understand how each gives off a different perspective to the story. In first person, it puts me in the shoes of the main character. In second person, it is like someone is telling me what I am doing and I have no control of what I am doing or have the freedom to choose how I am feeling. In third person, I don’t feel connected to the text like in first and second person.
Susanna Domosi:
There is a huge difference in effect of the perspective being first person point of view and third person point of view. When in first person, the reader’s attention is grabbed much more than in the third. It is natural human instinct to pay attention when someone is calling on you, which is why Fuentes is successful in having his readers absorb the story as if they were experiencing it first-hand. A particular part that stuck out to me in Daphne’s translation was: “He looks into them and tells himself that it isn’t true, because they’re beautiful green eyes just like all the beautiful eyes he’s ever known” and “I look into them and tell myself it isn’t true, because they’re beautiful green eyes just like all the beautiful green eyes I’ve ever known.” Just reading this one sentence in the two separate points of view invoke extremely different emotions. When one reads “I look into them…” you are prompted by the words to imagine a time when you were mesmerized by the eyes of someone, but when you read “He looks into them…” the words do not transform into as vivid of an image in one’s mind.
Jiwoo Han:
I completely agree with Susanna when she stated that there is a huge difference between the first person’s perspective and the second person’s perspective. I also believe that there is a big difference between the original and the translation from the viewpoint of the third person. Especially, I found the big difference between this two parts, “Finally you can see that those eyes are sea green and that they surge, break to foam, grow calm again, then surge again like a wave” and “Finally he can see that those eyes are sea green and that they surge break to foam, grow calm again, then surge again like a wave”. When I read the first one, I naturally visualized Aura as it stated. On the other hand, when I read the second one, I came up with Montero visualizing Aura. I think that this is the most different thing between the two.
3 responses so far ↓
p.cheung // May 12th 2017 at 12:00 am
I agree with Susanna’s points about the reader’s attention being grabbed a lot more in first person. This type of writing style is used to pull the readers in and put them in the story. And with Aura Fuentes does a great job in doing so. I know when I read a story I try to play a video in my head about what’s going on and first person writing allows that to happen more smoothly.
t.lewkowicz // May 12th 2017 at 11:28 am
Daphne made a good point when stating that you feel connected to the text in both first and second person translations. When the text is translated into third person there is no connection what so ever. The translation to third person feels like someone is simply throwing out details of the scenario, and it is very easy to lose interest in what you are reading. The passage in third person takes away the ability for the reader to connect with what is happening in the story. I like that Fuentes uses second person because I personally felt like I was in the story and experiencing what Felipe was going through.
f.zaman1 // May 12th 2017 at 3:47 pm
I agree with Daphne’s interpretation of the third person point of view in the sense that in the first person point of view, it put me in the shoes of the main character while the third person point of view made me feel much more distant. But reading it from different perspectives has its benefits. It actually gave me a better understanding of the story. I believe in certain cases it’s necessary to view the story from other perspectives as it gives the reader the ability to put themselves in the story.
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