Just in time for you to get serious about that New Year resolution to improve your Spanish, Ajijic writer Robert Bruce Drynan (Domain of the Scorpion; What Price Liberty) has published two bilingual books that offer fine stories and articles in both English and Spanish. Highly regarded Guadalajara teacher and writer Yolanda Ramìrez has provided all of the fine translations into Spanish.
The first section, “El Dorado, a collection of historical artifacts, tales & anecdotes.” features historical pieces about the conquest, exploration, and exploitation of Latin America and includes some not-so-common information, like the German expedition of 1529 that called their first settlement Klein Venedig, or Little Venice, “ergo Venezuela. The second section presents some fascinating short stories, like the sensual “La noche del niño Gitano/Night of the Gypsy Boy,” which is set in Venezuela.
I like the paragraph by paragraph movement from Spanish to English, which makes it easy to read (in either language) as well as to assimilate more and more of the Spanish by reading the English text that immediately follows. Here is how it works. The paragraph that follows is from “La noche del niño gitano/Night of the Gypsy Boy”. It appears first in Spanish translation, followed by its original English (in bold type to make the transition easy).
Miró atentamente las manos del muchacho. Tenía dedos largos y elegantes que reflejaban una esencia femenina, pero contrastaban con sus maneras viriles. Era un chico agraciado, que algún día acabaría siendo un joven devastadoramente atractivo. Resultaba fácil imaginar a aquel muchacho delgado en las sombras vacilantes de un campamento gítano; un mágico hechizo estaba a punto de comenzar…
Her eyes were drawn to his hands. The fingers were long and graceful, imparting a feminine essence to the boy. His manner was not effeminate. He had a youthful grace that would someday mature into a devastatingly handsome young man. She imagined this slim youth in the flickering shadows of a gypsy encampment; a magic spell was about to begin.
Isn´t that a delightful way to study Spanish?
The other volume, El ultimo toque de retreat/The Last Tattoo (2014) is a collection of stories and anecdotes (some of which are based on the author’s experiences in Europe and Latin America). These stories, usually about tough but thoughtful men, are often told with a surprising amount of feeling. Women as well as men will enjoy them. Love, as well as war, is a theme in several of the stories.
One story highlights the Marine Corps fighting for their lives on the congelado terreno del embalse de Chosin en Corea del Norte, fue su más grandioso momento de Gloria…fighting for their lives on “the frozen moonscape of North Korea’s Chosin Reservoir…their finest hour.
In the title story, “El ultimo toque de retreat/The Last Tattoo,” a young American Soldier, stationed in Núremberg about fifteen years after the war, takes his new German girlfriend to Vienna for a few days. Near Vienna, they visited a quaint little village and ate a late dinner serenaded by a trio of Hungarian violinists. La comida fue deliciosa y el vino exquisite. Pasaron las horas mirándose uno al otro…The food was excellent, the wine delightful. They tarried long, giving no thought but to the person across the table.
These two books are available at several Ajijic locations: Pearl’s Colecciónes, Yves Restaurant, Magañas, and the Nueva Posada; or you may contact the author directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.