Kate’s 2¢: “Seeing Red” by Lina Meruane; translated by Megan McDowell

“Seeing Red” by Lina Meruane; translated by Megan McDowell

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Gabriella Cavallero did a beautiful job reading this story. Her grasp of English and the ability to fluently transition into the Spanish language was wonderful to hear.

   I became totally blind at the age of 40 and I thought the author accurately represented and portrayed the situation of going blind very well.  Been there; Done that!

   I know there are various parts of the eye that can be transplanted successfully and some stem cells can grow    other parts, but, I haven’t heard about whole eye-ball transplants. There is still the issue of bleeding vessels that feed the eye. Besides that, I can’t imagine ever asking my husband to give me an eye. He has all he can do to ‘give me a hand’.

   The character lives in NYC and in the USA, there are many formal and informal organizations to help people losing their eye-sight to cope, find resources, and continue living a healthy, productive life.  One such organization is the American Council of the Blind. You don’t have to be totally blind to tap into their vast resources.

From the Web:

Lina Meruane is one of the most prominent female voices in Chilean contemporary narrative. A novelist, essayist, and cultural journalist, she is the author of a host of short stories that have appeared in various anthologies and magazines in Spanish, English, German and French. She has also published a collection of short stories.

Megan McDowell is a Spanish-language literary translator from Kentucky. Her work includes books by Alejandro Zambra, Samanta Schweblin, Mariana Enriquez, and Lina Meruane. Her translations have been published in the New Yorker, Tin House, the Pari.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Seeing red DB103123

Meruane, Lina; McDowell, Megan. Reading time: 5 hours, 59 minutes.

Read by Gabriella Cavallero.

Disability

Psychological Fiction

Medical Fiction

Lucina, a Chilean writer in New York, is at a party. As her doctors had warned, her eyes hemorrhage. Within minutes, blood floods her vision, rendering her nearly blind. She and her loved ones adjust to a different life. Translated from the original 2012 Spanish edition. Strong language and descriptions of sex. 2016.

Downloaded: July 3, 2021

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