The Doubtful Strait / El estrecho dudoso [Paperback]

Ernesto Cardenal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 1995

"... very well translated... Cardenal merits praise for presenting, on such an ambitious scale, a passionate alternative history of the Spanish encounter with Central America." —Booklist

"Combining hsitory with poetry, Cardenal exposes the violence, treachery, injustice, and exploitation that are so much a part of [Central America and Mexico's] past and present." —World Literature Today

"Explore this dense, beautiful poem and you will be rewarded with riches that 'delight and hurt not'." —Nicaragua Update

"... a remarkable text.... El estrecho dudoso is a masterful and compelling poetic account of early colonial Central America, and the translation is likewise masterful." —Colonial Latin American Historical Review

In this book-length poem, Nicaraguan priest and revolutionary Ernesto Cardenal tells the story of the Spanish conquest of Central America from the "discovery" of the American continent to recent historical events. A remarkable achievement and an engrossing narrative, the poem is published here in both Spanish and English.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cardenal (Zero Hour) has made history both as a poet and a spokesman for liberation, abstracting universals from the experience of Nicaragua, his country, which resonate even on these jaded shores. This, his latest book in English, ably rendered by Lyons, traverses the familiar stretch of politics and literature using the epic as directly adapted from Pound. Through the epic's inclusivity, Cardenal tells the story of the conquest of Central America from Columbus's "discovery" to the present day. For the "true" history of the region, Cardenal mines a host of primary texts with the synthesizing eye of a polemicist and a scholar: Casas's History of the Indies, Diaz's History of the Conquest of New Spain, and others. Cardenal writes across the "desired strait" that is the phantom objective of colonialism, and later, imperialism. But this poetic history is History by extension; Central America, like Homer's Greece, is an analogue for all the world. Finally, Cardenal appropriates the role of bard; his purpose is to write truly, because, as one of his personae memorably relates, "graceful composition is the telling of the truth."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In this volume--here very well translated--Cardenal undertakes what has become a somewhat popular literary sport: Columbus bashing. Cardenal uses the explorer-exploiter's own words against him by including many of Columbus' log entries in a composition made up of fragments of documents, bits from colonial histories, and Cardenal's own powerful images. The book opens upon Columbus' fourth voyage: "The sun was in Libra and moon in Aries. / And in Veragua the sea was deep, foaming, and ugly, / the water as though changed to blood, boiling like a cauldron." The interwoven historical passages guide the book's progress to a conclusion that comes when the volcano Momotombo erupts in 1603--an event Cardenal uses to construct a parallelism between human and natural tragedies. The title alludes to the quest for a waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and Cardenal gently shows how that Spanish obsession caused numerous destructive events. Cardenal merits praise for presenting, on such an ambitious scale, a passionate alternative history of the Spanish encounter with Central America. Elizabeth Gunderson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (February 22, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025320903X
• ISBN-13: 978-0253209030
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Now I want to read more Cardenal, July 21, 2003

By 

J. Ott "John Ott" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Doubtful Strait = El Estrecho Dudoso (Hardcover)

This is the first Cardenal I've read, and I found much to like. I think Cardenal has proved (much more ably than Pound) that history can be rendered in this sort of poetry. The eponymous myth of a strait that connects the great oceans, the pursut of which leads many Spaniards to their deaths is only one of poem's conceits. Each of the 25 cantos is self-contained, and each tells a fragment of the story of the rape of the native populations and the rape of the natural wealth of South America. Cardenal is judicious with metaphor, quotes deeply from texts, and editorializes in the best way possible: through careful selection of detail, like any good historian. This is a different read than most modern poetry, even Pound. I can't say it is my favorite sort of free verse, but the form suits Cardenal's aims.

Speaking of form, John Lyons gets it spot on, even delivering some line breaks in better places than the original. I know this, because the original Spanish is printed on facing pages with the English. If you are studying Spanish, as I am, this is quite handy, especially since it presents older texts and spellings than are often readily available in direct translation (why I bought it in the first place). The introduction is plenty informative and the book also thoughtfully contains a glossary of places and people that might be unfamiliar to a North American reader such as myself. One need not know any specifically Nicaraguan history, although I do recommend you read a little about Cortez and the conquistadors if this is one of your knowledge gaps.

History, poetry; Spanish, English: EL DERECHO DUDOSO/THE DOUBTFUL STRAIT strikes a perfect balance. I am now pursuing the COSMIC CANTICLE (CANTICO COSMICO) translated by Mr. Lyons, and definitely plan to read some of Cardenal's shorter poems, thanks to this. Strongly recommend.