Sometimes you read a book because you think; "he this author I've heard of" and you find a book of her and decide to read it.
In my case the title of the book "Wait for me in heaven" (original title in Spain: Esperadme en el cielo) reminded me of another book I'm also reading from Christopher Moore - A Dirty job. It's not the title but also about Death. Instead, Wait in heaven seems more about "looking to it from the other side... "could we help those who live now not making the same mistakes." wonders the protagonist at some moment in time, in heaven.
I started reading the book without any intention to search for cultural references or any, but than all of a sudden on page 41 I find the following phrase:
- "Shut-up Wendy, You are not a catalan tourist in a bazaar in Istanbul."
From that moment on, my professional bias interferes with me as the normal reader and I cannot other than think about this phrase.
What is it doing there?A first analysis. I try to picture this, as if the scene was real:
- Hello, where are you from
"I'm from Catalonia"
- Great, where is that?
"well do you know Barcelona?"
- Yes of course. But Barcelona.. isn't that a city? I thought Barcelona was part of Spain. (somehow confused)
"Not exactly. Barcelona is part of Catalonia which lies in Spain but has an own government and so..."
- Al right...
Of course I don't meet many tourist from Barcelona, but I know the average knowledge of the global citizens and their geographical -- and more their political -- map is limited to the "normal countries."
Anyhow. The protagonist of the story - wait for me in heaven is Catalan.
Then... catalan was written in lower-case. Normally this would be in capitals, like Spanish speaking. Was the form to put Catalan in lower-case a demonstration of (misplaced) humility, expressed by the superior Catalans?Recently the Spanish National soccer-cup was played and the finalists were: (again) Barcelona and Atletic (from the Basque country). During the introduction the Spanish anthem was played and what happened... the public mainly Catalans and Basques were insulting and booing during the song.
Now I ask you.. When Barcelona and Atletic two teams of communities in Spain that claim independence.. why are they playing in the Spanish cup final which is above all called "Copa del REY" The Kings' cup.
What has this to do with the book of Torres You may ask.
Well a writer has some responsibility. Why do you have your book published in Spanish - I would never read her book in Catalan - why do you show resistance against the same Nation and language your book is written in?
Which shows that writers are only human. That's my only explanation.
Wait For Me in Heaven (Maruja Torres)