The Light of the Fireflies
By: Paul Pen / Translated By: Simon Bruni / Narrated By: Scott Merriman
Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
Good translation, but OY The Words!!!
Nope, didn’t read the Publisher’s Summary for this one as I saw that this was a Simon Bruni translation and I snatched this up right off the bat. Bruni’s work on The Murmur of Bees was just so gosh-danged masterful that I was soooo excited to try yet another unknown-to-me author, this time Spanish author Paul Pen.
And ooooh, was I titillated beyond belief with the very opening of the book:
GROTESQUE!!!!
Our narrator, looking back on his life in the basement, makes us aware of a horRIFic reality for his family. There was a Before the Fire that his family knew, but our little boy narrator (NOBODY is given a name in this story—kinda like The Road, thought I—oh how nifty!) was born in the basement, in this After the Fire.
He wonders about the outside, but a question to his father has the man seriously twisting the skin on the little boy’s hand, reminding him of how painful a blister from a hot grease accident hurt: The outside, he tells the boy, is painful just like that; the outside is like many many blisters, and isn’t life comfortable with his family? He’s shown a door, is told it’s unlocked, that he can leave any time, but wouldn’t he miss the family? Yup, the little boy decides, he’ll just stay where his family is, where they HAVE to be as they were all so GROSSLY disfigured by the fire that the basement is the only place for them (By the way? The sister’s disfigurement is soooo disgusting that she must wear a white mask to cover it lest they all be sickened by her face… oooh NEAT, thought I: GROTESQUE!!! What AWEsome story crafting!).
Fast forward several years to where the young boy now has to leave off his moment trying to catch the whisper of a breeze coming through their low-down window, trying to catch a sliver of sunlight: He’s made to hold down one of the legs of his sister as she screams and writhes, giving birth. And right about here, I started feeling less the Fascination of the Abomination and started feeling more that this was just plain disturbing: Cuz there’s only one way for the young woman to become pregnant: A family member, right?
How deep did I wanna go with this? Cuz we’re talking a little over 10 hours of story, and all this is happening from the get-go.
Well, it does indeed get worse. The father is an autocrat; the mother is affectionate to the boy but is exceeeeedingly cowed by the father and follows his wishes; the grandmother tries to inspire the boy with magical thoughts (Tho’ she’s near bald with scars, and the fire left her blind, she’s still upbeat). There’s an older brother and his near constant masturbation is an issue, tho’ the boy shares a room with him and it’s all just same-old same-old in the room. And the sister? Well she’s just shat upon by everyone.
Scott Merriman does a decent enough job, but I gotta tell ya: I LOATHED the father esPECially as Merriman used extremely officious tones for him and his MANY pronouncements and declarative orders. He’s a frequently cruel man, squashing an egg in the boy’s hand to prove that a chick can’t hatch from an egg, so get over it; or making the boy sleep in the tub overnight, and then adding bellows about the boy not placing the soap in its proper place (This after the sister snuck into the bathroom to retch and cry… what? pregnant again…?). Merriman relayed this all with sneering tones so bad that seriously, I wanted to strangle dearest pater. The other characters are done as well, but here is where I come to his questionable voice for the sister.
Cuz see, he makes her out to have manipulative and aggressive tones, making her an absolute villain. I s’pose it’s TOTALLY in keeping with author Pen’s rendition for her, and that was pretty much the ol’ Last Straw that broke This Camel’s Back. Cuz really? Dude, really? Just think about it: The girl’s a victim, and she’s basically written with victim shaming full-well in place. I mean, doesn’t it bother anyone that the grandchild is the product of obvious incestuous rape? And the CONSTANT derisive comments of her hideous appearance are just plain cruel.
I’m not going to reveal any spoilers, but I will say that I was VAStly disturbed by the avenues Pen went down, the choices he made about how his story went. Whom he chose to victimize; whom he chose to demonize. And the ending? Just toooo repugnant for words.
Nope, didn’t read anything about this, so I dunno how other reviewers viewed it. Just saying here, that I felt like I needed a bleach-dip when all was said and done. I was NOT charmed by the ending; by the end I was sore well peeved.
I’m STILL verrrrry fond of Simon Bruni as translator, I’m not faulting him at all.
That said, however? Yup, I’ll give another of his translations a shot in the future, but DUDE am I gonna read the Publisher’s Summary beforehand, or what?!
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