I decided to translate Horacio Quiroga's short story “El hijo” (“The Son”) partly for its low word count: the amateur translator would be led to believe the story lends itself to a manageable project. But the story's brevity masks its philosophic weight, as well as the difficulty of its prose for the nonnative Spanish-speaker. Brilliantly and devastatingly, Quiroga's story dramatizes how we believe what we want to be true. Would-be literary translators are not immune.
My lack of familiarity with Quiroga's style (I have not read his work in English) undermines a bit of my confidence in the translation. If anyone reading this blog has suggestions for improving said translation, feel free to contact me with those suggestions.
