Irene Sola; trans. Mara Faye Lethem
When I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola, translated from the Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem, is set in the Catalan region of the Pyrenees on the Spanish-French border. The novel focuses primarily on the fate of one family, Domènec, Sió, and their two children, Mia and Hilari.
The novel unfolds in a non-linear sequence through fragmentary, first-person monologues, only some of which are delivered by humans. The narrators are past and present inhabitants of the village, ghosts, a bear, a water spirit, witches, clouds, lightning storms, mushrooms, mountains, a roe deer, and a dog, to name a few. Each chapter unfolds from a different point of view, and it may take a few paragraphs to figure out who or what is speaking. The stories are all connected and build a multilayered picture of the area. Peppered throughout the narratives are stories from myth, nature, folk tales, and history—especially the Spanish Civil War. Guns, shrapnel, grenades, and other wartime mementos turn up on the soil as constant reminders of the trauma.
What sounds like a narrative hodgepodge works remarkably well in portraying the flora, fauna, animate, and inanimate inhabitants of the region. Past and present blur, suggesting the past exists concurrently with the present just as ghosts exist alongside the living. But more than any other factor, the novel’s strength lies in the lyricism, poetry, and rhythm of the language. Sentences shimmer with life and energy on every page. Animate and inanimate, vegetable, animal, and human pulse with life through all-encompassing, lush, and sensory detail, all of which is admirably captured in the translation.
A stunning achievement with a level of exuberance and playfulness in language that echoes the poetry of Walt Whitman. And just as in the poetry of Walt Whitman, this novel contains multitudes.
Very highly recommended.