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3.5⭐️ I was not familiar with the classic poem about the gaucho Martin Fierrro that this story was based upon before reading the book. The book focuses on Fierro’s wife, who makes only brief appearances in the poem. The landscape descriptions were vivid and I enjoyed the writing, but I got a little tired of the lengthy landscape sections by the end of the book.
This story revolves around characters and events of the epic poem The Gaucho Martin Fierro by Jose Hernandez, published in two parts in 1872 and 1879. It follows the adventures of China Iron (Cheena=woman, Fierro=iron), his child bride, who gives up her two children to go on a road trip, a “pampas” trip rather, with Liz, a bold, free spirited Scottish adventurer. We learn a little bit about gauchos, pampas, estancias, indigenous Indians, agriculture in late nineteenth century Argentina. It is a
Wow. This is quietly revolutionary. And funny. Educational. Expansive. Brilliant.Drawing inspiration from other texts that have in turn been inspired by a life, or experience lived in Argentina, whether it was the epic poem 'the gaucho' Martin Fierro (a lament or protest for a disappearing way of life) or the autobiography of self-identifying British naturalist (he was born and lived in Argentina until the age of 33) William Henry Hudson, Far Away & Long Ago, The Adventures of China Iron is anot...
This is a novel with such an uplifting energy to it as it follows the adventures of a young woman caught in a time of bloody conflict and the formation of a modern nation. But it's also a clever and self-assured historical satire in the way it upturns patriarchal values in favour of those who are marginalized – especially female and queer individuals. “The Adventures of China Iron” feels like a comedy in the classic sense of beginning in tragic circumstances and ending with a joyous resolution.
A wonderfully fun and entertaining read.
Shortlisted for the Booker International Prize 2020 In this enjoyable historical fantasy, Cámara takes the epic nineteenth century Argentine gaucho poem Martín Fierro as her starting point, but in her version the narrator is his wife China, and Fierro is a peripheral character, as is the poem's writer José Hernández. Both Hernández and Martín Fierro were new to me, but although familiarity might help, it is not essential, as the book itself tells you plenty about the poem, which is quoted in pla...
The Adventures of China Iron is loosely based on the epic Argentinian poem Martín Fierro . In the novel the main protagonist is his wife, who gets a fleeting mention in the original poem. That’s all I know about the source material.The book is essentially a road trip: China Iron, fed up of her live, just leaves her house for better pastures. Accompanied by the Scottish Liz and her dog (and later on a renegade gaucho joins them) China goes through a voyage of self-discovery.The first main theme i...
3.5 starsThe Adventures of China Iron (pronounced as cheena, meaning : wife of/ Lady) must have been the book that I have come across the most while scrolling through #womenintranslation on Instagram back in August. Written in Spanish by Gabriela Cabezon Camara and now translated into English by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh this is a novel which reclaims an omission in narrative using alternative history.⠀Set in Argentina, this book is the feminist response to the legendary Argentinean ep...
Camara's rambunctious retelling of the old Gauco epic 'Martin Fierro', reflects the madcap exuberance of an Argentina which was just beginning to forge its path in the world 50 years after gaining independence, an Argentina of grouchy gauchos, of endless expanses and limitless possibilities, an Argentina re-imagined via Cámara's incorrigible imagination, where all of the myths are upended beneath the sweltering skies of he pampas. The protagonist for the novel, who names herself 'China Iron' man...
