March 2010: Cellophane

Latino Book Club will meet on Saturday, March 27th at 3PM at Pomegranate Books to discuss Marie Arana's Cellophane.

Hear Marie Arana deliver the 2008 Key Note Address at the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at the Library of Congress.

Marie Arana will visit UNCW on Thursday, March 25th. She is scheduled to give a talk at the Lumina Theater at 1PM. Her books American Chica, Cellophane, and Lima Nights will be available for sale and signing.

Discussion Questions
1. Nature vs. Man
The novel comments on Man's desire to control and exploit nature. The indigenous cultures of the Amazon live in harmony with nature. Victor Sobrevilla also has a give and take relationship with nature. He is not like the "termite" people nor like the rubber barons. He is not greedy, and therefore survives the Amazon, till he does.
2. Urban v. Amazon
This is a theme that is repeated a lot in the 19th century literature of Latin America. The debate "civilizacion y barbarie." The city is the center of Culture and decorum, controlled by the European creole population, and the Amazon is the habitat of the indigenous people, who are considered savage by the city dwellers.
3. Truth v. Secret
The distinction made by Yorumba. It is not a plague of telling the truth, it is a plague of telling secrets of desire. Truth is explained by the shaman, as something bigger.
4. Importance of history
Latin Americans look into their history, lineage to prove themselves. It is therefore important to have no scandals in your family history. Victor Sobrevilla questions this notion. He is what he is because he has worked hard for it, and therefore his father's questionable acts, and his death do not define him. Elsa, who is unable to understand this notion, unfortunately goes mad.
5. Desire?
Is it wrong to desire? Is it wrong to achieve more? When is it enough?

March 28th, 2010
Latino Book Club met yesterday at Pomegranate Books to discuss Marie Arana's Cellophane. It is a rather charming novel about the turmoils in the Sobrevilla-Francisco family, living in the paper making hacienda of Floralinda in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon. Arana who lived part of her life in the Amazon, brings to life the way-of-life in the hacienda, and also the cultures of the indigenous cultures.
There is a definite romantic element about situating a novel in the deep Amazon, but it refrains from exoticism. Living in the jungle is hard, yet Victor Sobrevilla is able to create a world with the basic needs available to the city dweller. He is smart enough to live in harmony with nature, taking his building materials from his environment, to build his house, and the paper created in his factory. There is an environmental message that engulfs the narrative. Anything in excess, or exploiting nature is seen as harmful, and cause of destruction. The indigenous cultures, in general are suspect of the white people who come from the city. They are the termite people, as they eat away the habitat of the people living in the jungle. Victor Sobrevilla is able to maintain a harmonious relationship with his environment for a long time, till his desire to make Cellophane becomes a reality. Victor Sobrevilla is befriended by a shaman, who respects the engineer, and tries to help him as much as possible.
The narrative abounds with magical realism. The very first use of it is the death of Miguelito and the dog. Miguelito, a young orphan is able to liberate the sick dog of his unstoppable cough by taking in his illness. (I am reminded of the Green Mile). Eventually they both die. This may be seen as an omen for things to come, or as the section title says the "Plague of Tongue." The coughing dog was a big distraction for everyone in the Sobrevilla-Francisco household. Its annoying sound brought everything to a standstill. The ceasing of the cough comes as a relief to all, and almost like a liberation. Padre Bernardo's unsolicited confession of having had an sexual affair with a woman, is the beginning of everyone liberating themselves of their deepest secrets. It seems to give everyone else the right to confess and free themselves of the secret they have so long tried to maintain. Doña Marina, Victor Sobrevilla, Tía Esther, Jaime, and Ignacio all openly speak up. The decorum maintained by this family, an appearance of civility is gone. On one hand, the fact that the family lives outside what is considered the normal center of civilization, the city, allows for this break down. In the jungle the people are free of the constant prying eyes of the "civilized" world. The Judeo-Christian concept of sin does not exist in this world, even though the people of Amazon have their own way of understanding excess. Victor Sobrevilla, a man of this "civilized" world understands decorum and tries his best to regain it, in spite of his own failings. Elsa Márquez, the only outsider is unable to take in all the impropriety of her father-in-law's affairs and his Chinese ancestry, and her mother-in-law's secret of being born of a priest. She goes mad, and seeks to return to the city.
The outing of secrets and desires also bring to light a constant issue that we see in Latin American and Latino novels, the question of lineage. Chinese were brought to the country to work as coolies in guano factories, and hence the name "Shit Shoveler." Interracial marriages with the Chinese is not seen as respectful in this world, just like marrying indigenous or black. The only character who openly accepts her Chinese heritage is Tía Esther, the single octogenarian.
The novel has a lot to offer and brings to question many issues. Even though progress and achieving engineering feats are seen as amazing, but desire in excess is seen as harmful. All that seems to matter at the end is family.