Friday, April 17, 2009

Review of Pembroke Magazine #40

Pembroke Magazine #40

One, if not the most interesting thing about this magazine was its “special” or its number 40 edition. The magazine contained often ignored or disregarded subjects of writing and the authors that write them. This particular edition featured Hispanic/ Latino writers. One thing I found to be quite interesting was the bi-lingual changes throughout the writing. I am not bi-lingual so the text was accommodating. There will be a passage in English, followed by the same passage translated into Spanish, and vice-versa. I was also astounded to find so many countries represented throughout the writing. Some of the countries mentioned throughout the text were Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Spain and the United States. The diversity was not limited to merely countries, the range of ideas of the writing itself ranged from immigration to romance. Throughout reading some of the passages and poems I came across a story written by Jose Latour entitled, Havanightmare located on page 18. The title alone caught my attention and as I read the story intrigued me. It told the story of a woman named Megan who went on a cruise around the islands of Central America. She was kidnapped by a man and held hostage. What she later learns is that the man holding her is essentially doing so beyond his own will. After an insightful look into his own troubled past, he informs his captive that by kidnapping her is the only way to save his wife. It is a story that ends with quite a twist that was not expected. It was just one among many poems throughout the text, but it was a great read that I suggest to anyone whether bilingual or not.

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