Manuela Espinal Solano
I wish you could hear the song I am listening to as write this...
I wish you could hear the song i'm listening to as i write this... explores the classic tale of adolescent rebellion but it is more complex. How do young people deal with the apparent universal desire for attention and fame? The social media today have made the fulfillment of this desire accessible to more people. But this work explores this issue very personally and deeply. When the young narrator asks her grandmother why is everyone in their family so eager to perform as a musician, the grandmother challenges her by stating “Who in this world doesn’t want to be famous? Who would shy away from attention, notoriety? Who would want to hide their talent?” The narrator- a talented singer who prefers to sing only for her own enjoyment - decides she would. Her confrontation with what is expected of her and her own struggle to understand why and how she is different is the hub of this novella.
“The language is simple and the descriptions are precise. Espinal is able to put together a complex puzzle from a few pieces. ...When Espinal decides to enter the narrative and give herself the license to interpret, she does so with a sharpness that proves how promising her voice is. For example, “Singing is an act that belongs to the past. Talk too. What I say is in the past, I do not even remember it. My words are forgotten, my thoughts, my songs. What I sang yesterday does not exist anymore. The difference is in the public, in the witnesses, they are the ones that make for- getting difficult. If there is someone who hears what you have to say, he/she may remember it; if there are two, it is more likely. And there is the explanation: they seek fame because they fear oblivion. I do not!”
- El Espectador
“This story is a blow to adolescent dreams, those dreams we all have that don’t change too much as the years go by, dreams that turn into frustration, fixed in certain moments like the flags of worlds we’ll never conquer. But in a world that urges us constantly to seek attention from others, Espinal Solano suggests that perhaps our gifts and talents are their own reward.”
- Revista Arcadia