Coraline Y La Puerta Secreta Capitulo 1 Review

In English, the word "brick" is hard. In Spanish, the description of the puerta secreta feels even more permanent. Faerna uses phrases like un tabique de ladrillos (a partition of bricks) and polvo gris (gray dust). The imagery is suffocating.

But we, the readers, know the truth. The door is not just a wall. The mice are not just circus animals. And Coraline’s boredom will soon become the most dangerous luxury she ever had. coraline y la puerta secreta capitulo 1

Notice how the translation handles the Other Mother foreshadowing. When Coraline looks into the dark hallway of the secret door, the English says, "It wasn't just empty. It was empty and dark." In Spanish: “No estaba simplemente vacío. Estaba vacío y oscuro, y además frío.” (It wasn't simply empty. It was empty and dark, and also cold.) In English, the word "brick" is hard

— Próximo artículo: Analizando la llegada de la "Otra Madre" en el Capítulo 2. The imagery is suffocating

If you are reading this book for the first time (perhaps with a young reader, or perhaps you are learning Spanish and chose this as your gateway text), do not skip past the slow burn of Chapter 1. It is here that Gaiman, and translator Mónica Faerna, lay the psychic groundwork for the horror to come. The first chapter is almost aggressively dull, and that is the point. We meet Coraline Jones, a "exploradora" (explorer) of her own new home—a creaky, old split-house that has been divided into flats. Unlike the 2009 film adaptation, which gives her a rollicking adventure immediately, the book’s first chapter forces us to live in Coraline’s frustration.