Learning to read again after a stroke
Esmeralda Santiago may have left her native Puerto Rico at 13, but the island, given her memoirs and fiction, has yet to let her go. In her newest novel, “Las Madres,” three friends return to Puerto Rico hoping to unravel a longtime family mystery. Santiago is also the author of the novels “Conquistadora,” “When I Was Puerto Rican,” and “Almost a Woman,” which was adapted into a movie for PBS’s “Masterpiece Theatre.”
BOOKS: How would you describe yourself as a reader?
SANTIAGO: My reading is eclectic. I read African authors, such as Kamel Daoud who wrote “The Meursault Investigation,” one of the most fantastic books I’ve read in recent years. He takes the story of Camus’s “The Stranger” and tells it from the perspective of the murdered man. But I mostly focus on women’s literature and don’t read as much work by men. I also try to keep up with all the Latine writers.
BOOKS: How long have you focused on women writers?
SANTIAGO: From the ’70s. I went through all the greats, such as Virginia Woolf, Colette, and Simone de Beauvoir, the big ladies. I became obsessed with the work of Marguerite Duras, especially her novel “The Lover.” I love the way it starts with someone telling the protagonist that she looks so ravaged. When I first read that, I was young and pretty, and it didn’t have the same impact on me as it does now that I’m 75.
BOOKS: What are some recent books by Latine writers that you would recommend?
SANTIAGO: Cristina García’s “Vanishing Maps,” which is like a sequel to her previous novel, “Dreaming in Cuban.” She’s a wonderful writer who brings you into people’s lives in a very intimate way. There’s also a book coming out soon, which I think is essential reading for anyone interested in the Latine community. Sandra Guzman is the editor of “Daughters of Latin America,” which in
‘I want to sit with a big fat book, at least 300 to 400 pages long.’
cludes over 100 different writers.
BOOKS: Is there any genre you won’t read?
SANTIAGO: I don’t read many short stories. I want to sit with a big fat book, at least 300 to 400 pages long.
BOOKS: What is the longest book you have read?
SANTIAGO: Vikram Seth’s novel “A Suitable Boy” and “War and Peace,” which I’ve read four times. Reading “War and Peace” was a watershed because I was afraid of it for many, many years. All those consonants! When I had a stroke in 2008 the first thing I said to my doctor was, “I can’t die. I haven’t read ‘War and Peace.’ It was a big moment when two or three years later I read the novel. I’m so glad that I lived long enough for that because I love it so much.
BOOKS: How did your stroke affect your reading?
SANTIAGO: The stroke made it impossible for me to read. I could write, but then I couldn’t recognize the letters on the page. It reminded me of when I came to the United States and didn’t speak English. So, I did what I did to teach myself English, which was to read children’s illustrated alphabet books. Little by little, I relearned how to read English over about two years. I’m still working on reading Spanish.
BOOKS: What was the first adult book you read after your stroke?
SANTIAGO: When I couldn’t read, I listened to audio books and downloaded Charles Dickens’s entire works. As I listened to “Bleak House,” I would occasionally look at the opening page to see if I understood it. There was a point when I could. That was the first physical book I read.
BOOKS: When you moved to the United States, what was the first adult book you read?
SANTIAGO: A librarian at the Bushwick branch noticed I’d gotten these alphabet books. I told her it was for my sister because I was so embarrassed. Then she noticed that I kept getting more advanced books so she began recommending ones. She suggested “The Member of the Wedding” by Carson McCullers. Then I read everything McCullers wrote. Then I read everything Langston Hughes wrote. Their work is very different but both of them really spoke to me. They gave me courage, which is what I needed.