''Tres tristes tigres'' ( es, Tres tristes tigres, lit=Three Sad Tigers), abbreviated as ''TTT'', is the
debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...
by Cuban writer
Guillermo Cabrera Infante. The novel was first published in Spain in 1967. It was later translated into English by Donald Gardner and
Suzanne Jill Levine
Suzanne Jill Levine is an American writer, poet, literary translator and scholar.
Levine was born in New York City where she studied piano at Juilliard and went to Music & Art High School.
She earned a BA at Vassar College in 1967, an MA at ...
and published in 1971 as ''Three Trapped Tigers''.
It is considered a classic of the
Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom ( es, Boom latinoamericano) was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. The Boom is mo ...
.
Background
After
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
came to power in Cuba in 1959, writer
Guillermo Cabrera Infante, who had supported the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...
, became a cultural leader. He was appointed as director of ''
Lunes de Revolución'', a weekly literary supplement to the Cuban magazine ''Revolución''. Cabrera Infante's relations with the Castro regime deteriorated and the literary supplement was shut down by the government in 1961. In 1962, he was sent to
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
to serve as a cultural attaché to the Cuban embassy in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
It was in Brussels that Cabrera Infante wrote the first manuscript of what would become ''Tres tristes tigres''.
Cabrera Infante's manuscript novel, titled ''Vista de amanecer en el trópico'', won the 1964
Premio Biblioteca Breve
The Premio Biblioteca Breve is a literary award given annually by the publisher Seix Barral (now part of Grupo Planeta) to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. Its prize is €30,000 and publication of the winning work. It is delivered in ...
, a literary award given by the Spanish publisher
Editorial Seix Barral to the best unpublished novel in the Spanish language.
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
was one of the jurors of the award at the time.
In 1965, Cabrera Infante returned to Cuba upon learning that his mother was ill. However, he did not arrive in time before her death and instead attended her funeral. When he attempted to fly back to Belgium with his two daughters, he was detained by authorities for four months without explanation. He eventually left Cuba, and went into exile in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
followed by
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
''Tres tristes tigres'' was written before 1968, the year Cabrera Infante publicly disassociated himself from the Cuban regime with an interview by
Tomás Eloy Martínez
Tomás Eloy Martínez (July 16, 1934January 31, 2010) was an Argentine journalist and writer.
Life and work
He was born on July 16, 1934 in San Miguel de Tucumán and is generally considered an influential and innovative figure in Latin America ...
for the Argentine weekly ''
Primera Plana
''Primera Plana'' was a weekly glossy political, cultural and current affairs magazine published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between 1962 and 1973. The magazine was very influential in shaping the journalism tradition in the country.
History and ...
''.
After winning the Premio Biblioteca Breve, the novel underwent the process of
censorship by the government of Francisco Franco. In 1965, Cabrera Infante was able to revise the
galley proof
In printing and publishing, proofs are the preliminary versions of publications meant for review by authors, editors, and proofreaders, often with extra-wide margins. Galley proofs may be uncut and unbound, or in some cases electronically tran ...
s of the novel and decided to rewrite several passages. The novel was originally intended for publication in 1965 but, for this reason, the printing of ''Vista de amanecer en el trópico'' was delayed for a few years and ultimately retitled ''Tres tristes tigres''.
In early 1967, the novel was finally published in Barcelona by Editorial Seix Barral with some resistance from Cabrera Infante due to the twenty-two instances of censorship carried out by Francoist censors.
These deletions were not replaced in the successive editions in Spanish. However, the deleted passages were finally restored in 1990 when Cabrera Infante completely revised his book, restoring it for the collection of the
Biblioteca Ayacucho in Venezuela.
The novel's title is taken from a classic Spanish-language
tongue-twister
A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
.
Summary
The novel is set in 1958 and centers around three young people within the nightlife of pre-revolutionary
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. . It is intentionally written in the
Cuban Spanish
Cuban Spanish is the variety of the Spanish language as it is spoken in Cuba. As a Caribbean variety of Spanish, Cuban Spanish shares a number of features with nearby varieties, including coda weakening and neutralization, non-inversion o ...
vernacular.
It has been described as a book in which language is the protagonist.
It is a highly experimental,
Joycean A text is deemed Joycean when it is reminiscent of the writings of James Joyce, particularly '' Ulysses'' or ''Finnegans Wake''. Joycean fiction exhibits a high degree of verbal play, usually within the framework of stream of consciousness. Works ...
novel, playful and rich in literary allusions. Cabrera Infante intended to do for Cuban Spanish what
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
had done for
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
, recording the great variety of its colloquial variations.
Reception
In his review for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', David Gallagher praised the English translation and its humor, calling it "one of the most inventive novels" to come out of Latin America.
Translations
The novel has been translated into several languages, including into Japanese by
Ryukichi Terao. The English translation was written by Donald Gardner and Suzanne Jill Levine and published in 1971 as ''Three Trapped Tigers''.
Awards
The novel won the
Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger The Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Prize) is a French literary prize created in 1948. It is awarded yearly in two categories: Novel and Essay for books translated into French.
Prix du Meilleur livre étranger — Novel
*2020: ...
in 1970, for Albert Bensoussan's translation of the novel into French. Bensoussan's translation was published as ''Trois tristes tigres'' by
Éditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles.
Founded by Ga ...
in 1970.
Adaptations
In 1967, the novel was adapted into a
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* Pla ...
of the same name by Chilean playwright
Alejandro Sieveking
Alejandro Sieveking Campano (5 September 1934 – 5 March 2020) was a Chilean playwright, theatre director and actor.
Career
Sieveking was born in the Chilean city of Rengo (in the O'Higgins Region) on 5 September 1934. He performed as an actor ...
. In 1968, Sieveking's play was in turn adapted into the
film of the same name by Chilean director
Raúl Ruiz.
Further reading
English
* Cabrera Infante's Tres tristes tigres: the trapping effect of the signifier over subject and text / Hartman, Carmen Teresa., 2003
* A critical study of Tres tristes tigres by Guillermo Cabrera Infante / C.A.H.J Scheybeler., 1977
Spanish
* Guillermo Cabrera Infante y Tres tristes tigres / Reynaldo L Jiménez., 1977
* La nueva novela hispanoamericana y Tres tristes tigres / José Sánchez-Boudy., 1971
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tres tristes tigres
1967 novels
1967 debut novels
Cuban novels
Fiction set in 1958
Novels set in Havana
Spanish-language novels
Censored books
Censorship in Spain
1967 in Spain
Novels adapted into plays
Metafictional novels
Novels set in the 1950s
Seix Barral books