> Originally published in 1996, but it is actually an autobiography, the author travelled as a Sspanish soldier in the mid 1500s throughout Peru
> Author born in Spain
> Meghan read this while at Sarah Lawrence
> Epigraph in Foreword: "Another world was searched through oceans new, to find the Marvel of Peru; And yet these rarities might be allowed to man, that sovereign thing and proud Had he not dealt between the bark and tree, Forbidden mixtures there to see." - Andrew Marvell, "The Mower Against Gardens" (1861)...common theme of the time....the image of the pure vs. compromised Eden
> Foreword...."...an allegory of modern woman's emergent subjectivity"
> Foreword..."...a literal description of self-fashioning in which, quite literally, the clothes make the man."
> Female cross dressing was banned multiple times in the 1600s, which indicates the law was not followed very well
> Foreword..."...a clear and complex voice telling a story which can be read at once as autobiography and pilgrimage, picaresque and memoir". ......Just read two picaresque Spanish novels and this is very reminiscent of them...yet a memoir....interesting...life imitating art or vice versa
> humorous note: one of the author's sisters was named Mari Juana....hmmm....marijuana?
> Interesting story of the actual manuscript...apparently Caterina was well known in folklore, but the manuscript was held closely
> Lost in translation.....author's choice of when to use feminine or masculine endings, doesn't come through in English...also...she lived on the western frontier and used colloquialisms which in English would be reminiscent of a Huck Finn type tale
> Born in 1585, destined to be a nun, was placed in convent at age 4, ran away at age 15, served as a page for a couple of uncles, went to Peru in 1603, killed her brother while both were serving as seconds in a duel and she did not know it was her brother until after she had mortally wounded him
> Vocabulary: 1) prebendaries: an honorary canon
> LibraryThing Review: My daughter read this book during a college curse dedicated to the study of "Don Quixote". This and some other novellas were companion reads, examples of the "picaresque" novel. The difference in the case of this novella is that Lieutenant Nun really existed, and he was really a she disguised and living as a man. This autobiography from the early 1600s is somewhat difficult to believe, yet she really did exist and apparently was the subject of beloved folklore in Peru and Spain. Go figure! It was a quick and interesting read.
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