Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan

Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan (1990) is a fantastic youth novel created by Carmen Martín Gaite. It is a modern fairy tale. An exploration of the eternal diatribe between dream and reality. It has been a title treated most of the time as a "minor work" within the extensive bibliography of the Salamanca author. However, it was a resounding publishing success (it was the best-selling book in Spain in 1991).

And yes, of "minor", it does not have an iota. Only a brave person dares to extrapolate one of the universal stories best known to humanity. A story with centuries of oral tradition on its back, which, thanks - mainly - to Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, remains valid and inexhaustible. The author's work has had such an impact that in 2016 the Carmen Martín Gaite Narrative Award.

Carmen Martín Gaite: the author

Born in Salamanca in 1925, she was one of the most influential Spanish-speaking writers of the XNUMXth century. It also became a symbol of a progressive woman. Accordingly, among the many tributes received in life is precisely the Progressive Women Award in its first edition, held in 1990.

When being a pioneer is a merit and a "slab"

During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Gaite was first recognized as a woman (a not unusual bias, given the mentality of the time). More, when in 1978 it became the first to be awarded the National Literature Prize of Spain for the novel The back room.

What is truly "strange" is that at this point - well into the XNUMXst century - the fact (of being a woman) is still being used as a differential value. It is clearly a connotation, at least, unfair and biased, because the work of Carmen Martín Gaite is vast and very varied.

Time to write

He studied Philosophy and Letters at the University of Salamanca. There he obtained a degree in Romance Philosophy. Although his first novel, The spa, was published in 1955, Martín Gaite confessed on several occasions to having been a precocious writer. From the age of eight he began to discover his vocation and write some stories. His life was always linked to the world of letters.

But it's not just the narrative that figures on your resume. He wrote two plays: Dry stick (completed in 1957, released in 1987) and The little sister (completed in 1959, released in 1999). Likewise, he stood out as an essayist. In fact, his work Amorous uses of the Spanish postwar period, made her worthy of the Anagrama Essay Award in 1987.

Other literary activities

The Spanish writer also devoted time to literary criticism and the translation of texts by authors such as Gustave Flaubert and Rainer Maria Rilke. Additionally, he collaborated in the development of audiovisual scripts for Televisión Española: St. Teresa of Jesus (1982) and Celia (1989). The latter based on the stories of Elena Fortún. Carmen Martín Gaite died in 2000, a victim of cancer.

And Little Red Riding Hood went to New York

You can buy the book here: Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan

Firstly, It is impossible to ignore the following circumstance: the stories of Little Red Riding Hood are a collective property of all the people who have ever heard or read them. Therefore, it represents an excellent example of a work constructed from “shared memory”.

Second, Martín Gaite's work does not follow the typical line of the "classic" story of Little Red Riding Hood. The changes are not just "cosmetic". Nor does he limit himself to drawing New York as a forest full of modern dangers, full of wild "animals" and with very bad intentions.

Argument

Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan it is a cry of freedom. The protagonist's adventure takes place in the subway tunnels, immersed in a world she thought she knew. In reality, it is a deep, internal search, far beyond a mere “underground” journey. Alone, escaped from her parents, she ends up looking within herself to discover and pursue her main desire.

An ordinary world?

This little red riding hood has to face a universe where, of course, a villain, named Woolf, cannot be absent. The antagonist is all evil, selfishness and greed. In the same way, the perfect complement to a contemporary tale full of Manichean figures appears: money.

But Sara - the hooded girl from Brooklyn, eager to go to Manhattan - must not only face the henchmen of the "bad". She induces in her persecutors a reflection on their own actions and the purpose of their existence. Then the question of true freedom emerges inescapable; everyone must take responsibility for their decisions, whether they are correct or not.

Of fantasy and verisimilitude

Carmen Martín Gaite managed with this work - apart from reaffirming her name within the authors "super sales" in Spanish - to ratify her literary criteria. Well, the Spanish writer defended the compatibility of credibility and fantasy in the same text. Specifically, he said "that a story is credible does not mean that it is realistic, nor does it have to be credible."

A girl walking the streets of New York alone borders on the absurd. However, the story works without leaving room for the reader to wonder whether or not it is plausible. Therefore, the adventures of this Little Red Riding Hood represent the truest of modern tales. Far from the fantasy world described in the dark forest that the first naive girls had to cross to face the big bad wolf.

Without complexes before criticism

Martín Gaite devoted himself profusely and successfully to literary criticism. This undoubtedly helped him to see the work of these authors (thus, without quotes or italics) without any kind of complexes. Since, if there is a figure always viewed with suspicion - even in a derogatory way - within the arts in general, it is that of the critic. Rightly or wrongly, they are often branded as frustrated.

Even critics come to be perceived as incapable of bequeathing a work worthy of contemplation. But the Salamanca woman was looking forward to the reviews of these professionals. In the same way, he was very interested in knowing the reception of his work among the general public. Thus, she could discover possible aspects of her stories that were overlooked during writing.

Perception of the work

Despite the unquestionable commercial success, public opinion around Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan has always been divided. A portion of the readers found an adventure exhilarating. For others, the innocent little red riding hood in "the city that never sleeps", along with her grandmother and the big bad wolf, only represents an excuse for an exercise in self-exploration.

On the other hand, there were people who enjoyed the story without asking too many questions about the girl from Brooklyn walking through Manhattan. They also didn't care much if Little Red Riding Hood had time to roam Central Park without perishing to some heinous monster. At least not "literally."

Little Red Riding Hood in Manhattan: Disappointed part of the public?

But there was a third group that didn't find what they expected: the classic medieval tale but set in New York. Is there something wrong with this? In fact, the explanation is not mandatory. There is no unanimous answer. Surely Carmen Martín Gaite would disagree with that idea. Because that's what the adventure of reading (and art in general) is all about.

The fantasy genre is based on discovering new - or sometimes old - worlds without putting preconceived concepts to interpret the information. As does Sara, the "Little Red Riding Hood of Manhattan." In any case, Martín Gaite's work is an invitation to question what free will is and if it really exists.