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Originally released in Galician in 2010, Todo es Silencia has recently made the transition into English, undoubtedly spurred on by last year’s film adaptation (despite its unfavourable reception). All is Silence has been heralded as a revolutionary piece of contemporary Galician literature by many, with author Manuel Rivas adept at using the Spanish setting to help tell his story.

The story is based around Brinco, Leda and Fins, who we first see exploring as children and gradually getting more involved in the danger of the adults’ world, whether they want to or not. After a life changing event for Fins, we move several years into the future where a lot has changed and they have got themselves in deep. The characterisation of Leda and Fins is the only great thing about this book, as whatever confusing things are going on, it is hard not to care for them. It is easy to become disconnected from Brinco as he is always the more hostile one, but the other two have the most depth in them of any character. Mariscal is also notable as the smuggling king, constant looming presence and villain of the piece.

Unfortunately, the translation into English seems to have lost any charm or clever writing that this book once had in its original state. Latin is also used a lot, and between the two languages there seems to be a lot of intentions lost in translation. As well as the language, there are many Spanish proverbs, places and landscape quirks used that it is hard to relate to unless you’re from Spain in general, but especially the North West where Galicia is situated.

The problem with this book is that it tries much too hard to be deep and poignant without really having a point. From the very first page it dives into the theme of silence- the first words, recurring several times, are “the mouth is not for talking. It’s for keeping quiet”- and this is drummed in throughout the book; the word silence is often used in a jarring way as if it is trying to prove that it still has a point.

It is never clear, though, what the book is trying to say about silence. Is it literally just saying that people should be quiet? Or is it something about society and freedom of speech? It feels as though Rivas decided silence was very important but never clarifies why. Equally confusing is the two names which almost every character has, suddenly changing depending on the situation without warning, which takes some getting used to.

The whole book seems as though it is based on good ideas but can’t work out what to do with them. Or rather, its ideas may have been articulated brilliantly in Galician but it really doesn’t work in English. Even the short chapters make the whole book seem disconnected and hard to read; the smuggling plot-line is quite dark, but any deaths seem rushed and it is hard to care by the end of the book. Especially when silence is shoved down your throat every two pages.

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