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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
SPOILER IN LAST PARAGRAPH
Wow. I can only imagine the absolute masterpiece this book is in Spanish. I am really interested in possibly taking it in now.
This book was the perfect amount of classic Spanish realism, historical fiction, and Mexican culture narrative. It included piece of history I knew nothing about such as the Spanish Flu and Agrarian Reform, included cultural elements I was barely familiar with such as hacienda life and the roles of a traditional Catholic family. And included the touch of magical realism of a boy who sees and feels far more in this world than I can imagine to get me hooked and inspired to feel harder.
One of my favorite things in this book was the take on bees. Usually they’re used to represent resilience or good old fashioned building from nothing as a community. There are hints of this. But I’m this book, they’re protectors and family members. They’re the “becoming one with nature.” They’re sidekicks and friends. And Simonopio IS the bees, they are him. I thought this was a fresh idea and loved, having bees myself, thinking of what they could be saying or feeling or comforting me through. And what I can do for them and their nature cohorts.
Here’s the spoiler -
One of my favorite piece of writing from this book was when Francisco died and the chapter-long descriptions of his dying minutes. I never thought truly what it could be like to be hit in the back with a bullet. What would I feel? Would I get lucky and feel no pain either? What would I think? Would I also be confused and care so much I couldn’t sort out my thoughts? I appreciate that obviously the author had never been through such a thing but still captured the nuances of the last moments of life. It broke my heart and put into perspective some of the things I should probably be saying aloud now. Because nothing in life is guaranteed.
Wow. I can only imagine the absolute masterpiece this book is in Spanish. I am really interested in possibly taking it in now.
This book was the perfect amount of classic Spanish realism, historical fiction, and Mexican culture narrative. It included piece of history I knew nothing about such as the Spanish Flu and Agrarian Reform, included cultural elements I was barely familiar with such as hacienda life and the roles of a traditional Catholic family. And included the touch of magical realism of a boy who sees and feels far more in this world than I can imagine to get me hooked and inspired to feel harder.
One of my favorite things in this book was the take on bees. Usually they’re used to represent resilience or good old fashioned building from nothing as a community. There are hints of this. But I’m this book, they’re protectors and family members. They’re the “becoming one with nature.” They’re sidekicks and friends. And Simonopio IS the bees, they are him. I thought this was a fresh idea and loved, having bees myself, thinking of what they could be saying or feeling or comforting me through. And what I can do for them and their nature cohorts.
Here’s the spoiler -
One of my favorite piece of writing from this book was when Francisco died and the chapter-long descriptions of his dying minutes. I never thought truly what it could be like to be hit in the back with a bullet. What would I feel? Would I get lucky and feel no pain either? What would I think? Would I also be confused and care so much I couldn’t sort out my thoughts? I appreciate that obviously the author had never been through such a thing but still captured the nuances of the last moments of life. It broke my heart and put into perspective some of the things I should probably be saying aloud now. Because nothing in life is guaranteed.
Cultural work of art
This one kept me up well into the night when I should have been sleeping. What a gem. Takes a historical and political era and weaves a tale of relationships that last into eternity. I miss the characters already.
This one kept me up well into the night when I should have been sleeping. What a gem. Takes a historical and political era and weaves a tale of relationships that last into eternity. I miss the characters already.
emotional
slow-paced
I enjoyed this quite a bit. A little magical realism, a little family love, and, yes, a little "benevolent masters" in there, but overall, a fluid, well crafted story.
CONTENT WARNING:
I read this almost 2 months ago but I really loved the writing, the setting, and the scope.
I do think the author wanted to explore all of the time period with some sort of continuity, and therefore chose an upper-middle class family that could escape certain parts of history, and then made them likable, so we get a bit of a " #notallhaciendados" vibe, but she also didn't shy away from the less than perfect truth of being a worker, so comparatively, it didn't feel as privileged as it might. YMMV of course.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
child abuse, ableism, domestic violence, beesI read this almost 2 months ago but I really loved the writing, the setting, and the scope.
I do think the author wanted to explore all of the time period with some sort of continuity, and therefore chose an upper-middle class family that could escape certain parts of history, and then made them likable, so we get a bit of a " #notallhaciendados" vibe, but she also didn't shy away from the less than perfect truth of being a worker, so comparatively, it didn't feel as privileged as it might. YMMV of course.
Long exploration of connection and loss
This took me quite a while to get through but was interesting to be reading about the Spanish flu as we were working our eay out of Covid. It is a solid story overall and I enjoyed the discussion of connection, loss, and commitment but it felt like it could have been about 100 pages shorter and had the same impact.
This took me quite a while to get through but was interesting to be reading about the Spanish flu as we were working our eay out of Covid. It is a solid story overall and I enjoyed the discussion of connection, loss, and commitment but it felt like it could have been about 100 pages shorter and had the same impact.
I tried to read this, I really did, but I gave up halfway through as well. At first, after going through the family lineage and bouncing back and forth in time, I had difficulties understanding who was narrating the story and when it was. It was just so long and descriptive and bounced around and nothing really happened. I got as far as the engagement but after a few hundred pages and then an entire chapter dedicated to buying a tractor and 1920 Mexican laws and politics, I simply quit.
I only finished this because it was for a book club. Way too long, too wordy, too repetative.
En esta novela hay peste, hay una reforma agraria, hay abejas, hay nobleza, pero sobre todo hay una gran historia llena de dulzura, muy a pesar de que hay sucesos que me fueron muy tristes. Dentro de unos años volveré a leer el libro y espero tenerlo en físico.