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paracosm's review against another edition
4.0
Este libro estuvo bien. Se compone de varios relatos con el propósito de exponer las múltiples injusticias y problemas que los indígenas en México tienen que enfrentar. Creo que la autora logra cumplir su objetivo, por ejemplo, uno de los temas que es expuesto es que el problema de la discriminación es sistemático, y aunque existen personas con buenas intenciones que quieren ayudar es necesario llegar a la raíz del fenómeno para realmente hacer un cambio. No soy exactamente una fan del estilo de escritura, pero tampoco es que lo haya odiado.
anya_reading's review against another edition
4.0
Make no mistake about it: none of these short stories have happy endings, and everyone is cruel to each other. Also, seemingly everyone in this book hates natives.
I found myself quickly immersed in these stories, and loved the author's tone as she narrated each story - her all-knowing attitude comes off as strong and sometimes mocking. It reminded me of the tone Dostoyevsky sometimes used when describing character interactions in his books - like he knows more about the characters than they do themselves, but still, he can't change the ridiculous ways they are going to act.
This is the first book by a Mexican author, set in Mexico, that I have ever read. (I think.) This book illuminated some very basic facts for me, as a northern neighbor: just like there are subtle differences between states in their cultures, there are more differences still in rural areas in far-removed states, and within native and mixed populations.
Additionally: in every culture, there are going to be people who feel they are superior to other people who live in the same area as them, and they will often go to extremes to show or "prove" how superior they are. This culminates in acts of brutality against the native population, up to and including straight up murder, as one elderly woman does to a native man after she tricks him into working for her for free. Native people are absolutely seen as disposable in the stories in this book: it is heartbreaking. Even when someone tries to set things right, their actions are met with confusion, worry, and distrust, as in "The Gift Refused." The reader can clearly see how systematically oppressed the native people have been, and how that cycle just continues under the weight of all that these people have suffered.
Another thought provoked me while reading these stories, many involving farms or the mention of going to work on a farm/ranch. As a young girl, I read stories about a little girl whose father owned a hacienda (I believe it was in New Mexico, as this was an American Girl series - I hope you'll forgive me for oversimplifying, but this series introduced me to the concept of a ranch/hacienda). In those stories, I remembered the ranch was some sort of good, wholesome thing, and nobody seemed to be treated badly; but in the context of this book, working on haciendas and ranches seems to have been akin to plantation-style slavery for the native population. It made me feel like I was seeing a different side of the coin: the owner of the ranch and his family would be much more well-off than the folks that did the drudgery.
I would recommend this book, even though the stories don't go down easy.
(#7 - An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America)
I found myself quickly immersed in these stories, and loved the author's tone as she narrated each story - her all-knowing attitude comes off as strong and sometimes mocking. It reminded me of the tone Dostoyevsky sometimes used when describing character interactions in his books - like he knows more about the characters than they do themselves, but still, he can't change the ridiculous ways they are going to act.
This is the first book by a Mexican author, set in Mexico, that I have ever read. (I think.) This book illuminated some very basic facts for me, as a northern neighbor: just like there are subtle differences between states in their cultures, there are more differences still in rural areas in far-removed states, and within native and mixed populations.
Additionally: in every culture, there are going to be people who feel they are superior to other people who live in the same area as them, and they will often go to extremes to show or "prove" how superior they are. This culminates in acts of brutality against the native population, up to and including straight up murder, as one elderly woman does to a native man after she tricks him into working for her for free. Native people are absolutely seen as disposable in the stories in this book: it is heartbreaking. Even when someone tries to set things right, their actions are met with confusion, worry, and distrust, as in "The Gift Refused." The reader can clearly see how systematically oppressed the native people have been, and how that cycle just continues under the weight of all that these people have suffered.
Another thought provoked me while reading these stories, many involving farms or the mention of going to work on a farm/ranch. As a young girl, I read stories about a little girl whose father owned a hacienda (I believe it was in New Mexico, as this was an American Girl series - I hope you'll forgive me for oversimplifying, but this series introduced me to the concept of a ranch/hacienda). In those stories, I remembered the ranch was some sort of good, wholesome thing, and nobody seemed to be treated badly; but in the context of this book, working on haciendas and ranches seems to have been akin to plantation-style slavery for the native population. It made me feel like I was seeing a different side of the coin: the owner of the ranch and his family would be much more well-off than the folks that did the drudgery.
I would recommend this book, even though the stories don't go down easy.
(#7 - An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America)
vsttew's review against another edition
3.0
Es un libro interesante, me gusta ver la forma en la que Rosario Castellanos fuera de su poesía escribe de una forma inigualable y nos cuenta en este caso datos curiosos y buenas historias sobre la “ciudad real”.
juanonito's review against another edition
5.0
Es mi primer acercamiento a Rosario Castellanos.
Cabe mencionar que los cuentos de Ciudad Real son ganadores de la 5ta entrega del Premio Xavier Villaurrutia en México. Y es bastante obvio por qué.
Es una gran obra en muchos aspectos principalmente porqué encontramos aquí el eslabón perdido entre la evolución de la novela revolucionaria y La ciudad mas transparente. Donde Mariano Azuela, Martín Luis Guzmán, Eraclito Zepeda hacen su aparición con novelas brutales sobre la revolución y que luego Carlos Fuentes daría golpe con un fuerte contraste y sobre un tema tan avasallador: los indigenistas, mi país, el méxico abusado, relegado, mancillado y dolido que termina olvidado pero rescatado con esta autora.
Si bien, el tema, ya es abordado por otros escritores que hacen galanura de una prosa exquisita y profunda (Elena Garro, Juan Rulfo). En Ciudad Real, Castellanos nos abre la mente a un mundo, desprovisto de este mundo idílico del indígena donde la sabiduría es casi etérea y ancestral, ella nos desnuda a una realidad y nos avienta cruelmente a una situación donde el indígena sufre abusos, humillación, incluso de su misma raza.
Nos lleva en cada uno de sus cuentos descubriendo la realidad los indios mexicanos en Chiapas, desde sus ancestros hasta la colonización extranjera, y de cómo apesar de qué existe una cruda realidad siempre puede existir una gota de esperanza. Un libro cruel, crudo. Realista.
Cabe mencionar que los cuentos de Ciudad Real son ganadores de la 5ta entrega del Premio Xavier Villaurrutia en México. Y es bastante obvio por qué.
Es una gran obra en muchos aspectos principalmente porqué encontramos aquí el eslabón perdido entre la evolución de la novela revolucionaria y La ciudad mas transparente. Donde Mariano Azuela, Martín Luis Guzmán, Eraclito Zepeda hacen su aparición con novelas brutales sobre la revolución y que luego Carlos Fuentes daría golpe con un fuerte contraste y sobre un tema tan avasallador: los indigenistas, mi país, el méxico abusado, relegado, mancillado y dolido que termina olvidado pero rescatado con esta autora.
Si bien, el tema, ya es abordado por otros escritores que hacen galanura de una prosa exquisita y profunda (Elena Garro, Juan Rulfo). En Ciudad Real, Castellanos nos abre la mente a un mundo, desprovisto de este mundo idílico del indígena donde la sabiduría es casi etérea y ancestral, ella nos desnuda a una realidad y nos avienta cruelmente a una situación donde el indígena sufre abusos, humillación, incluso de su misma raza.
Nos lleva en cada uno de sus cuentos descubriendo la realidad los indios mexicanos en Chiapas, desde sus ancestros hasta la colonización extranjera, y de cómo apesar de qué existe una cruda realidad siempre puede existir una gota de esperanza. Un libro cruel, crudo. Realista.
leilaniw's review
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dreesreads's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
1960 short story collection. Castellanos used her position as a Latina author to show how the Mayan descendants were still treated in Chiapas--by the Latinos, the Catholic Church, and Protestant American Missionaries.
fanyshadow's review against another edition
5.0
No había actualizado mis lecturas, pero también me sirvió para distanciarme del libro y aún así verlo igual de brillante. Cada uno de los cuentos requerían pausa y contemplación, requerían de mi completa cooperación. Rosario te introduce en las vidas de los indígenas y caxlanes, y más o menos cronológicamente va contándonos la historia que seguimos viviendo: de opresión indígena y herencia del privilegio. Si ya estaba obsesionada con su pluma, su cerebro y su visión, esta pequeña colección sólo lo reafirmó. Definitivamente una lectura esencial, que te golpea profundamente.
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