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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really good book, but challenging at times. It was sometimes hard to tell when the action was taking place, but really, that was intentional. I think the author's idea was to show how difficult it can be to tell when you are when you're slipping between this world and the next. The idea of the book and its execution were both excellent, and Fuentes's prose was just beautiful.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book deserves to be reread after I've read some 19th and 20th century Mexican history. I know I would get a lot more from it. There is a lot of symbolism to chew on in here. Fuentes has such a beautiful poetic style. The ending made me cry. Beautiful
Definitely in my top 5 best books I've ever read.
Immediately added to my "Top 20" list, maybe my "Top 10," and will be loading my "to-read" list with Fuentes' other works. As Artemio Cruz dies, he remembers his lives as a newspaper magnate, land baron, politician, revolutionary, and almost feral child, as well as his fruitless search for love. I was reminded often of Faulkner, especially "Absolom, Aboslom" and the "The Snopes Trilogy," while the wartime passages echo Hemingway. I haven't read prose this beautiful and contolled in some time. Masterful.
This was one of the books that led me to understand that I really was a reader. It catapulted me into a different time, culture and way of seeing - but in reading it, I saw myself.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An opening scene that blows your mind: the impressions of the old Mexican tycoon Artemio Cruz, on his deathbed. What follows are a dozen cycles of texts, in the 1st person (each time the raving Artemio on his deathbed), in the 2nd person (a kind of living conscience that points Artemio to his faults and mistakes) and in the 3rd person (flashback to crucial episodes from his life). The construction is initially intriguing, but soon gets boring. The information that is presented gives you very gradually a picture of a reckless man who, through cunning, blackmail and manipulation, has built up an empire against the background of the turbulent Mexican history in the first half of the twentieth century. Regularly there are beautiful passages (especially the stories in the 3rd person), and you also get a somewhat disconcerting picture of a big man with his doubts and bumbling. But there are too many dark, confused pieces to speak of an enjoyable reading. A pity.