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livlovelit's review
4.0
Everything Carolina De Robertis writes is beautiful, and this is no exception.
moveslikewind's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
hsinjulit's review
4.0
De Robertis wrote my favorite book ever, Cantoras (my review), and one of her other novels, The Gods of Tango (my review), is also among my top reads. Even before I flipped open the first page of The President and the Frog, I knew their writing is going to embrace me like an old friend, as flowing as breathing, and it certainly did.
I finished the book on the 74th anniversary of 228 Incident in Taiwan with a mug of hot yerba mate on my desk. For me personally, I don’t know if there was a more fitting time to read it. There is no way to not read this as a political work. The references of global politics are evident and impossible to miss.
Told in duo timelines, we follow an unnamed ex-president (82) of an unnamed Latin American country through an interview with Norwegian reporters in the present timeline. The ex-president realized that the interviewer seemed to be different from all previous reporters, asking questions like she really cared and understood, and he wondered if he would end up sharing his deepest secrets in this interview after all. We learn more about this secret in the past timeline, his history before being a president as an imprisoned guerilla who had no one to talk to but a boisterous talking frog.
Whether or not the frog really communicated with the president is up to each reader’s interpretation. The best thing about the story is that most characters were unnamed, not the president nor the frog nor the reporter. Because there were no names for them, you could either say that their stories were already lost in history and no one remembered the names, or that the book is universal, and hence no need to have names, no need for specificity. I tend to think of it as the latter, especially with the president’s country being unnamed, too.
It is a political piece with this ex-president representing South America, “North” alluding to the US during the Tr*mp era, Norway as Europe, and the Japanese flower-teacher Mr. Takata symbolizing the whole Asia. With all the dirt in the past timeline mostly taking place in a dingy hole of a prison cell and the lush garden of the ex-president’s humble abode in the present time, the main theme is life itself. From the earth, the dirt, sprouts flowers and other plants, and in turn, hope and a better future. It is about going through rock bottom and being reborn again, still having the power to live, the will to survive, and the fight left in him. There is also an underlying theme of generational pain from war and familial love through rebirth. From what I had gathered, the whole story expresses the idea of the world having a shared history as well as a shared future.
The President and the Frog is a book on political ideologies and idealities, a story paying tribute to Uruguayan ex-president José Mujica, whose personal journey this fictional president’s mirrored. It is almost a biography, but the fictional and fantastical elements made it more relatable for the global audience in the present day.
content warnings: incarceration, physical abuse, torture, mention of gun wound, animal injury, police brutality, mention of death, queerphobia, rape, mass shooting, blood, mention of war
I received digital review copies from Knopf via Edelweiss & NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Buddy read with Gabriella!
I have NEVER been SO EXCITED for another ARC in my life!!!
I finished the book on the 74th anniversary of 228 Incident in Taiwan with a mug of hot yerba mate on my desk. For me personally, I don’t know if there was a more fitting time to read it. There is no way to not read this as a political work. The references of global politics are evident and impossible to miss.
Told in duo timelines, we follow an unnamed ex-president (82) of an unnamed Latin American country through an interview with Norwegian reporters in the present timeline. The ex-president realized that the interviewer seemed to be different from all previous reporters, asking questions like she really cared and understood, and he wondered if he would end up sharing his deepest secrets in this interview after all. We learn more about this secret in the past timeline, his history before being a president as an imprisoned guerilla who had no one to talk to but a boisterous talking frog.
Whether or not the frog really communicated with the president is up to each reader’s interpretation. The best thing about the story is that most characters were unnamed, not the president nor the frog nor the reporter. Because there were no names for them, you could either say that their stories were already lost in history and no one remembered the names, or that the book is universal, and hence no need to have names, no need for specificity. I tend to think of it as the latter, especially with the president’s country being unnamed, too.
It is a political piece with this ex-president representing South America, “North” alluding to the US during the Tr*mp era, Norway as Europe, and the Japanese flower-teacher Mr. Takata symbolizing the whole Asia. With all the dirt in the past timeline mostly taking place in a dingy hole of a prison cell and the lush garden of the ex-president’s humble abode in the present time, the main theme is life itself. From the earth, the dirt, sprouts flowers and other plants, and in turn, hope and a better future. It is about going through rock bottom and being reborn again, still having the power to live, the will to survive, and the fight left in him. There is also an underlying theme of generational pain from war and familial love through rebirth. From what I had gathered, the whole story expresses the idea of the world having a shared history as well as a shared future.
The President and the Frog is a book on political ideologies and idealities, a story paying tribute to Uruguayan ex-president José Mujica, whose personal journey this fictional president’s mirrored. It is almost a biography, but the fictional and fantastical elements made it more relatable for the global audience in the present day.
content warnings: incarceration, physical abuse, torture, mention of gun wound, animal injury, police brutality, mention of death, queerphobia, rape, mass shooting, blood, mention of war
I received digital review copies from Knopf via Edelweiss & NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Buddy read with Gabriella!
librarycard's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
adam613's review against another edition
4.0
'''Well? So? What the hell else am I supposed to do?'
'Get ready.'
'For what?'
'The rest of your life.'"
The former president of an unnamed Latin American country is being interviewed in his garden by a Norwegian journalist to talk about his legacy, the country and the current state of the world. With alternating flashbacks to his time as a prisoner as a guerilla soldier fighting the authoritarian state and his conversations with a frog that may or may not have been real. In engrossing and clever language, Carolina De Robertis spins an entertaining tale that is contemporarily both personal and political.
"Everything real is in the deep end."
If we are to take one thing from The President and the Frog, it is that the real nitty gritty of life is found in delving a litter deeper into our spirits of resilience, integrity and faith. There is no easy way. There is no quick fix to the struggles of life. I am often reminded of the lines from one of my favourite Social Distortion songs that goes:
"That's the way that it goes
And I know how you feel
No ones immune now
To a world of problems
No one's exempt now
From a world of pain"
While in a hole for a prison cell, the unnamed protagonist learns about his mettle from a frog who steals the show and lends levity and humour to the dire situation of being a political prisoner. This magical frog could be God or it could be a hallucination. Or maybe it's just a frog or a ghost. All we know is that we all have mirrors that present us with the opportunity to take a true, honest look at ourselves, or we can take the deceivingly easy way out.
"You've got a terrible laugh. Like you're farting, or fucking, or both at once."
For me, the best books and art for that matter, help me learn a bit more about myself and the world around me and Carolina De Robertis has done so witht his book. The President and the Frog mixes insight with humour and universality with intimacy to an exceptional effect.
"If you could see it you would know where you are inside the telling. You would know the difference between the end and The End."
"The future belongs to dreamers, he thought, but not purists."
"Even horror is an opening. Every moment a new beginning until we reach the end."
"How strange it was, the inability to ever fully see yourself through another person's eyes."
'Get ready.'
'For what?'
'The rest of your life.'"
The former president of an unnamed Latin American country is being interviewed in his garden by a Norwegian journalist to talk about his legacy, the country and the current state of the world. With alternating flashbacks to his time as a prisoner as a guerilla soldier fighting the authoritarian state and his conversations with a frog that may or may not have been real. In engrossing and clever language, Carolina De Robertis spins an entertaining tale that is contemporarily both personal and political.
"Everything real is in the deep end."
If we are to take one thing from The President and the Frog, it is that the real nitty gritty of life is found in delving a litter deeper into our spirits of resilience, integrity and faith. There is no easy way. There is no quick fix to the struggles of life. I am often reminded of the lines from one of my favourite Social Distortion songs that goes:
"That's the way that it goes
And I know how you feel
No ones immune now
To a world of problems
No one's exempt now
From a world of pain"
While in a hole for a prison cell, the unnamed protagonist learns about his mettle from a frog who steals the show and lends levity and humour to the dire situation of being a political prisoner. This magical frog could be God or it could be a hallucination. Or maybe it's just a frog or a ghost. All we know is that we all have mirrors that present us with the opportunity to take a true, honest look at ourselves, or we can take the deceivingly easy way out.
"You've got a terrible laugh. Like you're farting, or fucking, or both at once."
For me, the best books and art for that matter, help me learn a bit more about myself and the world around me and Carolina De Robertis has done so witht his book. The President and the Frog mixes insight with humour and universality with intimacy to an exceptional effect.
"If you could see it you would know where you are inside the telling. You would know the difference between the end and The End."
"The future belongs to dreamers, he thought, but not purists."
"Even horror is an opening. Every moment a new beginning until we reach the end."
"How strange it was, the inability to ever fully see yourself through another person's eyes."
marinocelot's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
literarymultitudes's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
kelli7990's review against another edition
This is the story of the poorest President in the world, and what strange and fantastic things took place when he was a guerrilla kept in captivity and in isolation down a hole.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway but I decided to listen to it on audio. I DNF’d this book at 60%. It’s not for me and I’m not interested in the story but maybe someone else would like it.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway but I decided to listen to it on audio. I DNF’d this book at 60%. It’s not for me and I’m not interested in the story but maybe someone else would like it.
booksunravel's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0