Scan barcode
alicervila's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
georgecurtis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
onegin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
5.0
Väldigt välskriven. Intressanta personer, skickligt berättande på flera tidsplan samtidigt.
peppes's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Rafael Trujillo, known as El Jefe (“The chief”), was dictator of the Dominican Republic for 30 years; his reign of terror ended in his assassination in 1961. This novel explores the ending days of the Trujillo regime using multiple plot lines / narrators. The novel opens with the fictional Urania Cabral, age 49, returning to the Dominican Republic for the first time in 35 years, to see her dying father. Although Trujillo is dead she cannot help but relive the terror of that last year in her father’s house, and wonders whether her return to her native city is a mistake. The second chapter introduces Trujillo himself as a narrator, giving the reader insight into his particularly twisted egotism. The third chapter focuses on the band of conspirators who are plotting to assassinate Trujillo.
The novel deals with political and personal corruption, moving back and forth between narrators and time frame mostly without transition. Several of the chapters involving Urania’s story bounce back and forth in time from paragraph to paragraph as she begins to actually relive the memories she is relating in present time. In less skilled hands, this could easily have been the undoing of the novel, but Vargas Llosa is a master craftsman and his writing shines. His use of interlaced dialogue helps to present the various viewpoints of the same set of events, giving the reader a fairly accurate portrayal of the history, while making the story intensely personal.
“Machismo” is also a central theme; Urania is the only female voice, and practically the only female in the cast of characters. Her point of view, relating her memories as a 14-year-old child, is a significant contrast to the mostly middle-aged-plus men who narrate the significant realities of the Trujillo regime. The men are constantly posturing, proving their manhood or being challenged to prove it. Those who cannot are figuratively (and sometimes literally) emasculated.
The greatest impact in the story comes from betrayal … in many forms. Trujillo betrayed the people of the Dominican Republic. Conspirators were betrayed by fellow conspirators. Husbands betrayed their wives; wives, their husbands. Children betrayed by their parents; parents by their children.
I thought the novel started slowly and if it were not a book-club selection I might have given up, but after about 80 pages the story really took off and I found myself totally immersed and engaged.
The novel deals with political and personal corruption, moving back and forth between narrators and time frame mostly without transition. Several of the chapters involving Urania’s story bounce back and forth in time from paragraph to paragraph as she begins to actually relive the memories she is relating in present time. In less skilled hands, this could easily have been the undoing of the novel, but Vargas Llosa is a master craftsman and his writing shines. His use of interlaced dialogue helps to present the various viewpoints of the same set of events, giving the reader a fairly accurate portrayal of the history, while making the story intensely personal.
“Machismo” is also a central theme; Urania is the only female voice, and practically the only female in the cast of characters. Her point of view, relating her memories as a 14-year-old child, is a significant contrast to the mostly middle-aged-plus men who narrate the significant realities of the Trujillo regime. The men are constantly posturing, proving their manhood or being challenged to prove it. Those who cannot are figuratively (and sometimes literally) emasculated.
The greatest impact in the story comes from betrayal … in many forms. Trujillo betrayed the people of the Dominican Republic. Conspirators were betrayed by fellow conspirators. Husbands betrayed their wives; wives, their husbands. Children betrayed by their parents; parents by their children.
I thought the novel started slowly and if it were not a book-club selection I might have given up, but after about 80 pages the story really took off and I found myself totally immersed and engaged.
sydneys_bookshelf's review against another edition
y'all i'm not going to finish EVERY school reading i am ever assigned.
ahmed92kira's review against another edition
5.0
The most impressive thing about this novel is that in spite of its size, many characters and its political nature, I found myself immersed in each and every chapter.
spav's review against another edition
3.0
Non gosto deste home, máis este libro gustoume. Recomendaríao incluso se che cae mal