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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
Después de perder la virginidad con los libros de Vargas Llosa, esperaba algo mucho más al estilo Allende, y Pacheco, me topé con un autor distinto, dedicado a su estilo, sin embargo, esperaba otra cosa, como ya dije quienes.
Me gustó la historia, pero siendo sincero me dejé guiar por el título esperando cierta cosa y cuando leí la sinopsis y el libro me topé con una cruel y realista historia.
Que me agradó pero me hubiese gustado más de la historia.
Ahora. Debo confesar que la novela en sí misma entorpece mi ritmo ya que con tantas fechas y nombres, me generaba regularmente un estado de estar lleno y querer dejarlo un segundo, ¿interesante?
Por supuesto, más anhelaba profundizara en ciertos temas. Ya que para mi, después de la primera parte, las siguientes se me hicieron repetitivas, pero así fue y no hay mucha queja por ello, sin duda un autor del que quiero leerlo algo más, e ir poco a poco, ya que con este no he quedado enamorado de su escritura pero si interesado en querer ver que más nos tiene preparado a los novatos, con su literatura.
Me gustó la historia, pero siendo sincero me dejé guiar por el título esperando cierta cosa y cuando leí la sinopsis y el libro me topé con una cruel y realista historia.
Que me agradó pero me hubiese gustado más de la historia.
Ahora. Debo confesar que la novela en sí misma entorpece mi ritmo ya que con tantas fechas y nombres, me generaba regularmente un estado de estar lleno y querer dejarlo un segundo, ¿interesante?
Por supuesto, más anhelaba profundizara en ciertos temas. Ya que para mi, después de la primera parte, las siguientes se me hicieron repetitivas, pero así fue y no hay mucha queja por ello, sin duda un autor del que quiero leerlo algo más, e ir poco a poco, ya que con este no he quedado enamorado de su escritura pero si interesado en querer ver que más nos tiene preparado a los novatos, con su literatura.
I really, really wanted to like this book, but it ended up just being tedious. I know Roger Casement is a controversial historical figure who did all kinds of fascinating things, but somehow I ended up bored. Too much time away from academia? I'll try rereading it in a few years.
"I say that Roger Casement
Did what he had to do
He died upon the gallows
But that is nothing new"
- W. B. Yeats
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."
- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
The book written by Llosa is nothing less than a deep and intense exploration of human existence. The cosmopolitanism and peculiar character of its historical protagonist, Roger Casement, manage to weave together the personal and the global, as Roger travels throughout Africa and Latin America, in an attempt to observe and ameliorate the suffering caused by the authorities of the Crown upon the indigenous populations.
Writing in beautiful prose, the author manages to bring Roger Casement back to life. A brilliant read, all the more so if seen as an attempt to counter the smear campaign initiated by the british authorities a century ago, in order to deface the legacy of one of Ireland's most treasured thinkers and revolutionaries.
This is the way stories and histories should be written.
Did what he had to do
He died upon the gallows
But that is nothing new"
- W. B. Yeats
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."
- Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
The book written by Llosa is nothing less than a deep and intense exploration of human existence. The cosmopolitanism and peculiar character of its historical protagonist, Roger Casement, manage to weave together the personal and the global, as Roger travels throughout Africa and Latin America, in an attempt to observe and ameliorate the suffering caused by the authorities of the Crown upon the indigenous populations.
Writing in beautiful prose, the author manages to bring Roger Casement back to life. A brilliant read, all the more so if seen as an attempt to counter the smear campaign initiated by the british authorities a century ago, in order to deface the legacy of one of Ireland's most treasured thinkers and revolutionaries.
This is the way stories and histories should be written.
Classic Vargas Llosa. Impeccably written, but, at the end, the twist in the plot have an unsatisfying weakness. Extremely well research, a page turner.
Mas bien 3.5.
La prosa de este tipo no me satisface. Tal vez sea esta novela en particular (aunque ya habia tratado de leer Conversacion en la Catedral de el, y tuve que detenerme porque era muy dificil de entender), pero simplemente no captura.
O tal vez es que esta es una novela historica. Y no una novela pura, por lo que me supongo principalmente fue merecedor del premio nobel de literatura 2010. Si, es posible que los dos libros de el que haya leido por casualidad no hayan sido tan de mi agrado. Tal vez le doy otra oportunidad.
Narra la vida de Roger Casement, un irlandes que poco a poco se da cuenta de que su nacion lo define y de que su nacion lo necesita. Su trabajo en el Congo, la Amazonía (si, ahi va el acento), y finalmente sus esfuerzos por liberar Irlanda. El relato de estas historias se alternan con sus experiencias en el patibulo, esperando la decision que le quitaria o le concederia la vida.
Lo bueno es que, aunque no haya disfrutado tanto su estilo, al menos ya se un poco mas de historia.
La prosa de este tipo no me satisface. Tal vez sea esta novela en particular (aunque ya habia tratado de leer Conversacion en la Catedral de el, y tuve que detenerme porque era muy dificil de entender), pero simplemente no captura.
O tal vez es que esta es una novela historica. Y no una novela pura, por lo que me supongo principalmente fue merecedor del premio nobel de literatura 2010. Si, es posible que los dos libros de el que haya leido por casualidad no hayan sido tan de mi agrado. Tal vez le doy otra oportunidad.
Narra la vida de Roger Casement, un irlandes que poco a poco se da cuenta de que su nacion lo define y de que su nacion lo necesita. Su trabajo en el Congo, la Amazonía (si, ahi va el acento), y finalmente sus esfuerzos por liberar Irlanda. El relato de estas historias se alternan con sus experiencias en el patibulo, esperando la decision que le quitaria o le concederia la vida.
Lo bueno es que, aunque no haya disfrutado tanto su estilo, al menos ya se un poco mas de historia.
Disappointing, given the subject matter and the author’s reputation. Too often reads like well-crafted research notes, rather than a full-blooded novel. Roger Casement is a fascinating figure, though, as this telling attests, if plainly.
Biography of Roger Casement, fictionalized to give it structure as he progresses from Anglican-raised civil servant to embracing Irish Nationalism via stints in the hellholes of the Congo and the rubber plantations of Latin America and ultimately getting fatally entangled with courting German support of the Easter Rising during WWI. The novel is framed by his wait for execution in Pentonville Prison, as friends and supporters petition the government for pardon, while the government leaks his seized diaries and turns public opinion and his allies against him for his "unnatural" personal orientation.
Roger Casement by Sarah Purser, oil on canvas
Hmm. Fictionalised biography. Is it a good idea? Can it be successful? How best should it be done? [b:The Dream of the Celt|12980712|The Dream of the Celt|Mario Vargas Llosa|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1333045161s/12980712.jpg|14356896] caused me to ask myself such questions and more.
The way I understand the genre of fictionalised biography, the author gets to create memories for his subject, to reveal intimate details about his life, to attribute motives to his actions, to put words in his mouth. It is no accident that most fictionalised biographies are written after the death of their main characters. Those that have been written in their subjects' lifetimes tend to be surrounded by controversy. After all, the subject becomes the author’s creation even if he is dressed in authentic garments provided by background research. He becomes a puppet for the author’s sole use, his life the clay with which the author shapes his narrative arc.
But, you say, some historical characters have such extraordinary life stories that to tell them as straightforward biography is missing a great opportunity to create an astounding tale of intrigue and suspense. Furthermore, you might point out, in the hands of an author with a major literary reputation, such a fictionalised biography must be a valuable addition to the world of letters. Hmm.
Being aware of Vargas Llosa’s reputation and knowing a little of Roger Casement’s exciting and controversial life from school history classes, I was eager to read The Dream of the Celt. What could go wrong here, I thought. Casement, born in Ireland, became a British diplomat and eventual human rights activist when such a role was almost unknown. He campaigned for the freedom from virtual enslavement of the natives of both the Congo and the Peruvian jungles, raising awareness of the exploitation carried out by the rubber industry in both places during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th. In his final years, he turned his back on Britain and devoted himself with an idealist’s fervour to the cause of Irish nationalism,
Spoiler
actively seeking German aid in the form of guns and military power for the Irish freedom fighters even while Britain was at war with Germany. He was tried as a traitor to the British crown in 1916, his controversial life and fate being further compromised by the opportune leaking of diaries describing his real or imagined homosexual trysts with very young men in brief but unambiguous detailAs I read the pages and pages of plodding writing, of repetitions and banal expressions, of bizarre time shifts, of bland and pointless reporting of Casement’s intimate thoughts and memories, of altogether too many uninteresting words, I wondered what Hilary Mantel might have done with the same material.
Something outstanding, I’m certain.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated