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connoranws's review against another edition
Just wasn't my thing. Didnt enjoy it very much
bookmarkhoarder's review against another edition
dark
funny
reflective
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
3.0
anywiebs's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very fast paced read that looks at class struggles in 1980s Mexico. The narrator is 13/14 year old Oresto and we see everything through his eyes tainted with childish naiveté and adolescent anger and frustration.
The story follows him and his family and how life looks and feels for him, being very poor and powerless.
The story follows him and his family and how life looks and feels for him, being very poor and powerless.
mazzie's review against another edition
challenging
funny
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? No
3.75
arantzazureads's review against another edition
4.0
If you want laugh-out-loud funny satire, gorgeously written- this is IT,. Plus, you'll even learn a thing or two along the way- like about...
economics - "We were all well aware of the national ecomony due to the fluctuating thickness of the quesadillas... we'd even invented categories- inflationary quesadillas, normal quesadillas, devaluation quesadillas, porr man's quesadillas..." (9)
or religion- "'Don't be stupid. The Virgin doesn't know about analogue signals,' my uncle said firmly, based on the conjecture that the Virgin lived a long time ago, before the advent of electronics, and suggesting, heretically, that celestial beings are not omni-know-it-alls." (96)
A wonderful quick read!!
economics - "We were all well aware of the national ecomony due to the fluctuating thickness of the quesadillas... we'd even invented categories- inflationary quesadillas, normal quesadillas, devaluation quesadillas, porr man's quesadillas..." (9)
or religion- "'Don't be stupid. The Virgin doesn't know about analogue signals,' my uncle said firmly, based on the conjecture that the Virgin lived a long time ago, before the advent of electronics, and suggesting, heretically, that celestial beings are not omni-know-it-alls." (96)
A wonderful quick read!!
drbird's review against another edition
5.0
one of the funniest and craziest books I’ve ever read. The feeling you get when you know you’re being told a story by an author who will do anything -- not because they are out of control, but because they have a head full of great ideas and a character that’s willing to act and observe and suffer and just accept the unreality of it all.
Aside from quesadillas, alien abduction conspiracies, class conflict, and sibling rivalry (usually for said quesadillas), there’s cow insemination, political shenanigans, outrage, parental woe and more. The novel never loses sight of the critique of exploitation as practiced by the unreal (but sadly very real) government and social class systems at work in Mexico, but it also never falls all over itself to become maudlin. It’s a serious book that makes you laugh even though it could make you cry.
Some specifically great moments:
A great passage, where Orestes, the narrator, learns how to play Space Invaders on Atari at his rich neighbors house. He’s befuddled by the game because it did exactly what one told it to do via the joystick & button.
He concludes:
"The world was ruled by a band of incredibly dull Aristotelians. I didn’t understand where the fun was other than in verifying that the device always did what you told it to. Was it the paradox of having invented a contraption whose fantasies served to verify the rules of reality?”
Orestes also is obsessed with confirming that his family is actually poor. “I asked [my father] if we were poor or middle class. He said that money didn’t matter, that what mattered was dignity. That confirmed it: we were poor.”
Later when he tells his older brother Aristotle (yes, the father is obsessed with Greek names) that they were poor, Aristotle dismisses the notion. Orestes comments “My brother didn’t like being poor, but the poverty of the pilgrims all around us didn’t modify our own. At the most it left us classified as the least poor of this group of poor people, which merely proved that one could always be poorer and poorer still: being poor was a bottomless well.”
Later still, when he’s forced to work with his rich neighbor: “There is only one thing worse than a poor man’s pride: the pride of the poor man who has become rich.” ha!
Can’t recommend this enough -- just be ready for anything.
Aside from quesadillas, alien abduction conspiracies, class conflict, and sibling rivalry (usually for said quesadillas), there’s cow insemination, political shenanigans, outrage, parental woe and more. The novel never loses sight of the critique of exploitation as practiced by the unreal (but sadly very real) government and social class systems at work in Mexico, but it also never falls all over itself to become maudlin. It’s a serious book that makes you laugh even though it could make you cry.
Some specifically great moments:
A great passage, where Orestes, the narrator, learns how to play Space Invaders on Atari at his rich neighbors house. He’s befuddled by the game because it did exactly what one told it to do via the joystick & button.
He concludes:
"The world was ruled by a band of incredibly dull Aristotelians. I didn’t understand where the fun was other than in verifying that the device always did what you told it to. Was it the paradox of having invented a contraption whose fantasies served to verify the rules of reality?”
Orestes also is obsessed with confirming that his family is actually poor. “I asked [my father] if we were poor or middle class. He said that money didn’t matter, that what mattered was dignity. That confirmed it: we were poor.”
Later when he tells his older brother Aristotle (yes, the father is obsessed with Greek names) that they were poor, Aristotle dismisses the notion. Orestes comments “My brother didn’t like being poor, but the poverty of the pilgrims all around us didn’t modify our own. At the most it left us classified as the least poor of this group of poor people, which merely proved that one could always be poorer and poorer still: being poor was a bottomless well.”
Later still, when he’s forced to work with his rich neighbor: “There is only one thing worse than a poor man’s pride: the pride of the poor man who has become rich.” ha!
Can’t recommend this enough -- just be ready for anything.
susannaobrien's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An absurd but charming book. I feel like a lot may have been lost on me with limited Mexican history knowledge, but still Villalobos' dry sense of humour and cutting remarks on the situation in Mexican made me genuinely laugh out loud. An interesting look into the Mexican psyche, and a strong commentary on class and political corruption.
kaiouelios's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I have no clue what i just read.