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A review by marcusesstories
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
2.0
I didn't make it very far in this one. The setting was great, but the characters were paper-thin.
There's the Straight White Savior who's able to completely turn around a failing labor camp for growing sugar, while simultaneously improving the lot of his captive workers, despite having no knowledge of agriculture nor business management, and despite having sour relations with all the surrounding suppliers, co-planters, and distributors. Because, you know, he's a great guy. He's the hero. He's handsome and appreciates a beautiful woman. That's what it takes to make a successful agricultural venture in a brutal and cruel environment.
And who is he in love with? A Hooker With a Heart of Gold, of course. Despite growing up in desperate poverty and being whored from childhood, she's somehow maintained a playful, jubilant attitude about life. Because, you know, for some reason the cruel, ugly men who would be her patrons always follow her rules because she's just so beautiful and joyous and radiant that none of these viciously racist, aggressive kidnappers and sadists give any of that bad energy to her. Oh, besides she has a big, black Mammy servant as her bodyguard. Because, you know, that would be really intimidating to a man who can whip hundreds of captured, work-hardened men into submission.
So rich, romantically-inclined man in place. Check. Poor but ravishingly beautiful woman for him to possess in place. Check. What are we missing? You guessed it! The still handsome and dashing but less virtuous rival, so that the girl will have to choose between them and the man will have to fight for his trophy. Barf.
This book is written in exactly the style of an historical biography. Allende says things like, "So now he owned a successful plantation on an island that by 1784 was producing nearly 70 tons of sugar a year, shipped to points as far away as Europe, America, and even Asia." I made that sentence up, but that's the tone. Lots of historical factoids and cultural mise-en-scene are dropped in to make up for the boring characters and their boring love story.
Two stars for the cool historical setting.
There's the Straight White Savior who's able to completely turn around a failing labor camp for growing sugar, while simultaneously improving the lot of his captive workers, despite having no knowledge of agriculture nor business management, and despite having sour relations with all the surrounding suppliers, co-planters, and distributors. Because, you know, he's a great guy. He's the hero. He's handsome and appreciates a beautiful woman. That's what it takes to make a successful agricultural venture in a brutal and cruel environment.
And who is he in love with? A Hooker With a Heart of Gold, of course. Despite growing up in desperate poverty and being whored from childhood, she's somehow maintained a playful, jubilant attitude about life. Because, you know, for some reason the cruel, ugly men who would be her patrons always follow her rules because she's just so beautiful and joyous and radiant that none of these viciously racist, aggressive kidnappers and sadists give any of that bad energy to her. Oh, besides she has a big, black Mammy servant as her bodyguard. Because, you know, that would be really intimidating to a man who can whip hundreds of captured, work-hardened men into submission.
So rich, romantically-inclined man in place. Check. Poor but ravishingly beautiful woman for him to possess in place. Check. What are we missing? You guessed it! The still handsome and dashing but less virtuous rival, so that the girl will have to choose between them and the man will have to fight for his trophy. Barf.
This book is written in exactly the style of an historical biography. Allende says things like, "So now he owned a successful plantation on an island that by 1784 was producing nearly 70 tons of sugar a year, shipped to points as far away as Europe, America, and even Asia." I made that sentence up, but that's the tone. Lots of historical factoids and cultural mise-en-scene are dropped in to make up for the boring characters and their boring love story.
Two stars for the cool historical setting.