y no se lo trago la tierra...

hmmm....my initial impression of this book...well i thought it was a little odd that it was a childrens novel. although i do understand that the child is the narrator however i found it hard to follow in terms of who and what was being talked about. I dont know if this happened to only me but i found in hard (at the same time interesting) that we don't know the narrato's name or those of his family. come to think of it...we rarely in the book hear about names. (only a few). that's why i found it a little complicated at times in terms of who they were talking about and to whom things were occuring. At the end of the book we see a lot of cursing which suprised me, as i heard that this was meant for children.

I also didn't quite get the rythym of the book. Like, sometimes it would talk about one event, then another, that had nothing to do with eachother. Other times he would start talking about something and then go back in time. There was a flow...but it was a weird one. Not the usual chronological order that we're all used too i guess..

Anyways, on the the contents of the book. I really enjoyed the little short stories that would be talked about. Although there was no major climax or action in the book, i thought it did a very good job in describing (from a child's point of view) the realities of working campesinos.. I noticed that it touched on religion a lot (from the devil, to the church, to cursing god) which was interesting to see because of the different situations the boy was in and how he viewed religion.

I feel that maybe it was fragmented stories because it was symbolic of their fragmented lives in a way. The fact that they always had to travel and weren't in one place for a long period of time is exaclty why the stories were short and there wasn't actually any response to any of them. they just happened. there was no follow up.

I think there's a lot more to this story that im still trying to piece together and im excited to here other people's opinions on it!!

what the hell???

um...........i had just a few issues with the first of this book about the "puente del Brooklyn." Besides the fact that i had to look up every second word, it was really hard for me to get through 5 pages the details of the Brooklyn bridge. And i dont mean to be hasty, because i too, appreciate detail and he de it very well, but why about something so dull (and yes it was dull) like a bridge. Im not sure why he wrote about the bridge but it did give off a goo image of the magnitude of the power in size of the bridge, and the effort it took by so many people to contstruct something that is so beyond our size. Im not sure what this has to do with chicanos though.

I think that the author has a very unique style in his writing as he observes everything he sees and uses a lot of comparison. When i read his writing he makes me feel like there is just so much going on. He talks alot about crowds and people and i just felt like the scene of "Gable" in New York was over crowded yet awkwardly glorious (if that makes any sense). anyways hopefully as i keep reading ill try to make some sense of what the author is trying to get at...

final thoughts...

i know my blog is a little late. my apologies but i have been sharing the book. Although the book didnt end with any new found discoveries and was not exaclty a surprise ending, i was still a little surprised to not find anything out about the doctor and what happened to him. Also, although i was a bit surprised at how the major continued on with his life, i wasn't shocked at all. I feel that what happened in the last part of the novel, really represented the corruption and broken ideals of the government (and not only the american one). I think that this still goes on today in many governments all over the world, including our own.

What suprised me a bit was Julian Norval's shock as to how he was being treated. This part reminded me a lot of what Lavvy went through with having all his patriotic ideals and dreams broken about this "amazing" government. Obviously with Julian being male and having some influence over others, he was able to recover from the misunderstanding, however only to be forever crushed about the apparent 'freedom" his government claims to give all its citizens.

My only compaint (or whatever you want to call it) is that although this book did deal with mexico and the USA, it didn't really give me the impression that it was a chicana writer. Although there were obvious issues about gender and nation, i felt that it had a lot more to do with issues between the US civil war between the North and South.

I would have liked to see the character of Lola develop more and create more of a sense that she is a chicana and the issues that she deals with but specifically from her perspective. Overall, i liked this book a lot because it gave me an idea of how american society worked during this time in terms of gender, race, politics etc...and their relationship with "foreigners." Good choice john...

WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT... that it would be a really great telenovela..

My reactions to the first part of the novel is quite positive. I found it to be very captivating because of the flow and easiness of the story. I think that it is an interesting read because it is sort of like a soap opera...and soap operas have drama...and i love drama. But also apart from the drama i think that the first part of the book really touches on important themes that are tied into the course. Race is obviously a big issue and reveals to us the mindset of the people of that time and also the exceptions that are made to overlooking race when other factors, like money are involved. I found it a little weird that Lola was not actually black or native, and that her skin was only painted but perhaps we can see this as symbolic for how looks can be decieving. Another theme i thought was important was your gender related to nation in the novel. It is obvious that women were not valued in that society in terms of politics or government because of their lack of education about the subject. I found Lavvy to be a great example of the portrayel of innocence and ignorance to what was actually going on in her country and the propaganda that she was receiving. I think the dynamics of this book is really interesting and im excited to learn more about it. Im not too sure how this relates to much with chicanos, but perhaps the book touches more on societal views of foreigners during the time of the civil war in the US and how they were an influence or a nuisance to the stereotypical patriotic american citizen. anyways im excited to see what goes on in the book further after the death of the doctor. and mostly to see whether julian and lola end up together...drama drama!!!

hi, im val!

hey class of 322a...my name is valerie and im still in mexico which is why i havent met any of you. im in my last semester of finishing a latin american studies major. im looking forward to this class because i like latin american literature especially about chicanos...im also looking forward to seeing jon speak spanish with a british accent...should be good... :) (jk) anyways thats me...