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El país bajo mi piel: Memorias de amor y guerra
Tras casarse muy jóven y ser madre, Gioconda Belli se unió al clandestino y emergente movimiento Sandinista, sustituyendo su deseo de ser una buena esposa por la necesidad de vivir una vida plena y comprometida con los cambios sociales en su país.
Irónicamente, su pertenencia a la burguesía y su carrera como poeta renombrada, le brindaron la fachada que le permitió funcionar, secretamente, como rebelde. Desde su infancia en Managua y sus encuentros iniciales con poetas y revolucionarios, a persecuciones urbanas, reuniones con Fidel Castro, relaciones amorosas truncadas por la muerte o el exilio en México y Costa Rica, hasta su inesperado matrimonio con un periodista norteamericano, la historia de Gioconda Belli es tanto la de una mujer que se descubre a sí misma, como la de una nación que forja su destino.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
"A passionate, lyrical, tough-minded account of an extraordinary life in art, revolution, and love. It's a book to relish, to read and re-read. Unforgettable." --Salmon Rushdie
An electrifying memoir from the acclaimed Nicaraguan writer (“A wonderfully free and original talent”—Harold Pinter) and central figure in the Sandinista Revolution.
Until her early twenties, Gioconda Belli inhabited an upper-class sheltered from the poverty in Managua in a world of country clubs and debutante balls; educated abroad; early marriage and motherhood. But in 1970, everything changed. Her growing dissatisfaction with domestic life, and a blossoming awareness of the social inequities in Nicaragua, led her to join the Sandinistas, then a burgeoning but still hidden organization. She would be involved with them over the next twenty years at the highest, and often most dangerous, levels.
Her memoir is both a revelatory insider’s account of the Revolution and a vivid, intensely felt story about coming of age under extraordinary circumstances. Belli writes with both striking lyricism and candor about her personal and political about her family, her children, the men in her life; about her poetry; about the dichotomies between her birth-right and the life she chose for herself; about the failures and triumphs of the Revolution; about her current life, divided between California (with her American husband and their children) and Nicaragua; and about her sustained and sustaining passion for her country and its people.
Irónicamente, su pertenencia a la burguesía y su carrera como poeta renombrada, le brindaron la fachada que le permitió funcionar, secretamente, como rebelde. Desde su infancia en Managua y sus encuentros iniciales con poetas y revolucionarios, a persecuciones urbanas, reuniones con Fidel Castro, relaciones amorosas truncadas por la muerte o el exilio en México y Costa Rica, hasta su inesperado matrimonio con un periodista norteamericano, la historia de Gioconda Belli es tanto la de una mujer que se descubre a sí misma, como la de una nación que forja su destino.
ENGLISH DESCRIPTION
"A passionate, lyrical, tough-minded account of an extraordinary life in art, revolution, and love. It's a book to relish, to read and re-read. Unforgettable." --Salmon Rushdie
An electrifying memoir from the acclaimed Nicaraguan writer (“A wonderfully free and original talent”—Harold Pinter) and central figure in the Sandinista Revolution.
Until her early twenties, Gioconda Belli inhabited an upper-class sheltered from the poverty in Managua in a world of country clubs and debutante balls; educated abroad; early marriage and motherhood. But in 1970, everything changed. Her growing dissatisfaction with domestic life, and a blossoming awareness of the social inequities in Nicaragua, led her to join the Sandinistas, then a burgeoning but still hidden organization. She would be involved with them over the next twenty years at the highest, and often most dangerous, levels.
Her memoir is both a revelatory insider’s account of the Revolution and a vivid, intensely felt story about coming of age under extraordinary circumstances. Belli writes with both striking lyricism and candor about her personal and political about her family, her children, the men in her life; about her poetry; about the dichotomies between her birth-right and the life she chose for herself; about the failures and triumphs of the Revolution; about her current life, divided between California (with her American husband and their children) and Nicaragua; and about her sustained and sustaining passion for her country and its people.
431 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
172 people are currently reading
5289 people want to read
About the author
Gioconda Belli
66 books837 followersGioconda Belli (born December 9, 1948 in Managua, Nicaragua) is a Nicaraguan author, novelist and poet.
Gioconda Belli, partly of Northern Italian descent, was an active participant in the Sandinista struggle against the Somoza dictatorship, and her work for the movement led to her being forced into exile in Mexico in 1975. Returning in 1979 just before the Sandinista victory, she became FSLN's international press liaison in 1982 and the director of State Communications in 1984. During that time she met Charles Castaldi, an American NPR journalist, whom she married in 1987. She has been living in both Managua and Los Angeles since 1990. She has since left the FSLN and is now a major critic of the current government.
Belli graduated from the Royal School of Santa Isabel in Madrid, Spain and studied advertising and journalism in Philadelphia.
In 1988, Belli's book La Mujer Habitada (The Inhabited Woman), a semi-autobiographical novel that raised gender issues for the first time in the Nicaraguan revolutionary narratives, brought her increased attention; this book has been published in several languages and was on the reading list at four universities in the United States. The novel follows two parallel stories: the indigenous resistance to the Spanish and modern insurgency in Central America with various points in common: women's emancipation, passion, and a commitment to liberation. In 2000, she published her autobiography, emphasizing her involvement in the revolutionary movement, El país bajo mi piel, published under the name The Country Under My Skin in the United States; it was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2003. Belli continues publishing and maintains that poetry is her most important work. Belli was the recipient of the Premio de Poesía Mariano Fiallos Gil in 1972 and of the Premio Casa de las Américas in 1978. In 2008 Belli received the Biblioteca Breve Award for her book El infinito en la palma de la mano (Infinity in the Palm of The Hand), an allegory about Adam and Eve in paradise.
Belli's books have been published in numerous languages.
(from Wikipedia)
Gioconda Belli, partly of Northern Italian descent, was an active participant in the Sandinista struggle against the Somoza dictatorship, and her work for the movement led to her being forced into exile in Mexico in 1975. Returning in 1979 just before the Sandinista victory, she became FSLN's international press liaison in 1982 and the director of State Communications in 1984. During that time she met Charles Castaldi, an American NPR journalist, whom she married in 1987. She has been living in both Managua and Los Angeles since 1990. She has since left the FSLN and is now a major critic of the current government.
Belli graduated from the Royal School of Santa Isabel in Madrid, Spain and studied advertising and journalism in Philadelphia.
In 1988, Belli's book La Mujer Habitada (The Inhabited Woman), a semi-autobiographical novel that raised gender issues for the first time in the Nicaraguan revolutionary narratives, brought her increased attention; this book has been published in several languages and was on the reading list at four universities in the United States. The novel follows two parallel stories: the indigenous resistance to the Spanish and modern insurgency in Central America with various points in common: women's emancipation, passion, and a commitment to liberation. In 2000, she published her autobiography, emphasizing her involvement in the revolutionary movement, El país bajo mi piel, published under the name The Country Under My Skin in the United States; it was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2003. Belli continues publishing and maintains that poetry is her most important work. Belli was the recipient of the Premio de Poesía Mariano Fiallos Gil in 1972 and of the Premio Casa de las Américas in 1978. In 2008 Belli received the Biblioteca Breve Award for her book El infinito en la palma de la mano (Infinity in the Palm of The Hand), an allegory about Adam and Eve in paradise.
Belli's books have been published in numerous languages.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 346 reviews
June 2, 2017
Si usted es mujer, es latinoamericana, y cree en la posibilidad de un mundo mejor, debe leer este libro. Si no, también.
July 25, 2010
The Country Under My Skin is a memoir of the Nicaraguan revolution. Belli grew up in a wealthy family but joined the Sandinistas, working secretly for the resistance until she had to flee the country and live in exile until the Sandinistas took power and she could return to Nicaragua. It’s not just a political memoir, though; it is also the story of her marriages and love affairs.
She is clearly a remarkable woman — an award-winning poet, incidentally, as well as everything else — and it is fascinating to read an insiders view of a revolution. She became a prominent figure for the Sandinistas in a PR role, and so she met with people like Fidel Castro, and her portrayals of these powerful men are interesting as well. And it is well-written, which makes all the difference.
I think it’s particularly good when it’s actually in Nicaragua: her life as a disaffected young woman who got married too young to the wrong person, the story of her political awakening, the process by which you join a clandestine organisation, and all the secret meetings and codewords and being followed by the police. Then the period is exile is rather less interesting, before it picks up again with the actual revolution and the immediate aftermath.
I do have some slight reservations, though. These are mainly about her particular perspective. When I got to the end of the book, I realised that it was a book about a revolution and a war which didn’t actually feature any fighting: she was in exile during the revolution itself and she was a bureaucrat in the capital during the war against the Contras. Obviously an autobiography can only tell one person’s story, and this hers; but it does create the image of a revolution which was all discussing ideas, giving press conferences, writing pamphlets, and delegations to foreign conferences. There is plenty of death in the book, as one after another of her friends, colleagues and lovers get killed, but it all happens offstage.
Similarly, she may be passionately committed to relieving poverty in Nicaragua, but she is never poor herself and she doesn’t spend much time in contact with the poor. I don’t blame her for being from a privileged background, but it is a rather atypical perspective. At one stage when she is working with the resistance, the police clearly suspect or know that she is working for the Sandinistas, but they don’t arrest her and take her away to be tortured as they do so many other people, because, she thinks, of her wealthy family and her society connections.
But that’s the nature of books: they tend to be written by the kind of people who write books. It’s certainly worth reading, though.
She is clearly a remarkable woman — an award-winning poet, incidentally, as well as everything else — and it is fascinating to read an insiders view of a revolution. She became a prominent figure for the Sandinistas in a PR role, and so she met with people like Fidel Castro, and her portrayals of these powerful men are interesting as well. And it is well-written, which makes all the difference.
I think it’s particularly good when it’s actually in Nicaragua: her life as a disaffected young woman who got married too young to the wrong person, the story of her political awakening, the process by which you join a clandestine organisation, and all the secret meetings and codewords and being followed by the police. Then the period is exile is rather less interesting, before it picks up again with the actual revolution and the immediate aftermath.
I do have some slight reservations, though. These are mainly about her particular perspective. When I got to the end of the book, I realised that it was a book about a revolution and a war which didn’t actually feature any fighting: she was in exile during the revolution itself and she was a bureaucrat in the capital during the war against the Contras. Obviously an autobiography can only tell one person’s story, and this hers; but it does create the image of a revolution which was all discussing ideas, giving press conferences, writing pamphlets, and delegations to foreign conferences. There is plenty of death in the book, as one after another of her friends, colleagues and lovers get killed, but it all happens offstage.
Similarly, she may be passionately committed to relieving poverty in Nicaragua, but she is never poor herself and she doesn’t spend much time in contact with the poor. I don’t blame her for being from a privileged background, but it is a rather atypical perspective. At one stage when she is working with the resistance, the police clearly suspect or know that she is working for the Sandinistas, but they don’t arrest her and take her away to be tortured as they do so many other people, because, she thinks, of her wealthy family and her society connections.
But that’s the nature of books: they tend to be written by the kind of people who write books. It’s certainly worth reading, though.
March 1, 2020
El país bajo mi piel
Pagine piene di passione , di vitalità , di energia , sul coraggio di credere nei propri sogni e di lottare per raggiungerli .
Gioconda Belli racconta il suo percorso di vita in modo sincero , la forza , l'audacia (che talvolta ha rasentato l'incoscienza ) ma anche gli errori , le contraddizioni e le sue fragilità di donna , con quel suo paese sotto la pelle - il Nicaragua - che descrive così : "amavo il suo corpo di laghi smisurati e di vulcani elevati ,di alberi dalle cime ribelli e intricate, di valli umide ,odorose di caffè , di nubi simili alle donne di Rubens, di crepuscoli e violenti acquazzoni."
Ragazza di buona famiglia , il privilegio di studi all'estero , Gioconda è una ribelle "tardiva" : ad un certo punto fanno irruzione nella sua vita ,quasi contemporaneamente , due forme diverse di ribellione , la Poesia e la Rivoluzione ;
l'ingresso nel Fronte sandinista come attivista , nel mondo segreto e utopistico della guerriglia , l'impegno, i rischi , la tenacia della lotta per il cambiamento del sistema , per abbattere la dittatura di Somoza , la sofferenza della clandestinità , il dolore per la separazione dalle figlie ,la solitudine dell'esilio in Messico e in Costa Rica , lo strazio della perdita di tanti compagni, ammazzati , e in quello stesso frenetico periodo, i viaggi , gli incontri , le storie d'amore travolgenti e complicate , e l'urgenza di scelte non facili ...
Molto intense ed emozionanti alcune pagine ,come quelle sulla morte di Marcos :
una immagine , uno squarcio , da restare ammutoliti ;
o quelle della vittoria sandinista , della caduta della dittatura , dopo 45 anni di soprusi e umiliazioni , l'euforia della gente riversata per le strade di Managua
o le pagine più private , sulla sua crisi personale :
Avevo rischiato di essere colpita dalle pallottole, di morire , avevo trafficato in armi , pronunciato discorsi, vinto premi, partorito figli , e tante altre cose ma non sapevo com'era la vita senza il pensiero di un uomo, senza l'amore di un uomo. Non sapevo chi ero davvero, senza il punto di riferimento di qualcuno che mi nominasse e mi facesse esistere con il suo amore.
Ecco, pure sul fronte sentimentale avviene infine una rivoluzione :)
che è una maturazione, una crescita , una nuova consapevolezza che conduce ad un amore adulto - come dice bene in questa poesia
L'amore del mio uomo non vorrà definirmi o etichettarmi
mi darà aria , spazio, alimento per crescere ed essere migliore,
come una Rivoluzione che faccia di ogni giorno l’inizio di una nuova vittoria.
Una donna combattiva e coraggiosa , anche nel mettersi a nudo
Pagine piene di passione , di vitalità , di energia , sul coraggio di credere nei propri sogni e di lottare per raggiungerli .
Gioconda Belli racconta il suo percorso di vita in modo sincero , la forza , l'audacia (che talvolta ha rasentato l'incoscienza ) ma anche gli errori , le contraddizioni e le sue fragilità di donna , con quel suo paese sotto la pelle - il Nicaragua - che descrive così : "amavo il suo corpo di laghi smisurati e di vulcani elevati ,di alberi dalle cime ribelli e intricate, di valli umide ,odorose di caffè , di nubi simili alle donne di Rubens, di crepuscoli e violenti acquazzoni."
Ragazza di buona famiglia , il privilegio di studi all'estero , Gioconda è una ribelle "tardiva" : ad un certo punto fanno irruzione nella sua vita ,quasi contemporaneamente , due forme diverse di ribellione , la Poesia e la Rivoluzione ;
l'ingresso nel Fronte sandinista come attivista , nel mondo segreto e utopistico della guerriglia , l'impegno, i rischi , la tenacia della lotta per il cambiamento del sistema , per abbattere la dittatura di Somoza , la sofferenza della clandestinità , il dolore per la separazione dalle figlie ,la solitudine dell'esilio in Messico e in Costa Rica , lo strazio della perdita di tanti compagni, ammazzati , e in quello stesso frenetico periodo, i viaggi , gli incontri , le storie d'amore travolgenti e complicate , e l'urgenza di scelte non facili ...
Molto intense ed emozionanti alcune pagine ,come quelle sulla morte di Marcos :
una immagine , uno squarcio , da restare ammutoliti ;
o quelle della vittoria sandinista , della caduta della dittatura , dopo 45 anni di soprusi e umiliazioni , l'euforia della gente riversata per le strade di Managua
o le pagine più private , sulla sua crisi personale :
Avevo rischiato di essere colpita dalle pallottole, di morire , avevo trafficato in armi , pronunciato discorsi, vinto premi, partorito figli , e tante altre cose ma non sapevo com'era la vita senza il pensiero di un uomo, senza l'amore di un uomo. Non sapevo chi ero davvero, senza il punto di riferimento di qualcuno che mi nominasse e mi facesse esistere con il suo amore.
Ecco, pure sul fronte sentimentale avviene infine una rivoluzione :)
che è una maturazione, una crescita , una nuova consapevolezza che conduce ad un amore adulto - come dice bene in questa poesia
L'amore del mio uomo non vorrà definirmi o etichettarmi
mi darà aria , spazio, alimento per crescere ed essere migliore,
come una Rivoluzione che faccia di ogni giorno l’inizio di una nuova vittoria.
Una donna combattiva e coraggiosa , anche nel mettersi a nudo
June 24, 2014
I have mixed reactions about this book. On one hand, it is a unique perspective on the Sandinista movement from someone who knew their inner workings. Also, we rarely hear of the women's involvement in such revolutions, so it's an even more intriguing perspective. However, I found Belli herself to be a privileged, name-dropping narcissist whose personal life was horrifyingly shallow. As she demonizes those she cheated on to justify her many affairs, and glosses over the fact she was largely absent mother (yet takes credit for her children's successes,) it sets off red flags about the veracity of her narrative. If her reflections on her personal life seem to have a heavy bias, can we readers trust her perspective of the revolution? And as a poet, she does not apply a poet's frugality with words; at times the story got bogged down with heavy-handed details and endless, odd descriptions of people based on how good looking they were, or with long, pointless sagas about influential men who made passes at her.
Due to its unique perspective, I would recommend it to any interested in the Sandinista movement, but not to those interested in a good read.
Due to its unique perspective, I would recommend it to any interested in the Sandinista movement, but not to those interested in a good read.
July 3, 2021
"Es indignante pensar que el conocimiento es solo para aquellos que pueden pagarlo."
A pesar de la calificación tremendamente alta que le doy a este libro, estoy seguro de que hay quienes están comentando negativamente este Libro , porque Giocanda Belli no es una santa ni casta, ni románticamente fiel o consistente con ningún otro principio que no sea su propio sentido de la ética a nivel nacional y Personal, y que su vida es desde una Utópica realidad "acomodada" y Fácil.
A las mujeres nos educan desde niñas para complacer. Nos entrenan para ser camaleones de nuestros hombres, adaptarnos a ellos. Si no nos detenemos a tiempo nos despersonalizamos. Reconocer esto me costó mucho dolor y no quería repetirlo
Este libro me permitió pensar en el futuro. Esta es una gran literatura feminista, política e histórica. Gioconda Belli escribe de tal manera que el lector siente que su recorrido por el camino de la memoria junto al autor. Un gran libro y difícil de dejar. Puedo entender por qué el status quo es incómodo. La verdad se mueve rápido cuando no lo ha estado haciendo desde el día en que naciste.
Es indignante pensar que el conocimiento es solo para aquellos que pueden pagarlo.
Tiene una sensibilidad Narrativa y una basta trayectoria de argumentos que la hacen una Historia para leer y vivir . Me sentí cómodo y lo recomiendo.
A pesar de la calificación tremendamente alta que le doy a este libro, estoy seguro de que hay quienes están comentando negativamente este Libro , porque Giocanda Belli no es una santa ni casta, ni románticamente fiel o consistente con ningún otro principio que no sea su propio sentido de la ética a nivel nacional y Personal, y que su vida es desde una Utópica realidad "acomodada" y Fácil.
A las mujeres nos educan desde niñas para complacer. Nos entrenan para ser camaleones de nuestros hombres, adaptarnos a ellos. Si no nos detenemos a tiempo nos despersonalizamos. Reconocer esto me costó mucho dolor y no quería repetirlo
Este libro me permitió pensar en el futuro. Esta es una gran literatura feminista, política e histórica. Gioconda Belli escribe de tal manera que el lector siente que su recorrido por el camino de la memoria junto al autor. Un gran libro y difícil de dejar. Puedo entender por qué el status quo es incómodo. La verdad se mueve rápido cuando no lo ha estado haciendo desde el día en que naciste.
Es indignante pensar que el conocimiento es solo para aquellos que pueden pagarlo.
Tiene una sensibilidad Narrativa y una basta trayectoria de argumentos que la hacen una Historia para leer y vivir . Me sentí cómodo y lo recomiendo.
July 24, 2022
Around the World Reading Challenge: NICARAGUA
===
A memoir from a Nicaraguan novelist and poet who grew up in a wealthy family before joining the Sandinstas in the 1970s--a revolutionary resistance group fighting to overthrow the dictatorship. She's eventually exiled and lives abroad working with the Sandinistas until they take power in the 1980s and she's able to return home. Interesting perspective, though certainly a skewed view given her position of privilege and exile for much of the fighting. I enjoyed learning a bit more about the revolution from the perspective of somebody intimately involved in it, though I personally had a hard time connecting to it. I found Belli's perspective to be a bit frustrating and lacking in what felt like any kind of critical self-awareness--I wish she'd been able to own up to the places where she made mistakes or chose to make sacrifices that negatively impacted other people in pursuit of what she felt was a higher calling, instead of constantly justifying or minimizing the impacts on her family, kids, etc. There's a big focus on her various romances and extra-marital affairs here, which I was just... not at all interested in. I can see why they were relevant because they were mostly tied to her revolutionary work, but I mostly felt she came off pretty badly in the personal choices she made, which made it more difficult for me to sympathize with her.
===
A memoir from a Nicaraguan novelist and poet who grew up in a wealthy family before joining the Sandinstas in the 1970s--a revolutionary resistance group fighting to overthrow the dictatorship. She's eventually exiled and lives abroad working with the Sandinistas until they take power in the 1980s and she's able to return home. Interesting perspective, though certainly a skewed view given her position of privilege and exile for much of the fighting. I enjoyed learning a bit more about the revolution from the perspective of somebody intimately involved in it, though I personally had a hard time connecting to it. I found Belli's perspective to be a bit frustrating and lacking in what felt like any kind of critical self-awareness--I wish she'd been able to own up to the places where she made mistakes or chose to make sacrifices that negatively impacted other people in pursuit of what she felt was a higher calling, instead of constantly justifying or minimizing the impacts on her family, kids, etc. There's a big focus on her various romances and extra-marital affairs here, which I was just... not at all interested in. I can see why they were relevant because they were mostly tied to her revolutionary work, but I mostly felt she came off pretty badly in the personal choices she made, which made it more difficult for me to sympathize with her.
July 22, 2009
Gioconda is a writer of great talents and a compelling story -- she was intimately connected with the Sandinista revolution from the beginning of the 1970s. However....
I get the feeling this wasn't the best way for me to discover her. What started out as a surprised "she knew EVERYBODY!" became, after so many chapters, a near parody of a revolutionary memoir. Gioconda Belli knew everybody, apparently every male she encountered (including presidents and generals) found her irresistible, she always lived a life of extreme advantage (NB except when she got in touch with the impoverished people, but only for as long as she could take it), and what's more, she always seemed to know what was right and best, even when her fellow countrymen were floundering. The most "disparaging" thing she found to say about herself in this exploration of her life is that her particular interpretation of the Sandinista uniform included camouflage pants and a halter. (It made her feel sexy.) That's kind of like the old job interview answer "I am just too much of a perfectionist."
Belli is understandably torn in her reactions to the US, which bullied her young government and accused it of being a threat when it was trying to create a just society where people had access to education and goods despite crushing poverty and economic sanctions. She also married a US citizen, so she is faced with the differences between the two countries in a big way to this day. However, she seems to forget that she is herself a product of privilege, even if she's from Central America. There are very few of us that are made directors of television stations, flown around the world to meet with world leaders, placed in "simple but comfortable" homes, flown to Mexico City by friends to get over a broken heart.
This is a perfect example of why I typically dread reading memoirs. It's not that I can't relate to Belli's life experiences, it's that she makes herself so aloof and above it all that it's impossible to relate to HER.
I get the feeling this wasn't the best way for me to discover her. What started out as a surprised "she knew EVERYBODY!" became, after so many chapters, a near parody of a revolutionary memoir. Gioconda Belli knew everybody, apparently every male she encountered (including presidents and generals) found her irresistible, she always lived a life of extreme advantage (NB except when she got in touch with the impoverished people, but only for as long as she could take it), and what's more, she always seemed to know what was right and best, even when her fellow countrymen were floundering. The most "disparaging" thing she found to say about herself in this exploration of her life is that her particular interpretation of the Sandinista uniform included camouflage pants and a halter. (It made her feel sexy.) That's kind of like the old job interview answer "I am just too much of a perfectionist."
Belli is understandably torn in her reactions to the US, which bullied her young government and accused it of being a threat when it was trying to create a just society where people had access to education and goods despite crushing poverty and economic sanctions. She also married a US citizen, so she is faced with the differences between the two countries in a big way to this day. However, she seems to forget that she is herself a product of privilege, even if she's from Central America. There are very few of us that are made directors of television stations, flown around the world to meet with world leaders, placed in "simple but comfortable" homes, flown to Mexico City by friends to get over a broken heart.
This is a perfect example of why I typically dread reading memoirs. It's not that I can't relate to Belli's life experiences, it's that she makes herself so aloof and above it all that it's impossible to relate to HER.
January 18, 2019
It happens to all of us. You meet someone - at a party, maybe, or a coffee shop - someone so beautiful you feel slightly blinded, and when you try to talk it just comes out all garbled and stupid. Your hands twist and your heart constricts, like you're trying to curl up into yourself for safety. I feel like that about this book. Rendered stupid and inarticulate, cut to the quick. Her story goes beyond the particulars of one time and place to say something profound about the universal experience of women - women as artists, women as citizens, women as members of families, women alone. I was expecting history, but what I got was revelation.
June 26, 2017
What was it that enabled people to give their lives for an idea, for the freedom of others?I made the mistake of starting this close enough to the onslaught of my winter school session to make an eight day work take two months, but now that I know I'm capable of dipping back into something over such a stretched period, it's since become a valuable experience. It would have been one even without my inadvertent multitasking exercise supreme, for when someone like me is able to check off autobiography, translation, woman of color, revolution, poetry, literature, and the US rendered as the menace that is all in the same work, they'll do what I'm doing now and give studying for finals the finger long enough to both finish and properly reminisce. It's the sort of work that, when resurfacing from the classrooms of Chaucer and Austen and Shakespeare and Evans/Eliot, is flat out surreal, what with the politics and the market limitations and the ridiculous number of contemporary assumptions made about what can exist when and how many at one time. This is immeasurably compounded by the likes of Guantánamo Diary being displayed on bookstores, fifteen years after this particular publication of Belli's and all within my lifetime. I can understand why the status quo's uncomfortable. Shit moves fast when it hasn't been doing so since the day you were born.
It's outrageous to think that knowledge is only for those who can pay for it.Despite the tremendously high rating this book enjoys, I'm sure there are those out there ruining this work for others because Giocanda Belli's not a saint or chaste or romantically faithful or consistent to any other principles than her own sense of ethics on a national, global, and literary scale. Others may pin her with the "fiery/spicy/I don't even know what other food metaphors are thrown into this" Latin stereotype instead, which let me tell you will really interfere with your comprehension of all the history and political machinations she'll be throwing at from half a century of personal lens and a couple more of familial/Nicaraguan history. I came to this work knowing bits and pieces about Reagan and the Iran-Contra scandal and a couple students in a community college class who were worried about their family back home, and left blessed with a better grip on yet another part of the world than I could have ever hoped for. Also, famous literary people! Famous thinker people! Famous historical events that didn't make sense until surrounded by the deeply personal context of someone who not only lived through them but helped bring the best of them to fruition! I was in heaven.
[A] war can be won with any class of people, but a fair, ethical system of government cannot be put in place if the people who take it upon themselves to do it lack those qualities, or sacrifice those values along the way.I could start dragging in business about Marxism and the Monroe Doctrine and the particularly Latin American/Nicaraguan brand of gender politics, but writer burnout combined with my Austen final calling with a vengeance means this review has come to a close. I gotta say, though: there's something supremely invigorating about people who take what they need from the hardcore effort of resisting oppression, pay little heed to those who would excise them from the classical lit and the history books, and are still kicking when I get around to reading and reviewing their works.
Another circle had closed. I too had fought for this, fought so my daughters could, as Che said, "deeply feel any injustice committed against any human being anywhere in the world."
April 24, 2015
All memoirs should be written by internationally reknowned poets; it makes them such a sumptuous read. I’m always interested to learn about world news and history from the inside, rather than through the lens of the US spin, and Belli definitely offers that perspective on Nicaragua. She’s earnest and naive, often unaware of her privilege, but still likeable. She happened into being a sandinista more than she made a conscious political statement, and her privilege may have insulated her from a true understanding of the risks she was taking, but even if some of her action was spurred by youthful naivete and recklessness, it is clear that she loves her country and its people and that she grew into a deserving leader. The history and political upheaval provide a serious backbone for a story that is also sprinkled with unapologetic insights into parenting, love, sex, power, and the interplay between them all. Belli is frank about her romantic affairs, representing them all -- healthy, unhealthy, based on love, on sex, on a mixture of both -- as normal and equally valuable. She describes the sexism she experienced from fellow sandinistas and from world leaders frankly and without defensiveness. And it’s all wrapped in prose that is often indistinguishable from poetry.
January 27, 2013
Seriously what a great book. Amazing woman. Giving it to all my friends for their birthdays, you've been warned!
May 19, 2019
Ho letto questa autobiografia di Gioconda Belli dopo il suo primo romanzo La donna abitata e vi ho ritrovato lo spirito indomito di una persona che si batte per un ideale di libertà contro una dittatura oppressiva e sanguinaria.
E stavolta non era un romanzo.
La famiglia, gli amori, il lavoro, la lotta, tutto si fonde al cospetto del fuoco interiore che anima questa donna straordinaria. Anche la storia.
La storia è un processo lungo. Se si arriva ad avere la pazienza per comprenderlo, si prova soddisfazione nel continuare a lottare per i piccoli cambiamenti che la fanno avanzare.
Ed il suo finale è positivo e condivisibile.
Ora che ho vissuto la mia vita fino a questo punto posso affermare che non c’è niente di donchisciottesco né di romantico nel voler cambiare il mondo. È possibile. È il mestiere al quale l’umanità si è dedicata da sempre. Non concepisco una vita migliore di quella vissuta con entusiasmo, dedicata alle utopie, al rifiuto ostinato dell’inevitabilità del caos e dello sconforto.
Il nostro mondo, ricco di potenzialità, è e sarà il risultato dello sforzo che noi, i suoi abitanti, gli consacreremo…
… L’importante, me ne rendo conto ora, non è vedere tutti i propri sogni realizzati, ma continuare ostinatamente a sognarli.
Non penso si possa parlare di spoiler nel riportarlo…
E stavolta non era un romanzo.
La famiglia, gli amori, il lavoro, la lotta, tutto si fonde al cospetto del fuoco interiore che anima questa donna straordinaria. Anche la storia.
La storia è un processo lungo. Se si arriva ad avere la pazienza per comprenderlo, si prova soddisfazione nel continuare a lottare per i piccoli cambiamenti che la fanno avanzare.
Ed il suo finale è positivo e condivisibile.
Ora che ho vissuto la mia vita fino a questo punto posso affermare che non c’è niente di donchisciottesco né di romantico nel voler cambiare il mondo. È possibile. È il mestiere al quale l’umanità si è dedicata da sempre. Non concepisco una vita migliore di quella vissuta con entusiasmo, dedicata alle utopie, al rifiuto ostinato dell’inevitabilità del caos e dello sconforto.
Il nostro mondo, ricco di potenzialità, è e sarà il risultato dello sforzo che noi, i suoi abitanti, gli consacreremo…
… L’importante, me ne rendo conto ora, non è vedere tutti i propri sogni realizzati, ma continuare ostinatamente a sognarli.
Non penso si possa parlare di spoiler nel riportarlo…
July 12, 2007
This book empowered me to forward thinking. This is great feminist, political and historical literature. Gioconda Belli writes in such a way that the reader feels that their traveling down memory road alongside the author. A great book and difficult to put down, The Country Under My skin is a very worthwhile book to read. Viva la Revolucion!!! Hasta la Muerte!
February 6, 2017
Por un momento quería más anécdotas de guerrilla y menos sentimientos, hasta que recordé que la sensibilidad es humana. Es un diario de la revolución sandinista, sí, pero también una muestra humanizante de lo que vivió Gioconda en su vida personal, con lo cual creo que no hay mujer que no se pueda identificar, aunque ya hayan pasado décadas. A todo esto le sumamos la calidad narrativa y estilística que tiene ella, y tenemos un interesante y valioso documento histórico-literario de la etapa contemporánea latinoamericana.
September 15, 2020
confesso: gioconda belli mi sta profondamente sul cazzo. fa tutto, sa tutto, seduce tutti, concilia figli, amanti, matrimoni, amici, lavoro, rivoluzione sandinista, lotta femminista... e datte 'na carmata! nonostante questo, sono andata avanti imperterrita a leggere, finché ho capito cosa era che non mi faceva smettere: la passione che trasuda ad ogni riga. passione per la vita, per la causa, per il suo paese, e scusate se è poco.
January 15, 2023
"That experience taught me, in no uncertain terms, that a war can be won with any class of people, but a fair, ethical system of government cannot be put in place if the people who take it upon themselves to do it lack those qualities, or sacrifice those values along the way."
"Sergio's attitude was typical of the left. He believed that the true revolutionary should endure the same injustices the masses had to cope with. It was a quasi-religious morality that I didn't share. For me, the Revolution sought to end mistreatment, not to democratize it."
"That was my first brush with that explosive mix of power and sex that goes right to men's heads. Power gives them a sense of entitlement. They surrender to this heady feeling and, with their chests puffed out, pounce on the tribe and its women. That is how they avenge sad childhood or adolescent memories of rejection by demure schoolgirls on playgrounds. That is how they fight back the fear their mothers inspired in them."
"History is a long process, and if one can muster the patience to understand it, one can derive satisfaction from the small battles that drive it forward. A cause isn't hopeless just because its objectives aren't reached in one's lifetime."
"It was an odd sensation to have been subversive guerrillas and fugitives only a day earlier, and now, suddenly - as young as we were, no less - to find ourselves in a city deserted by the ancient regime, conscious that from then on, everything was up to us."
"That's what those days were like, full of improvisation and a desire to fit into the roles history had cast for us."
"It was such a contrast to be surrounded by so many lights, so many things, so many choices. It made me dizzy. There was no harmony in a world where one could jump in a five-hour journey from abject misery to excess." (Nicarágua vs USA)
"The people I knew in Washington seemed guarded and reserved, and in their eyes I read a message that warned me not to cross the boundaries protecting their privacy and their existential doubts, the great abstractions that nobody talked about, as if all of life's roads were well marked and every one of them knew the path they were on. Conversations were mostly about events happening around them, not inside of them. Wit substituted for intimacy. Irony took the place of dreams."
"Sergio's attitude was typical of the left. He believed that the true revolutionary should endure the same injustices the masses had to cope with. It was a quasi-religious morality that I didn't share. For me, the Revolution sought to end mistreatment, not to democratize it."
"That was my first brush with that explosive mix of power and sex that goes right to men's heads. Power gives them a sense of entitlement. They surrender to this heady feeling and, with their chests puffed out, pounce on the tribe and its women. That is how they avenge sad childhood or adolescent memories of rejection by demure schoolgirls on playgrounds. That is how they fight back the fear their mothers inspired in them."
"History is a long process, and if one can muster the patience to understand it, one can derive satisfaction from the small battles that drive it forward. A cause isn't hopeless just because its objectives aren't reached in one's lifetime."
"It was an odd sensation to have been subversive guerrillas and fugitives only a day earlier, and now, suddenly - as young as we were, no less - to find ourselves in a city deserted by the ancient regime, conscious that from then on, everything was up to us."
"That's what those days were like, full of improvisation and a desire to fit into the roles history had cast for us."
"It was such a contrast to be surrounded by so many lights, so many things, so many choices. It made me dizzy. There was no harmony in a world where one could jump in a five-hour journey from abject misery to excess." (Nicarágua vs USA)
"The people I knew in Washington seemed guarded and reserved, and in their eyes I read a message that warned me not to cross the boundaries protecting their privacy and their existential doubts, the great abstractions that nobody talked about, as if all of life's roads were well marked and every one of them knew the path they were on. Conversations were mostly about events happening around them, not inside of them. Wit substituted for intimacy. Irony took the place of dreams."
October 22, 2013
This is an intriguing memoir of a woman born into the Nicaraguan upper class, whose experiences and insights cause her to join the Sandinista revolution, work in the Ortega administration, marry an American reporter from NPR and move to Santa Monica, California. What a fascinating life and what multiple perspectives she develops through these experiences.
I have recently read memoirs of other women revolutionaries from Cuba and Russia among others, and have developed more of a knowledge base for making some comparisons. Some of the similarities that I am seeing are struggles with feminist issues, free speech issues, and individual vs. collective rights issues.
Belli is respected for her participation in the revolution early on, as she performs such varied actions as writing poetry, publishing magazines and newspapers, and transporting arms, ALL of which put her life at risk. As the revolution succeeds and the Sandinistas come into power, their attempted treatment of women as equals begins to fail. Belli seems to think this is due to the difficulty of ridding themselves of lifelong habits and beliefs about gender differences. It seems that men carry the largest part of the burden of this imbalance of power between genders in their culture, but women are also responsible for falling for some of these old beliefs and giving in to being taken care of. Belli addresses the difficulty of even developing awareness of our socialized gender ideas, never mind trying to overcome them. It is one of the more insightful analyses about gender I have read and Belli shares her own weaknesses in this arena also.
Additionally the common difficulty with addressing individual rights versus the needs of the collective are seen in this memoir. Surely this is an existential issue that most humans experience. Belli's descriptions of her own experience are very touching. Specifically when she moves to a suburban area in the U.S. from Nicaragua city life, she experiences a deep, almost overwhelming loneliness that goes beyond the experience of moving from one country to another. Her description of this alone is worth the read. It is intriguing to read her comparison of conversations at parties in the U.S. with those in Nicaragua, especially with women in the suburbs who live a more sheltered life. Do the topics of conversation bring us closer or keep us at a distance? Of course this experience of Belli's could have been different and she could have made it different with her own search and exploration, but I know many women in the U.S. suburbs who struggle with this issue. With the quiet, empty streets and houses, you have to put in a lot of effort to make things different. Don't know if I would know how to do that in a foreign culture and geography.
Another by-product of imbalance between individualism and collectivism seems to be some loss of creativity. Although I must say that in Cuba, the embargo and other causes of shortages in many areas seem to have resulted in a lot of creativity.
If I understand Belli correctly, as well as my previous reading about the Cuban revolution, Belli seems shocked to find herself thinking that one of the mistakes made by the Ortega administration was too much freedom of speech, specifically freedom of press. She seems to think that Castro was perhaps more effective in his stronger control of the media, believing after the fact that this may be necessary for a new young government initially. I loved that the first thing both the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutionary governments did was to focus on raising the literacy rates in their countries, because of their belief that an educated population was necessary. This is interesting and timely reading for me as a U.S. citizen watching the effects of Wikileaks, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning. As the news continues to break of illegal U.S. government activity such as illegal war, bombing, imprisonment and torturing, how many U.S. citizens know about it, believe it, understand it, or attempt to learn more? My husband and I went to see the new Wikileaks movie The Fifth Estate on the day it opened. We were the only two people there, in this suburb of the capitol of California. I realize there can be many reasons for that and there are many differing opinions about Assange's actions and whether this movie is factual or not, but was still surprised at the lack of interest. But that's a different review.
I have noticed that other reviewers perceive Belli as narcissistic, grandiose and neglectful of her children. I have to say - nothing new there - studies show these tendencies are found in many if not most leaders and CEOs. Seems one would almost have to have ideas of grandiosity to think you might be able to pull off a revolution. Also, children of leaders often suffer from neglect and danger. I think here about the children of those who fought to free slaves in the U.S. and the children of U.S. civil rights leaders. The decision has to be made about whether your children will benefit most from remaining slaves or suffering the trauma of fighting for freedom. I have often thought about how my parenting might differ if instead of being white in the U.S., I was black. How would I tell my children to respond to being pulled over by police if I were a member of a group who experiences more police brutality. Watch the last scene of the movie Panther and tell me what you teach your children. There seems to me also to be an inordinate amount of sexism found when examining parenting by leaders. I don't often read criticism and accusations of family neglect by male leaders who spend their lives working. Although, I have heard those accusations about Gandhi. Undoubtedly Mandela's children felt abandoned while he was in prison. It is not a decision to be taken lightly or by those of little courage.
One last topic I found interesting was reading about the three factions of the revolutionary party in Nicaragua and the difficulties of dealing with their differences and working together, which was the only way to succeed with a revolution it seems. This is especially interesting reading in the light of current occurrences in Egypt and other countries experiencing revolution today.
So yes - a five star read for me.
I have recently read memoirs of other women revolutionaries from Cuba and Russia among others, and have developed more of a knowledge base for making some comparisons. Some of the similarities that I am seeing are struggles with feminist issues, free speech issues, and individual vs. collective rights issues.
Belli is respected for her participation in the revolution early on, as she performs such varied actions as writing poetry, publishing magazines and newspapers, and transporting arms, ALL of which put her life at risk. As the revolution succeeds and the Sandinistas come into power, their attempted treatment of women as equals begins to fail. Belli seems to think this is due to the difficulty of ridding themselves of lifelong habits and beliefs about gender differences. It seems that men carry the largest part of the burden of this imbalance of power between genders in their culture, but women are also responsible for falling for some of these old beliefs and giving in to being taken care of. Belli addresses the difficulty of even developing awareness of our socialized gender ideas, never mind trying to overcome them. It is one of the more insightful analyses about gender I have read and Belli shares her own weaknesses in this arena also.
Additionally the common difficulty with addressing individual rights versus the needs of the collective are seen in this memoir. Surely this is an existential issue that most humans experience. Belli's descriptions of her own experience are very touching. Specifically when she moves to a suburban area in the U.S. from Nicaragua city life, she experiences a deep, almost overwhelming loneliness that goes beyond the experience of moving from one country to another. Her description of this alone is worth the read. It is intriguing to read her comparison of conversations at parties in the U.S. with those in Nicaragua, especially with women in the suburbs who live a more sheltered life. Do the topics of conversation bring us closer or keep us at a distance? Of course this experience of Belli's could have been different and she could have made it different with her own search and exploration, but I know many women in the U.S. suburbs who struggle with this issue. With the quiet, empty streets and houses, you have to put in a lot of effort to make things different. Don't know if I would know how to do that in a foreign culture and geography.
Another by-product of imbalance between individualism and collectivism seems to be some loss of creativity. Although I must say that in Cuba, the embargo and other causes of shortages in many areas seem to have resulted in a lot of creativity.
If I understand Belli correctly, as well as my previous reading about the Cuban revolution, Belli seems shocked to find herself thinking that one of the mistakes made by the Ortega administration was too much freedom of speech, specifically freedom of press. She seems to think that Castro was perhaps more effective in his stronger control of the media, believing after the fact that this may be necessary for a new young government initially. I loved that the first thing both the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutionary governments did was to focus on raising the literacy rates in their countries, because of their belief that an educated population was necessary. This is interesting and timely reading for me as a U.S. citizen watching the effects of Wikileaks, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning. As the news continues to break of illegal U.S. government activity such as illegal war, bombing, imprisonment and torturing, how many U.S. citizens know about it, believe it, understand it, or attempt to learn more? My husband and I went to see the new Wikileaks movie The Fifth Estate on the day it opened. We were the only two people there, in this suburb of the capitol of California. I realize there can be many reasons for that and there are many differing opinions about Assange's actions and whether this movie is factual or not, but was still surprised at the lack of interest. But that's a different review.
I have noticed that other reviewers perceive Belli as narcissistic, grandiose and neglectful of her children. I have to say - nothing new there - studies show these tendencies are found in many if not most leaders and CEOs. Seems one would almost have to have ideas of grandiosity to think you might be able to pull off a revolution. Also, children of leaders often suffer from neglect and danger. I think here about the children of those who fought to free slaves in the U.S. and the children of U.S. civil rights leaders. The decision has to be made about whether your children will benefit most from remaining slaves or suffering the trauma of fighting for freedom. I have often thought about how my parenting might differ if instead of being white in the U.S., I was black. How would I tell my children to respond to being pulled over by police if I were a member of a group who experiences more police brutality. Watch the last scene of the movie Panther and tell me what you teach your children. There seems to me also to be an inordinate amount of sexism found when examining parenting by leaders. I don't often read criticism and accusations of family neglect by male leaders who spend their lives working. Although, I have heard those accusations about Gandhi. Undoubtedly Mandela's children felt abandoned while he was in prison. It is not a decision to be taken lightly or by those of little courage.
One last topic I found interesting was reading about the three factions of the revolutionary party in Nicaragua and the difficulties of dealing with their differences and working together, which was the only way to succeed with a revolution it seems. This is especially interesting reading in the light of current occurrences in Egypt and other countries experiencing revolution today.
So yes - a five star read for me.
December 21, 2022
Politically fascinating behind-scenes perspective on the Nicaraguan Revolution and Contra war from the perspective of a revolutionary woman, though one who was in exile—but still organizing—during the final stages. I found the most interesting part to be the takeover of the country, before the contras, after the Somoza supporters had mostly fled. The empire had fallen and the guerrillas found themselves in charge. Now what? Kind of a mind-blowing scenario filled with tedious logistical questions rooted in political philosophy. The several factions of the Sandinistas also had to learn to work together. From Belli’s perspective, it was going alright (not perfectly) until the United States, driven largely by cold-war paranoia, involved itself (as usual).
Her feminist perspective on things, and the ways she was excluded, treated as less than, and treated as a play thing by men with great power, was also insightful.
Her feminist perspective on things, and the ways she was excluded, treated as less than, and treated as a play thing by men with great power, was also insightful.
September 21, 2025
من أجمل كتب العام
August 6, 2024
El libro más bonito que he leído en mi vida, que no significa que sea el mejor.
Una autobiografía que no puede dejar indiferente a nadie. La autora, nicaragüense de clase alta, con unas convicciones políticas muy fuertes, se introduce en un grupo de revolucionarios Sandinistas para luchar contra la dictadura de Somoza.
Entre tanto, relata su vida y las relaciones amorosas que tiene con varias personas. Destacar la lucha interna que experimenta contra sus propias convicciones para descubrir su sexualidad en todo su esplendor y, así, poder terminar con el hombre con el que siente una conexión especial, aunque eso suponga abandonar el país y quedar, en cierto modo, dividida para siempre.
Una autobiografía que no puede dejar indiferente a nadie. La autora, nicaragüense de clase alta, con unas convicciones políticas muy fuertes, se introduce en un grupo de revolucionarios Sandinistas para luchar contra la dictadura de Somoza.
Entre tanto, relata su vida y las relaciones amorosas que tiene con varias personas. Destacar la lucha interna que experimenta contra sus propias convicciones para descubrir su sexualidad en todo su esplendor y, así, poder terminar con el hombre con el que siente una conexión especial, aunque eso suponga abandonar el país y quedar, en cierto modo, dividida para siempre.
March 31, 2019
Brecht once wrote:
G. Belli is one of those who fought for many years. And alas! The cruel injustice that plagues even the revolutions. Some fight in the mountains and be tortured to death, some, such as Belli, do "international relations", networking and write revolutionary poetry from abroad, all for the revolution.
In the end she leaves Nicaragua, to live with the journalist son of a rich American family. Apparently, she knows how the make the best choices, everytime. Belli says she felt "relieved" after she saw the Berlin Wall was brought down. Why?
There are those who fight for a day
and they are good.
There are those who fight for a year
and they are better.
There are those who fight for many years
they are better still.
But there are those fight their whole lives:
These are the indispensible ones.
G. Belli is one of those who fought for many years. And alas! The cruel injustice that plagues even the revolutions. Some fight in the mountains and be tortured to death, some, such as Belli, do "international relations", networking and write revolutionary poetry from abroad, all for the revolution.
In the end she leaves Nicaragua, to live with the journalist son of a rich American family. Apparently, she knows how the make the best choices, everytime. Belli says she felt "relieved" after she saw the Berlin Wall was brought down. Why?
January 26, 2024
إذا كنت مثلي لا تعرف شيئاً عن نيكاراغوا (ولا حتى في أي قارة تقع!) فهذا الكتاب لك. هذا الكتاب سيسرد لك تاريخ نيكاراغوا الحديث (آخر ١٠٠ سنة) بأسلوب شيق دون أن تشعر بالملل. لكن ضع في حسبانك أنك تقرأ من وجهة نظر الكاتبة، عواطفها وذكرياتها، ورأيها الشخصي في القادة والزعماء والثورات.
في العموم هو كتاب عذب ولطيف ومفيد جداً.
في العموم هو كتاب عذب ولطيف ومفيد جداً.
March 31, 2024
Lo mejor que he leído en mucho tiempo, unas memorias que se leen como si fueran aventuras, un libro repleto de amor, de sensualidad, de inteligencia, de pasión... Una obra maestra.
January 27, 2022
Es el primer libro que leo de Gioconda Belli. Lo inicié con el interés de conocer un poco más de la historia reciente de Nicaragua y me encontré con un relato maravilloso. Belli escribe esta historia desde el alma y siento una profunda honestidad en cada palabra, en cada anécdota, en los grandes dolores, en las pasiones y alegrías que nos relata. Pienso que es increíble que alguien pueda descubrir su vida, su intimidad, ante el mundo de la forma en la que la autora lo hace.
Desde el principio Giconda Belli nos cuenta del lugar de privilegio en el que nació, en un país marcado por la pobreza, la desigualdad y el autoritarismo. Un lugar de privilegio que, creo yo, marca dos elementos fundamentales de las historia que nos es relatada. En primer lugar, la honestidad y convicción con la que asumió la lucha del FSLN, la liberación de Nicaragua y la necesidad imperante de terminar el régimen de los Somoza. Y en segundo lugar, lo que ese lugar le propició para vivir la historia desde la cúspide, desde el centro de muchos de los sucesos que marcaron el devenir de esa nación. Esos dos elementos nos permite conocer los aciertos, pero sobretodo (y más crudamente) los errores y la pequeñez humana que tal vez solo se puede ver a través del filtro de la historia. Nos dice Belli, con referencia a los 9 miembros ("todopoderosos") del Directorio Nacional del FSLN: "No sé si fue una premonición, pero a lo largo de esos años (...) volví a ver esas expresiones a menudo y siempre sentí la misma inquietante revelación de que aquellos hombres se habían quedado prendados de la imagen seductora que se crearon de sí mismos: la imagen que vieron reflejada en los ojos de la multitud el día del triunfo. Se sentían enormemente astutos, hábiles, una mezcla de niños traviesos de la política y caballeros andantes heroicos y viriles. Con esa actitud enfrentaron peligrosos retos que había merecido una consideración más reposada, una madurez que el deslumbre del poder ya no les permitió alcanzar".
Las decisiones del Frente, pero también, y sobretodo, la mezquindad con la que el gobierno de Reagan asumió el triunfo de una nueva revolución en su "patio trasero" y en las postrimerías de la Guerra Fría, determinaron la brutal guerra que trajo al traste la revolución y que sumió a Nicaragua en una década de desangre y miseria. Pero también en ese corto periodo de tiempo en el que brilló la revolución se evidenció la grandeza humana en las misiones de alfabetización y en la experiencia de miles de jóvenes recogiendo café y algodón, con el objetivos de redimir a todo una pueblo. Así nos lo hace saber Gioconda Belli.
Un último tema que creo que se debe nombrar del libro (y que tal vez está profundamente influenciado por los ensayos que leí recientemente de Rebeca Solnit) es la importancia de la mirada femenina en todo el relato, porque eso nos brinda el elemento adicional de esa experiencia particular en el contexto de la revolución, del exilio, de las expectativas del rol de la mujer de parte de la familia, de la maternidad, del poder masculino, entre otros elementos que se van hilando. Dice Solnit en un bello ensayo en el que dialoga con Virgina Woolf que para ella "los motivos de la esperanza son, simplemente, que no sabemos qué pasará después, y que lo improbable y lo inimaginable suceden todo el tiempo". Dice Belli al cerrar su maravillosa obra que "Mis muertos, mis muertes, no fueron en vano. Ésta es una carrera de relevos en un camino abierto. (...) soy la misma Quijota que aprendió, en las batallas de la vida, que si las victorias pueden ser un espejismo, también pueden serlo las derrotas." Tal vez en esas dos citas, en la premonición de esa mirada femenina, se encuentre las respuesta para la Nicaragua de hoy que, en el ciclo de la historia, ha vuelto a quedar presa del autoritarismo.
Desde el principio Giconda Belli nos cuenta del lugar de privilegio en el que nació, en un país marcado por la pobreza, la desigualdad y el autoritarismo. Un lugar de privilegio que, creo yo, marca dos elementos fundamentales de las historia que nos es relatada. En primer lugar, la honestidad y convicción con la que asumió la lucha del FSLN, la liberación de Nicaragua y la necesidad imperante de terminar el régimen de los Somoza. Y en segundo lugar, lo que ese lugar le propició para vivir la historia desde la cúspide, desde el centro de muchos de los sucesos que marcaron el devenir de esa nación. Esos dos elementos nos permite conocer los aciertos, pero sobretodo (y más crudamente) los errores y la pequeñez humana que tal vez solo se puede ver a través del filtro de la historia. Nos dice Belli, con referencia a los 9 miembros ("todopoderosos") del Directorio Nacional del FSLN: "No sé si fue una premonición, pero a lo largo de esos años (...) volví a ver esas expresiones a menudo y siempre sentí la misma inquietante revelación de que aquellos hombres se habían quedado prendados de la imagen seductora que se crearon de sí mismos: la imagen que vieron reflejada en los ojos de la multitud el día del triunfo. Se sentían enormemente astutos, hábiles, una mezcla de niños traviesos de la política y caballeros andantes heroicos y viriles. Con esa actitud enfrentaron peligrosos retos que había merecido una consideración más reposada, una madurez que el deslumbre del poder ya no les permitió alcanzar".
Las decisiones del Frente, pero también, y sobretodo, la mezquindad con la que el gobierno de Reagan asumió el triunfo de una nueva revolución en su "patio trasero" y en las postrimerías de la Guerra Fría, determinaron la brutal guerra que trajo al traste la revolución y que sumió a Nicaragua en una década de desangre y miseria. Pero también en ese corto periodo de tiempo en el que brilló la revolución se evidenció la grandeza humana en las misiones de alfabetización y en la experiencia de miles de jóvenes recogiendo café y algodón, con el objetivos de redimir a todo una pueblo. Así nos lo hace saber Gioconda Belli.
Un último tema que creo que se debe nombrar del libro (y que tal vez está profundamente influenciado por los ensayos que leí recientemente de Rebeca Solnit) es la importancia de la mirada femenina en todo el relato, porque eso nos brinda el elemento adicional de esa experiencia particular en el contexto de la revolución, del exilio, de las expectativas del rol de la mujer de parte de la familia, de la maternidad, del poder masculino, entre otros elementos que se van hilando. Dice Solnit en un bello ensayo en el que dialoga con Virgina Woolf que para ella "los motivos de la esperanza son, simplemente, que no sabemos qué pasará después, y que lo improbable y lo inimaginable suceden todo el tiempo". Dice Belli al cerrar su maravillosa obra que "Mis muertos, mis muertes, no fueron en vano. Ésta es una carrera de relevos en un camino abierto. (...) soy la misma Quijota que aprendió, en las batallas de la vida, que si las victorias pueden ser un espejismo, también pueden serlo las derrotas." Tal vez en esas dos citas, en la premonición de esa mirada femenina, se encuentre las respuesta para la Nicaragua de hoy que, en el ciclo de la historia, ha vuelto a quedar presa del autoritarismo.
January 31, 2022
Easily one of the best books I’ve ever read. Probably my favorite memoir now too. A very personal and engaging way to learn more about the Sandinista Revolution and US imperialism in Nicaragua through the fascinating and involved lens of Belli. Not to mention the beautiful and emotional ways in which she recounts the intricacies of her life, relationships, passions and identity. Highly recommend!
September 16, 2025
Entre las reseñas lei “si queres saber sobre la historia de Nicaragua lo recomiendo, si queres un buen libro no”.
Creo que describe muy bien lo que me paso con el libro. Me gusto leerlo y aprender sobre su historia, no lo considero un libro imperdible.
Creo que describe muy bien lo que me paso con el libro. Me gusto leerlo y aprender sobre su historia, no lo considero un libro imperdible.
November 10, 2021
Pues me ha gustado mucho, aparte de lo apasionante que es la vida de esta mujer, las reflexiones que tiene sobre sus contradicciones internas y cómo las naturaliza es de lo más guay.
May 25, 2016
I usually don't drop a book and leave it unfinished, even books I don't like. This is the first one in a long time I won't be going back to finish even though I read through almost three quarters of it.
It's not that "The Country Under my Skin" is horrendous, I've read worse, but I don't see any point continuing wasting my time knowing the rest of the chapters will be the same as almost all the other ones: a) political/ideological rant - b) anecdotic event - c) more political/ideological rant - d) followed by another anecdotic event, this time related to a lover...
A memoir of someone directly involved in the Sandinista Revolution might sound very tempting and interesting, unfortunatelly most of the book actually is more about the love affairs of the author during the period, mixed with anecdotic stories, almost casual stories, of events happening at the leadership levels of the revolution behind the curtains of the actual warfront. Also, while most latin american authors have a very deep political vein, the way Gioconda Belli describes the revolution is very demagogic and militant (yes, latin american dictators were complete assholes, that doesn't make revolutionaries archangels).
But the thing I could not stand AT ALL, was the style, I've read a couple of Belli's poems before which I didn't like because she's somewhat a bit corny and her poems feel overdone, but I expected a memoir would be different... surprise: NO, IT ISN'T. This book is full of a melodramatic tone more apt to a latin american telenovela or a Danielle Steele novel than a memoir of war, just here the heroine works on the propaganda side of a revolution and is always falling for the revolution leaders, commanders, intellectuals... you get the point. To proof the point here's the most laughable passage of the whole thing: she describes a meeting with Fidel Castro. So you're meeting one of the most interesting persons of the whole twentieth century, a very strong personality, you should have a ton of things to write about, and what you write about?: Castro hitting on you! unbelievable!.
It's not that "The Country Under my Skin" is horrendous, I've read worse, but I don't see any point continuing wasting my time knowing the rest of the chapters will be the same as almost all the other ones: a) political/ideological rant - b) anecdotic event - c) more political/ideological rant - d) followed by another anecdotic event, this time related to a lover...
A memoir of someone directly involved in the Sandinista Revolution might sound very tempting and interesting, unfortunatelly most of the book actually is more about the love affairs of the author during the period, mixed with anecdotic stories, almost casual stories, of events happening at the leadership levels of the revolution behind the curtains of the actual warfront. Also, while most latin american authors have a very deep political vein, the way Gioconda Belli describes the revolution is very demagogic and militant (yes, latin american dictators were complete assholes, that doesn't make revolutionaries archangels).
But the thing I could not stand AT ALL, was the style, I've read a couple of Belli's poems before which I didn't like because she's somewhat a bit corny and her poems feel overdone, but I expected a memoir would be different... surprise: NO, IT ISN'T. This book is full of a melodramatic tone more apt to a latin american telenovela or a Danielle Steele novel than a memoir of war, just here the heroine works on the propaganda side of a revolution and is always falling for the revolution leaders, commanders, intellectuals... you get the point. To proof the point here's the most laughable passage of the whole thing: she describes a meeting with Fidel Castro. So you're meeting one of the most interesting persons of the whole twentieth century, a very strong personality, you should have a ton of things to write about, and what you write about?: Castro hitting on you! unbelievable!.
March 14, 2012
I would definitely make this more of a 4.5 out of 5 stars. This was such a beautiful personal account of Gioconda Belli's journey into Sandinista activism and love affairs with multiple intellectual figures that drove many of her life decisions. One of the best factors of what made this story so precious was really her writing style, and I did read this in Spanish. I heard the English translation doesn't leave the same impression, but for those who can do it, please read the Spanish version. I literally felt the words were melting with honey all over with me with many of her phrases.
On another note, her story is so fascinating, in terms of how she really lived each present moment and didn't hold back to push herself into a risky lifestyle within a guerrilla movement, living in exile and incorporating herself in love affairs without regrets. She was honest in her sharing her story, even being genuine that this life wasn't without pain. But everything ultimately came down to her choice of how she want to live her life, no matter how much we could choose to judge her decision-making patterns.
Yes, it's true that in her story the main protagonists are always men, and there are no highlights of other feminists within the movement. But it might be her own self-interest in making sense of things as she draws out all the different men in her life and how she lived at a time where women's empowerment was a different thing. She got married young because she thought that was her road to independence. But as soon as she saw what it really led to, she didn't follow the norm, but decided to led her life be led by what made her passionate. And yes, she does come from a more middle-upper class background where her choice to join the movement is different to someone from a poorer marginalized group. It doesn't mean that it isn't an interesting story and that we don't get a sense of what it meant to liberate Nicaragua from a US-funded dictator, as a promise to make the country a better place for future generations.
On another note, her story is so fascinating, in terms of how she really lived each present moment and didn't hold back to push herself into a risky lifestyle within a guerrilla movement, living in exile and incorporating herself in love affairs without regrets. She was honest in her sharing her story, even being genuine that this life wasn't without pain. But everything ultimately came down to her choice of how she want to live her life, no matter how much we could choose to judge her decision-making patterns.
Yes, it's true that in her story the main protagonists are always men, and there are no highlights of other feminists within the movement. But it might be her own self-interest in making sense of things as she draws out all the different men in her life and how she lived at a time where women's empowerment was a different thing. She got married young because she thought that was her road to independence. But as soon as she saw what it really led to, she didn't follow the norm, but decided to led her life be led by what made her passionate. And yes, she does come from a more middle-upper class background where her choice to join the movement is different to someone from a poorer marginalized group. It doesn't mean that it isn't an interesting story and that we don't get a sense of what it meant to liberate Nicaragua from a US-funded dictator, as a promise to make the country a better place for future generations.
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