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О, Мексика!
Перед Люси Невилл, только что окончившей университет, встает непростой выбор: найти работу или отправиться в Латинскую Америку, в экзотический край ее детских грез. Она приезжает в Мехико почти без денег и с начальным уровнем владения испанским языком, и быстро находит место преподавателя английского.
Так начинается комическое цунами приключений, во время которого Люси, преодолевая многослойное пространство Мехико, встречается с самыми разными людьми — от уличных торговцев до чокнутых гринго, от ученых до светских львов.
Так начинается комическое цунами приключений, во время которого Люси, преодолевая многослойное пространство Мехико, встречается с самыми разными людьми — от уличных торговцев до чокнутых гринго, от ученых до светских львов.
- GenresTravelNonfictionMemoir
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
13 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Lucy Neville
3 books3 followersLucy Neville is the eldest daughter of Richard Neville and Julie Clarke. She was born in 1983 and grew up in the Blue Mountains. After completing school she worked as a volunteer on an indigenous reserve in Costa Rica. Returning to Australia she did an Arts Degree in Politics and Latin American Studies before travelling to Spain to study teaching English as a foreign language. From there she continued to Mexico City where she spent several years teaching English, exploring, and performing in a minor role in one of Mexico's biggest soap opera Tequila Loving.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
June 13, 2011
Loved it, especially because it was from an Australian point of view. Started to read Eat, Pray, Love after this and couldn't stand it, this travel memoir was much more entertaining and Lucy is not annoying like Elizabeth Gilbert.
February 29, 2012
Lucy Neville’s travel memoir, Oh Mexico!: Love and Adventure in Mexico City, starts out in a predictable way. This recent college graduate isn’t ready for the corporate world, so she decides to embark upon a journey far away from her home in Australia. In Mexico City, she decides, she can better her Spanish language skills, embrace and immerse herself in a different culture, and have a host of new experiences. For one year she decides to live in crime-ridden but culturally rich Mexico City, and she is determined to succeed there. Along the way she encounters quirky characters who are both escaping their lives in other countries and are Mexican natives. She learns how difficult it is to survive and thrive in a place where corruption is rampant and rules and laws are merely suggestions. She finds herself part of a culture where women tend to be hard workers while their men often do as little work as possible. She learns what is important to Mexican life: food, family and celebrations (even if many of them seem to make light of death).
For me this book was a nice break from travel memoirs that take place in Europe. Yes, I enjoy those books immensely, but it was nice to read a first-hand experience of a country I’ve never visited, not even in the areas that cater to North American tourists, and a country that only makes American news when there is something to report on border patrol issues or drug cartels. I’m not sure it made me immediately want to book a trip to check out Mexico City for myself, but it did give me a great admiration for the author and others who embark upon similar adventures.
I liked this Lucy, the narrator. I sometimes forgot that I was reading a book instead of hearing a friend recount her adventures abroad. For the first time in quite a while, I feel like I know Lucy and that she’s my friend. She’s relatable, spunky, and willing to keep trying until she finds a way that works. She’ll listen to your advice and she might follow it. Or she might find out for herself.
What I didn’t like about the book and fairly small compared to what I did. As Lucy struggles to decide between two men, her hot roommate Octavio and her kind-hearted boyfriend Ricardo, the decision in the book, whether it was in real life, was rushed. Lucy let us into her head, building up all the tension between her and Octavio right before he vanished from her life. Was it really like that? I suspect not since many people can’t just switch their emotions off that quickly and neatly. Then, as Mexico’s economy becomes greatly affected by the American one, Lucy and Ricardo decide to move back to Australia. Though the focus of the book was, obviously, life in Mexico City, I am so curious to know more about how things turned out once they got settled in Australia.
Lucy Neville, if Ricardo is a writer, please talk him into writing a companion book outlining his first year living with you in Australia. If he is not a writer, please consider how you could turn this new chapter in your life into a second book.
For me this book was a nice break from travel memoirs that take place in Europe. Yes, I enjoy those books immensely, but it was nice to read a first-hand experience of a country I’ve never visited, not even in the areas that cater to North American tourists, and a country that only makes American news when there is something to report on border patrol issues or drug cartels. I’m not sure it made me immediately want to book a trip to check out Mexico City for myself, but it did give me a great admiration for the author and others who embark upon similar adventures.
I liked this Lucy, the narrator. I sometimes forgot that I was reading a book instead of hearing a friend recount her adventures abroad. For the first time in quite a while, I feel like I know Lucy and that she’s my friend. She’s relatable, spunky, and willing to keep trying until she finds a way that works. She’ll listen to your advice and she might follow it. Or she might find out for herself.
What I didn’t like about the book and fairly small compared to what I did. As Lucy struggles to decide between two men, her hot roommate Octavio and her kind-hearted boyfriend Ricardo, the decision in the book, whether it was in real life, was rushed. Lucy let us into her head, building up all the tension between her and Octavio right before he vanished from her life. Was it really like that? I suspect not since many people can’t just switch their emotions off that quickly and neatly. Then, as Mexico’s economy becomes greatly affected by the American one, Lucy and Ricardo decide to move back to Australia. Though the focus of the book was, obviously, life in Mexico City, I am so curious to know more about how things turned out once they got settled in Australia.
Lucy Neville, if Ricardo is a writer, please talk him into writing a companion book outlining his first year living with you in Australia. If he is not a writer, please consider how you could turn this new chapter in your life into a second book.
June 23, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. Oh Mexico! is a memoir by Lucy Neville of her experiences in Mexico City. Going from Australia to Mexico City was a culture shock for Lucy, to say the least. Lucy Neville weaves a wonderful image of Mexico that rings completely true. Her initial reaction to Mexico City is the exact same reaction I had the first time I went to Mexico City. As Lucy tries to assimilate herself into Mexican culture, I found myself visualizing her surroundings as well as her trials and tribulations. Her understanding of Mexican politics is spot on. Her characters are believable and joyful (especially Octavio!). I found Lucy's writing style to be witty, descriptive, and fun to read. Anyone who has ever experienced Mexico (or wanted to experience Mexico) will find this an enjoyable read.
July 8, 2011
Lucy Neville spends a couple of years living in Mexico City with the goal of being able to speak Spanish without any grammatical errors. She finds work teaching English and proceeds to immerse herself in the culture.
Lucy takes the readers on her journey through the city - to the shrine of the Dark Virgin in the most dangerous parts of the city, through the markets and into the town of Tepoztlan to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) with the locals.
This book oozes with life and colour. Lucy's willingness to share her frustration and wonder at the Mexican culture, and to honestly portray her experience, makes this a fascinating read. I can't say that I've ever thought of travelling to Mexico, but after reading this, perhaps I will brave this city with the reputation of being one of the most dangerous in the world.
Lucy takes the readers on her journey through the city - to the shrine of the Dark Virgin in the most dangerous parts of the city, through the markets and into the town of Tepoztlan to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) with the locals.
This book oozes with life and colour. Lucy's willingness to share her frustration and wonder at the Mexican culture, and to honestly portray her experience, makes this a fascinating read. I can't say that I've ever thought of travelling to Mexico, but after reading this, perhaps I will brave this city with the reputation of being one of the most dangerous in the world.
December 5, 2016
I love reading books about other people who just pack up and go! Such a good read
April 26, 2011
I was so wrapped up reading this funny, fascinating memoir of life in Mexico that family and friends got neglected and hours flew by without me noticing. Oh, Mexico has almost everything—travel, history, culture, romance, and even show business.
Because she’s not motivated to package herself for difficult to get corporate jobs she’s uninterested in anyway, author Lucy Neville is determined to take a different path after graduating from college in Australia. Ever since childhood she’s been fantasizing about colorful, vibrant Latin America with its salsa music, its literary tradition of magical realism, and its recurring revolutions against oppressive dictators. Instead of jumping onto the career treadmill Lucy decides to move to Mexico for a few years where, she reasons, she could take her time absorbing all she learned in school while improving her Spanish. Plus it’s one of the few places her widely traveled hippie parents had never been.
Lucy lands in Mexico City with little money and no safety net, but immediately finds the people friendly and helpful. Though she’d been warned about taxi driver kidnappings, the unnervingly young looking cabbie who escorts her to a cheap hotel acts more like a concerned family member. Her problem of how to earn a living in a country where people risk their lives hiking through deserts or swimming across rivers to get a job in the United States is solved by teaching English. Though inexperienced she’s quickly hired by a rather disorganized language school, which secures her visa, but since getting paid is another matter she also takes on private students. Later, when she needs extra cash for her cat’s operation, she’s forced into the ridiculous situation of taking a role in the series finale of a popular Mexican soap opera without having any acting aptitude.
She finds a beautiful apartment that’s easily located because it’s a few doors down from where William Burroughs shot his wife. The only difficulty is that her roommate Octavio is so attractive she vows to never let him see her before her morning shower. Lucy goes with him to see the icon of the Virgin Mary at the church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, which is built on the ruins of a native temple for the goddess of earth and fertility. Later she travels into the slums to see the shrine of La Santa Muerte, a skeleton in a bridal gown representing the virgin saint of death, who is often worshipped by people who feel excluded or need protection, including the poor, gays, lesbians, drag queens and those engaged in criminal activities.
Lucy is adamant about not becoming part of the expat community. She makes friends across the spectrum of Mexican society and this enriches her experiences and this book. Her roommate and several of her students consider themselves upper class—a label that disconcerts her—and they have lots of money, speak several languages and travel widely. The working women in her First Wives Club English class got married at a time when it is acceptable and necessary that they labor long hours, but their husbands’ attitudes haven’t caught up so they refuse to help with cooking or household chores. Lucy has a totally positive relationship with a tattooed family of gold-toothed “viene-vienes”, illegal street-parking enforcers who protect cars for a price. They watch out for Lucy when she comes home late from class. Lucy is invited to parties and weddings and family dinners. Coworkers convince her to try recreational group electric shocks. Her fellow teachers include Edgar, who takes her to political demonstrations, and Ricardo, who is so sweet she falls for him even though that involves her in an awkward love triangle.
Oh, Mexico manages to be informative without interrupting the pace of the story. History lessons, explanations of economic situations, and cultural background material flow naturally from events in the book. Lively and highly entertaining. Oh, Mexico has an August 2011 release in the US and Canada, and a June release in the UK.
Because she’s not motivated to package herself for difficult to get corporate jobs she’s uninterested in anyway, author Lucy Neville is determined to take a different path after graduating from college in Australia. Ever since childhood she’s been fantasizing about colorful, vibrant Latin America with its salsa music, its literary tradition of magical realism, and its recurring revolutions against oppressive dictators. Instead of jumping onto the career treadmill Lucy decides to move to Mexico for a few years where, she reasons, she could take her time absorbing all she learned in school while improving her Spanish. Plus it’s one of the few places her widely traveled hippie parents had never been.
Lucy lands in Mexico City with little money and no safety net, but immediately finds the people friendly and helpful. Though she’d been warned about taxi driver kidnappings, the unnervingly young looking cabbie who escorts her to a cheap hotel acts more like a concerned family member. Her problem of how to earn a living in a country where people risk their lives hiking through deserts or swimming across rivers to get a job in the United States is solved by teaching English. Though inexperienced she’s quickly hired by a rather disorganized language school, which secures her visa, but since getting paid is another matter she also takes on private students. Later, when she needs extra cash for her cat’s operation, she’s forced into the ridiculous situation of taking a role in the series finale of a popular Mexican soap opera without having any acting aptitude.
She finds a beautiful apartment that’s easily located because it’s a few doors down from where William Burroughs shot his wife. The only difficulty is that her roommate Octavio is so attractive she vows to never let him see her before her morning shower. Lucy goes with him to see the icon of the Virgin Mary at the church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, which is built on the ruins of a native temple for the goddess of earth and fertility. Later she travels into the slums to see the shrine of La Santa Muerte, a skeleton in a bridal gown representing the virgin saint of death, who is often worshipped by people who feel excluded or need protection, including the poor, gays, lesbians, drag queens and those engaged in criminal activities.
Lucy is adamant about not becoming part of the expat community. She makes friends across the spectrum of Mexican society and this enriches her experiences and this book. Her roommate and several of her students consider themselves upper class—a label that disconcerts her—and they have lots of money, speak several languages and travel widely. The working women in her First Wives Club English class got married at a time when it is acceptable and necessary that they labor long hours, but their husbands’ attitudes haven’t caught up so they refuse to help with cooking or household chores. Lucy has a totally positive relationship with a tattooed family of gold-toothed “viene-vienes”, illegal street-parking enforcers who protect cars for a price. They watch out for Lucy when she comes home late from class. Lucy is invited to parties and weddings and family dinners. Coworkers convince her to try recreational group electric shocks. Her fellow teachers include Edgar, who takes her to political demonstrations, and Ricardo, who is so sweet she falls for him even though that involves her in an awkward love triangle.
Oh, Mexico manages to be informative without interrupting the pace of the story. History lessons, explanations of economic situations, and cultural background material flow naturally from events in the book. Lively and highly entertaining. Oh, Mexico has an August 2011 release in the US and Canada, and a June release in the UK.
November 6, 2015
За формою "О, Мексико!" - доволі стандартний тревелог із елементами самоколупання. До того ж прикро сюжетний. Підзаголовок "Кохання та пригоди" - абсолютно правдивий тизер. Чималенький об'єм тексту піде на з'ясовування: а чого кого ж хоче Люсі - милого колегу чи пещеного красеня руммейта. Проте колорит переважає.
Про Мексику Невілл пише із інтересом та любов'ю. І погляд людини з країни першого світу, яка не дуже обтяжена тягарем білої людини - порівняно із європейською чи північноамериканською молоддю (нє, в одному місці про політику Австралії щодо аборигенів все ж згадується) - є справді цікавим і трохи незвичним.
У тексті багато співчуття до лівацької молоді, трудового люду та "трішечки" кримінальних елементів. До речі, те, як австралійка змальовує Уробороса корупції, що своїми кільцями підтримує суспільний договір, - українцямбуло б дуже корисно почитати. І про традиції вона оповідає прикольно, що б то не було - вулична їжа (урбаністи танцюють!), культ Святої Смерті чи прийоми організації масових акцій спротиву. Але чи ненайцікавіше у Невілл ілюструються принципи занурення в середовище (і тут я зрозуміла, що спроби опанувати англійську - це якесь читерство, з іншими мовами важче виходить).
Трохи доповнена версія із більшою кількістю цитат - за посиланням.
Про Мексику Невілл пише із інтересом та любов'ю. І погляд людини з країни першого світу, яка не дуже обтяжена тягарем білої людини - порівняно із європейською чи північноамериканською молоддю (нє, в одному місці про політику Австралії щодо аборигенів все ж згадується) - є справді цікавим і трохи незвичним.
У тексті багато співчуття до лівацької молоді, трудового люду та "трішечки" кримінальних елементів. До речі, те, як австралійка змальовує Уробороса корупції, що своїми кільцями підтримує суспільний договір, - українцямбуло б дуже корисно почитати. І про традиції вона оповідає прикольно, що б то не було - вулична їжа (урбаністи танцюють!), культ Святої Смерті чи прийоми організації масових акцій спротиву. Але чи ненайцікавіше у Невілл ілюструються принципи занурення в середовище (і тут я зрозуміла, що спроби опанувати англійську - це якесь читерство, з іншими мовами важче виходить).
Родной язык ревнив. Ему не нравится, когда вы начинаете учить другой язык, и он делает все возможное, чтобы расстроить ваши планы. Единственный способ с этим справиться – это игнорировать его: жить в такой среде, где никто его не понимает или не обращает на него внимания. Я чувствовала, что начинаю чуть ли не завидовать своим студентам: с каждой неделей они говорили все быстрее и делали все меньше грамматических ошибок, а ведь им для этого не пришлось уезжать на другой конец света.
Трохи доповнена версія із більшою кількістю цитат - за посиланням.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2015
I was really excited when I found this at the library as I am also off to Latin America at the end of my Masters this year! Unfortunately I don't think Lucy's adventure was that exciting and her writing didn't really manage to captivate me. I liked her inclusion of the political turmoil in Mexico City and I definitely learnt a lot about the culture there, but if anything it made me not want to spend much time in the city, and I kept wondering why she didn't try to venture further into that amazing part of the world. I didn't feel enough of a connection with her- she didn't explain much about herself so it was hard to feel sorry for the predicament she found herself in. I still enjoyed the book enough to read it to the end, and think it's awesome that Lucy had the courage to venture off on her own.
August 15, 2020
Three and a half. Neville's description of her life in Mexico is interesting and informative. She herself seems pretty narcissistic and moorless, but I don't think she pretends to be anything other than a confused twenty-something. She seems to borderline disrespect Mexico's religious traditions, and I was confused by her parting shot in the last sentence. Nevertheless, the book held my interest throughout, and she does a good job of portraying the fast-paced dizziness of life in the third decade in a fascinating setting.
July 27, 2012
I picked this up as I have an potential opportunity to live in Mexico for a while, and I have only ever read about the dark side of Mexico. I wanted to find a personal account that I could relate to, and this really did fit the bill. While Neville perhaps brushes over the dangerous aspects of life in Mexico city, and the nature of some of her adventures, a little too much, it is an engaging, interesting read that stands out among the cut-and-paste travel memoirs that get churned out. I found her honesty about her life made this really approachable, and it was great seeing Mexico through her eyes - I would highly recommend to anyone thinking of travelling/living there.
May 31, 2021
Oh How I loved Oh Mexico! Amazing talent. I loved is the quirky, real life perspective from Lucy. I could feel the little emotions that went with her experiences. This is truly what travel writing is to me. I could almost taste the quesadillas, and feel the crush of the masses in the Zocalo and sense the dodgyness when she and Edgar went to see the La Santa Muerte. Stunning piece of travel writing, excellent. Would recommend it to anyone! :)
April 19, 2012
A fast, fun read about a 20 something Australian who moves to Mexico City. Very enjoyable.
Read
May 30, 2023No rating as it feels wrong rating someone’s life experiences.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book. Mainly because I have also spent some time living in Mexico City, around 10 years after the author did. Lucy Neville’s “Oh Mexico” is a travel memoir of her 2-ish years of living in one of the biggest metropolis in Latin America.
A city of almost 25 million people, Mexico City has its perks and drawbacks. Both myself and the author agree that food and people are some of the most incredible in CDMX (and the whole of Mexico, if you ask me). There wasn’t ever a bad meal that I’ve eaten there. Maybe except for a torta (Mexican sandwich) in Chapultepec park, which came with a dry mosquito embedded in the bread.
The biggest drawback is probably the traffic, followed closely by bad infrastructure (the city is certainly not been designed for disabled people, for example), which I believe hugely depends on it’s post-colonialist history, and being situated on an ancient lake, meaning that the city sinks a few centimetres every year. Finally, CDMX is situated in a valley, surrounded by active volcanoes (like Popocatepetl, which erupted just recently), and quite prone to earthquakes and constantly battling smog and air pollution.
I could genuinely write a whole book on my experience in Mexico, but I’m here to write a review of Neville’s book.
Some of my biggest issues with the book were all the negative stereotypes and assumptions being pushed onto readers from the very first page. This is along the lines of, you’ll get kidnapped, or mugged, or robbed at gunpoint, all Mexicans want to leave Mexico and move to the USA or Canada, half the population is involved in narcotics trafficking, and so on. Whilst I understand that some of those assumptions are true (yes, you might get mugged, there are instances of kidnapping and there is a big narco presence in certain areas), I didn’t appreciate the book mostly revolving around those perceptions. However, as I mentioned previously, my time in Mexico was spent a better part of a decade after the author - it appears she was there around 2008-09, whilst I lived there in 2019-20. Things will have changed in that time. We both lived in different areas. Lucy lived there alone, whilst I had the constant support and guidance of my partner’s family. It’s a given that things will have been different for both of us, based on the above.
Some of the parts I loved most about the book were the ones where she described all the delicious food, the kindness of strangers, my favourite places, and others which I didn’t get a chance to visit. In the end it did make me cry - simply because I missed my Mexican home so much.
I think it was pure serendipity that I found this book in a local charity shop completely by chance - it must have found me at this specific time for a reason. And it has also inspired me to go back down memory lane a few years and jot down some of my own Mexican memories, if only to preserve them and keep myself from forgetting the amazing experience I had in the city and the country.
I have a lot of thoughts about this book. Mainly because I have also spent some time living in Mexico City, around 10 years after the author did. Lucy Neville’s “Oh Mexico” is a travel memoir of her 2-ish years of living in one of the biggest metropolis in Latin America.
A city of almost 25 million people, Mexico City has its perks and drawbacks. Both myself and the author agree that food and people are some of the most incredible in CDMX (and the whole of Mexico, if you ask me). There wasn’t ever a bad meal that I’ve eaten there. Maybe except for a torta (Mexican sandwich) in Chapultepec park, which came with a dry mosquito embedded in the bread.
The biggest drawback is probably the traffic, followed closely by bad infrastructure (the city is certainly not been designed for disabled people, for example), which I believe hugely depends on it’s post-colonialist history, and being situated on an ancient lake, meaning that the city sinks a few centimetres every year. Finally, CDMX is situated in a valley, surrounded by active volcanoes (like Popocatepetl, which erupted just recently), and quite prone to earthquakes and constantly battling smog and air pollution.
I could genuinely write a whole book on my experience in Mexico, but I’m here to write a review of Neville’s book.
Some of my biggest issues with the book were all the negative stereotypes and assumptions being pushed onto readers from the very first page. This is along the lines of, you’ll get kidnapped, or mugged, or robbed at gunpoint, all Mexicans want to leave Mexico and move to the USA or Canada, half the population is involved in narcotics trafficking, and so on. Whilst I understand that some of those assumptions are true (yes, you might get mugged, there are instances of kidnapping and there is a big narco presence in certain areas), I didn’t appreciate the book mostly revolving around those perceptions. However, as I mentioned previously, my time in Mexico was spent a better part of a decade after the author - it appears she was there around 2008-09, whilst I lived there in 2019-20. Things will have changed in that time. We both lived in different areas. Lucy lived there alone, whilst I had the constant support and guidance of my partner’s family. It’s a given that things will have been different for both of us, based on the above.
Some of the parts I loved most about the book were the ones where she described all the delicious food, the kindness of strangers, my favourite places, and others which I didn’t get a chance to visit. In the end it did make me cry - simply because I missed my Mexican home so much.
I think it was pure serendipity that I found this book in a local charity shop completely by chance - it must have found me at this specific time for a reason. And it has also inspired me to go back down memory lane a few years and jot down some of my own Mexican memories, if only to preserve them and keep myself from forgetting the amazing experience I had in the city and the country.
November 17, 2020
I loved this book, it’s probably a 4.5 on my scale. The few lines towards the start of the book in brackets annoyed me, but after that I could barely put it down. I enjoyed the authentic look on the authors time and experience in Mexico, encapsulating the humble, reflective and honesty of creative non-fiction. The subtle development of the author during her time in Mexico filled me with joy, reminding me of my own time overseas during my gap year and inspiring me to one day document that journey as well as Lucy has!
Thank you so much for a pleasant escape to a lively and unique city, attached with personal dramas and growth, all from the comfort of my own home during a global pandemic.
Thank you so much for a pleasant escape to a lively and unique city, attached with personal dramas and growth, all from the comfort of my own home during a global pandemic.
May 30, 2023
Не хотелось мне писать об этой книге, но поняла что таки надо, ибо отчет по игре нужен.
Люси, приехала в Мексику потому что мечтала там жить, ее увлекает в этой стране все. Она сразу составила план, что нужно сделать и приступила к его выполнению. Девушка стала преподавать английским тем, кому он нужен по работе. Так мы знакомимся с ее учениками и людьми, что попадаются ей по дороге.
Просматривая оценки и рецензии, у меня сложилось такое впечатление что книгу я читала совершенно другую. Нет, правда, вроде персонажи совпадают, окружающий мир тоже, события, но вот мне было вообще не весело и не интересно. Так еще и многие предложения на испанском оставили без перевода...
Люси, приехала в Мексику потому что мечтала там жить, ее увлекает в этой стране все. Она сразу составила план, что нужно сделать и приступила к его выполнению. Девушка стала преподавать английским тем, кому он нужен по работе. Так мы знакомимся с ее учениками и людьми, что попадаются ей по дороге.
Просматривая оценки и рецензии, у меня сложилось такое впечатление что книгу я читала совершенно другую. Нет, правда, вроде персонажи совпадают, окружающий мир тоже, события, но вот мне было вообще не весело и не интересно. Так еще и многие предложения на испанском оставили без перевода...
June 6, 2017
One of my fastest reads yet. This book is incredible. I loved every moment of it. I learn so much of Mexico reading this book. Plus, words that I was having difficulty pronouncing before, I can now say confidently. I also learn a few new choice words that I love to use on specific people. The food sounds delicious! Reading this book makes me want to book a flight to Mexico City. Thank you Lucy Neville for providing me a much better view of Mexico City.
June 26, 2025
I liked: I enjoyed the little history lessons throughout the book. Also, the front cover.
I disliked: everything else. I couldn’t stand the author or her narration. She comes off as condescending to both the reader and to Mexico. I don’t think the book paints an accurate portrait of Mexico as Lucy Neville is sheltered and only sees danger and poverty around every corner. She also seems to think the reader will have absolutely no knowledge of Spanish language or Mexican culture.
I disliked: everything else. I couldn’t stand the author or her narration. She comes off as condescending to both the reader and to Mexico. I don’t think the book paints an accurate portrait of Mexico as Lucy Neville is sheltered and only sees danger and poverty around every corner. She also seems to think the reader will have absolutely no knowledge of Spanish language or Mexican culture.
January 26, 2020
I found this randomly at a second hand store. I was drawn to the story because Lucy is doing in this book what I want to: Teach English in a foreign country. I found that section the most interesting. Mexico does not sound like a place where you would want to live a foreigner long term if you have to make a living on the meagre salary. I wish I knew what Lucy was doing now.
February 5, 2020
A privileged white girl learns about herself through sleeping with men, with a backdrop of Mexican stereotypes behind her. Superficial understanding of the culture with endless stereotypes. If you liked Carrie Bradshaw wandering through the set of an “Arabian souk” then this is the self-centered superficial culturally-appropriated book for you.
June 23, 2017
A light read. Easy and fast to get through. At the same time you learn a lot about Mexican culture and it's amazing how she loves the life there deposite all difficulties and culture shock. And as a 20 something traveling woman, I was quite easily able to identify with her messy adventures.
January 11, 2018
Really enjoyed this fascinating account of Lucy Neville's time in Mexico City. It gave lots of insight into the culture and atmosphere of the city and had some very amusing moments as Lucy navigates her way through her time there.
February 2, 2025
Wow! I loved this book, I felt like I was actually there in the room with Lucy and Ricardo. A wonderful heartfelt travel memoir written with warmth exploring the themes of family, relationships and finding ones courage.
February 15, 2025
Quite interesting and very readable account of Neville's 2 year stint in Mexico City. She gives some interesting background to Mexico's politics and how this impacts every day life there. The love triangle was a bit dull but descriptions of navigating life in Mexico was interesting.
January 16, 2018
I loved this book! Couldn't put it down. A insightful account of the living in a foreign countries and the day to day realties of Mexico
February 27, 2023
Veers enjoyably into chick lit at times. No Peter Hessler but some thoughtful insights and interesting details about Mexican culture throughout.
October 30, 2023
Oh Mexico! is an interesting travel memoir that shares Neville's personal experiences learning Spanish while living in Mexico City.
Read
October 9, 2024DNF at 50%
May 13, 2016
That's proper expat lit for English speaking readers.
It captures quite well the life of a foreign girl living for the first time in Mexico City. I bought it just before the flight that would get me there for the first time so I read it at the perfect moment.
I shared a lot of the author's experiences and found the story very funny (you don't know what crowded means for a metro until you've been into Mexico City's [disclaimer: I don't know Tokyo])
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However, the very way she decided to write her story, as a first-world stranger lost in a third-world capital, implies that she sometimes sounds like a 19th century ethnographer in front of a newly discovered tribe. So the reader is trapped between "haha, that's funny" and "hum, that's condescending". I think it's a pleasant read to be taken lightly but disappointing with some clichés (even though the number of tequila bottles drunk in this book is not as high as I make it sound and I'm almost sure no sombrero was involved in the making of the story).
It captures quite well the life of a foreign girl living for the first time in Mexico City. I bought it just before the flight that would get me there for the first time so I read it at the perfect moment.
I shared a lot of the author's experiences and found the story very funny (you don't know what crowded means for a metro until you've been into Mexico City's [disclaimer: I don't know Tokyo])
image:
However, the very way she decided to write her story, as a first-world stranger lost in a third-world capital, implies that she sometimes sounds like a 19th century ethnographer in front of a newly discovered tribe. So the reader is trapped between "haha, that's funny" and "hum, that's condescending". I think it's a pleasant read to be taken lightly but disappointing with some clichés (even though the number of tequila bottles drunk in this book is not as high as I make it sound and I'm almost sure no sombrero was involved in the making of the story).
January 3, 2012
Lucy Neville does a really good job of not over-romanticizing Mexico. I finished the book wondering whether she had convinced me to never set foot in the country... or pack my bags straight away and never come back. I think it's really impressive she was able to maintain this balance. She incorporates fact and statistics into her personal experiences giving the reader a well-rounded view of Mexico.
As a story, it was brilliant. I especially enjoyed her soap-opera love triangles with sexy Latino men. A really easy read.
As a story, it was brilliant. I especially enjoyed her soap-opera love triangles with sexy Latino men. A really easy read.
December 10, 2011
Mexico...viewed by an Aussie.
A travel memoir about a country as rich of culture as Mexico was very going to be bland or boring, but I thought that this book picked up speed only after Neville moves out of her personal adventures to viewing the country and its people. Once there, It was a great read...queer and strange, and yet filled with a traveller's excitement and discovery. A good intro to Mexico from the eyes of some one as common as you and me...
A travel memoir about a country as rich of culture as Mexico was very going to be bland or boring, but I thought that this book picked up speed only after Neville moves out of her personal adventures to viewing the country and its people. Once there, It was a great read...queer and strange, and yet filled with a traveller's excitement and discovery. A good intro to Mexico from the eyes of some one as common as you and me...
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