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La gente del margen
En la tercera guerra mundial sólo se usaron seis misiles, que bastaron para hundir todo vestigio de civilización. Para un puñado de hombres, la lucha de cada día es ahora sobrevivir frente a la amenaza del hambre y, ante todo, de los propios seres humanos, que han vuelto a la barbarie. Las historias que componen "La gente del margen" narran la apasionante e intensa odisea de hombres y mujeres que reconstruyen un mundo perdido, sus problemas y dificultades.
358 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
54 people are currently reading
1505 people want to read
About the author
Orson Scott Card
892 books20.7k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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January 3, 2019
Note, Jan. 3, 2019: I just edited this review to correct two minor typos.
In the SF genre, Orson Scott Card is best known for his Ender's Saga series, beginning with Ender's Game. But although, back in the 90s, I'd heard of his name and of the series, it didn't particularly interest me; military SF usually isn't my thing. However, I'm intrigued by post-apocalyptic scenarios; so when I was offered a good deal on this book through the Science Fiction Book Club, I grabbed it up. It didn't disappoint (and my wife and I went on to read his Alvin Maker alternate-world fantasy series).
Set mostly in the decades after a nuclear-biological war that destroyed civilization as we know it, this book presents a cycle of five linked "short" stories (I use the quotation marks because they're on the longer end of the spectrum for that format!) written from 1985-87, and based on the premise that the Mormon survivors of the cataclysm are building a new, theocratic society in Utah and the surrounding areas. The various stories tend to focus on characters who are, geographically or socially, on the titular "fringe" of this society. (Card himself is a Mormon --which I wasn't aware of when I started reading, but had come to surmise by the time I finished.) As added special features (at least in this edition), the book proper is followed by an Author's Note that explains how the stories came to be written, after Card had seemingly abandoned the short story format for some years, and by a serious scholarly Afterword by Card's fellow Mormon Michael Collings, which uses the stories here as a springboard for discussing how Mormon faith and artistic integrity in the SF genre relate to each other. (The insights there are relevant to the relationship of other faith communities to literary art, and to other genres of literary art besides SF).
Mormonism is central to these stories in important ways. Most of the key characters are Mormons, references to Mormon beliefs, practices and writings, etc. are fairly frequent, and some specific Mormon ideas are presupposed in the underlying worldview here. In the lead story, "West," the migration of Mormons fleeing from persecution in what is today North Carolina towards refuge in a new Promised Land in the West envisions a repeat of the Mormon community's perception of its 19th-century history of westward migration, to escape the violent persecution by the "Gentiles." (As recently as the 90s, when I initially read this --and certainly in the 80s, when it was written-- I and probably most readers dismissed this scenario as the paranoid fantasy of a persecution complex. Now, the idea of a secular society eager to scapegoat and kill Mormons --and, probably, other people of faith-- appears chillingly prescient instead.) The author's view of a Mormon theocracy is certainly more favorable than the way evangelical readers would be apt to regard it --or to regard ANY kind of theocracy; contrary to the disinformation hawked by Big Media, religious freedom and separation of church and state are central tenets of American evangelicalism.
On the other hand, none of these stories are Mormon tracts as such. They are primarily stories --tales of human behavior, feelings and relationships in particular circumstances, winsomely told in a way that kindles and keeps reader interest. Such messages as there are grow out of the story itself; there is no concentrated attempt to call for Mormon conversion or to explain and defend Mormon theology. And some stories also seemingly critique or reinterpret traditional Mormon ideas in certain ways. In "Salvage," for instance, we learn that since the apocalyptic disaster, the level of the Great Salt Lake has risen drastically, submerging Salt Lake City and the present-day Mormon Temple. Reinterpretation is even more evident in "America," where hegemony over the new American Promised Land --in what is pretty clearly a sharp reversal of 19th-century Mormon racial theology-- is taken from the sinful white race and given to a tribal alliance of Native Americans (whose ancestors' skins, according to the Book of Mormon, were darkened to show that they were "cursed") binding both North and South America. (This basic theme appears also in the Alvin Maker series, especially in Red Prophet.)
All of the stories are well-written and involving, with clearly-drawn, convincing characters who quickly gain and hold a rapport with the reader. The world-building is fascinatingly textured, and quite plausible. Card's usual high standard of literary craftsmanship (and I can say this as having read quite a few of his novels and stories; I now count him as a favorite writer on the strength of these) is evident throughout. Bad language isn't a problem in the book (if there is any, there's not enough of it to be memorable) and the same can be said for violence and explicit sexual content. (Evangelical readers, though, will have a problem with the idea in "America" that the leader of the Indian alliance is sired through a one-night stand, between an Indian woman and a white Mormon teenager, that's supposedly directly ordained and engineered by God! --although the actual sex isn't explicit.) For the most part, I as a non-Mormon reader could relate to the characters and stories on a universal human level, and I think that would generally be true for most non-Mormon readers.
In the SF genre, Orson Scott Card is best known for his Ender's Saga series, beginning with Ender's Game. But although, back in the 90s, I'd heard of his name and of the series, it didn't particularly interest me; military SF usually isn't my thing. However, I'm intrigued by post-apocalyptic scenarios; so when I was offered a good deal on this book through the Science Fiction Book Club, I grabbed it up. It didn't disappoint (and my wife and I went on to read his Alvin Maker alternate-world fantasy series).
Set mostly in the decades after a nuclear-biological war that destroyed civilization as we know it, this book presents a cycle of five linked "short" stories (I use the quotation marks because they're on the longer end of the spectrum for that format!) written from 1985-87, and based on the premise that the Mormon survivors of the cataclysm are building a new, theocratic society in Utah and the surrounding areas. The various stories tend to focus on characters who are, geographically or socially, on the titular "fringe" of this society. (Card himself is a Mormon --which I wasn't aware of when I started reading, but had come to surmise by the time I finished.) As added special features (at least in this edition), the book proper is followed by an Author's Note that explains how the stories came to be written, after Card had seemingly abandoned the short story format for some years, and by a serious scholarly Afterword by Card's fellow Mormon Michael Collings, which uses the stories here as a springboard for discussing how Mormon faith and artistic integrity in the SF genre relate to each other. (The insights there are relevant to the relationship of other faith communities to literary art, and to other genres of literary art besides SF).
Mormonism is central to these stories in important ways. Most of the key characters are Mormons, references to Mormon beliefs, practices and writings, etc. are fairly frequent, and some specific Mormon ideas are presupposed in the underlying worldview here. In the lead story, "West," the migration of Mormons fleeing from persecution in what is today North Carolina towards refuge in a new Promised Land in the West envisions a repeat of the Mormon community's perception of its 19th-century history of westward migration, to escape the violent persecution by the "Gentiles." (As recently as the 90s, when I initially read this --and certainly in the 80s, when it was written-- I and probably most readers dismissed this scenario as the paranoid fantasy of a persecution complex. Now, the idea of a secular society eager to scapegoat and kill Mormons --and, probably, other people of faith-- appears chillingly prescient instead.) The author's view of a Mormon theocracy is certainly more favorable than the way evangelical readers would be apt to regard it --or to regard ANY kind of theocracy; contrary to the disinformation hawked by Big Media, religious freedom and separation of church and state are central tenets of American evangelicalism.
On the other hand, none of these stories are Mormon tracts as such. They are primarily stories --tales of human behavior, feelings and relationships in particular circumstances, winsomely told in a way that kindles and keeps reader interest. Such messages as there are grow out of the story itself; there is no concentrated attempt to call for Mormon conversion or to explain and defend Mormon theology. And some stories also seemingly critique or reinterpret traditional Mormon ideas in certain ways. In "Salvage," for instance, we learn that since the apocalyptic disaster, the level of the Great Salt Lake has risen drastically, submerging Salt Lake City and the present-day Mormon Temple. Reinterpretation is even more evident in "America," where hegemony over the new American Promised Land --in what is pretty clearly a sharp reversal of 19th-century Mormon racial theology-- is taken from the sinful white race and given to a tribal alliance of Native Americans (whose ancestors' skins, according to the Book of Mormon, were darkened to show that they were "cursed") binding both North and South America. (This basic theme appears also in the Alvin Maker series, especially in Red Prophet.)
All of the stories are well-written and involving, with clearly-drawn, convincing characters who quickly gain and hold a rapport with the reader. The world-building is fascinatingly textured, and quite plausible. Card's usual high standard of literary craftsmanship (and I can say this as having read quite a few of his novels and stories; I now count him as a favorite writer on the strength of these) is evident throughout. Bad language isn't a problem in the book (if there is any, there's not enough of it to be memorable) and the same can be said for violence and explicit sexual content. (Evangelical readers, though, will have a problem with the idea in "America" that the leader of the Indian alliance is sired through a one-night stand, between an Indian woman and a white Mormon teenager, that's supposedly directly ordained and engineered by God! --although the actual sex isn't explicit.) For the most part, I as a non-Mormon reader could relate to the characters and stories on a universal human level, and I think that would generally be true for most non-Mormon readers.
October 12, 2014
I am trying to re-read this book for some reason, but I just might re-read Walk This Way by Aerosmith instead having already finished that book recently.
This book BUGS me. I think it's because half the characters are just so dang self-righteous. Like in the first story, how did they know the Mormons would have everything running in Utah? I reckon it's supposed to be about faith and such and just leaving things to faith but as I get older I become more of a skeptic and all I can think is, really?
Plus, of all the people to torment and persecute, why Mormons? Mormonism frustrates me, mainly because of the historical inaccuracies that make my head explode and the fact that the church spends millions on keeping gays from getting married which makes NO SENSE to me when they can be fixing their own flock's fences instead. But, I'm not going to persecute and torment MORMONS over it. I'd just say, could you kindly reconsider and stop doing that?
But, as usual, I am going on a tangent. Fact is, this book is very frustrating in the way too many Orson Scott Card books are frustrating. Too many hyper moral characters that are TOO GOOD because they don't drink or have sex outside of marriage. Too many characters that are TOO EVIL. It gets old after a while.
You get to the point where you'd rather read about Aerosmith drinking, doing drugs and having irresponsible sex and then getting better and helping themselves than self-righteous religious folks. This is probably why Jesus hung out with prostitutes and such and not the Pharisees. They had better stories.
Also, brother Carpenter was my favourite character even though he was overly moralistic. I wonder if everyone with Cerebral palsy or ALS would feel this way. I am not so sure. I will go and read the perspective of people with CP.
Another thing is, why is Katie treated like she's a bad person for not wanting to do her family's plays? Just because people are wealthy it doesn't mean they don't appreciate Shakespeare or something or that it doesn't have meaning in their lives. And morality police? REALLY, Orson Scott Card, REALLY? You rant about Muslims and put morality police in your book?
See, I still hate this book, but I was reading the Pageant wagon story and I just don't get why Deaver wants to join this crazy family, why they can't add Shakespeare to their repetour, why it's a bad thing for Katie to WANT to do plays for people who actual appreciate her? The fringe people don't even like these folks. They hate them. They think the whole family, even the women will just impregnate girls, so why get stuck doing this in the first place? Why don't they perform for the city? Why does Ollie's ho-bag behavior get rewarded with freedom while Katie doesn't get her freedom? She'll just marry Deaver, give up her dreams, have babies and do these plays she hates for the rest of her life.
Urg. OSC is so ANNOYING. Worse of all, I'm trying to find Xenicide and I'll read it. As if I don't suffer enough?!
I need to get these books out of my house. Now another problem is some people with cerebral palsy can have families and children and spouses!
I know his son had cerebral palsy, but that doesn't stop him from being ablist as all hell. It's just, do most people with cerebral palsy feel like this? Why should you feel like a worm, or less than human or want to die just because you're disabled? OSC needs to read Moving Violations. By having this attitude about the disabled, it doesn't help people. How many parents who kill their autistic children get considered as sympathetic victims rather than the REAL victim? Disability isn't easy, but if we keep viewing disability like this we'll just make it so much harder!
7/18 edit
You ever want to just take a character out of a book, give him or her some cookies and a blanket and tell them to have confidence and love themselves and it will be OK? I feel so bad for Mr. Carpenter. I want to tell him that he's not a worm. That he's not less of a human or a man for being disabled. He's actually quite cool, trying to teach these irritating kids and help them instead of teaching at a college where they would appreciate him. He should not have to feel like this just because he can't walk or speak.
OSC treats being gay the same way. As something that is WRONG with them and they should feel guilty and bad about it, but no one really should. So do not do that!
This book BUGS me. I think it's because half the characters are just so dang self-righteous. Like in the first story, how did they know the Mormons would have everything running in Utah? I reckon it's supposed to be about faith and such and just leaving things to faith but as I get older I become more of a skeptic and all I can think is, really?
Plus, of all the people to torment and persecute, why Mormons? Mormonism frustrates me, mainly because of the historical inaccuracies that make my head explode and the fact that the church spends millions on keeping gays from getting married which makes NO SENSE to me when they can be fixing their own flock's fences instead. But, I'm not going to persecute and torment MORMONS over it. I'd just say, could you kindly reconsider and stop doing that?
But, as usual, I am going on a tangent. Fact is, this book is very frustrating in the way too many Orson Scott Card books are frustrating. Too many hyper moral characters that are TOO GOOD because they don't drink or have sex outside of marriage. Too many characters that are TOO EVIL. It gets old after a while.
You get to the point where you'd rather read about Aerosmith drinking, doing drugs and having irresponsible sex and then getting better and helping themselves than self-righteous religious folks. This is probably why Jesus hung out with prostitutes and such and not the Pharisees. They had better stories.
Also, brother Carpenter was my favourite character even though he was overly moralistic. I wonder if everyone with Cerebral palsy or ALS would feel this way. I am not so sure. I will go and read the perspective of people with CP.
Another thing is, why is Katie treated like she's a bad person for not wanting to do her family's plays? Just because people are wealthy it doesn't mean they don't appreciate Shakespeare or something or that it doesn't have meaning in their lives. And morality police? REALLY, Orson Scott Card, REALLY? You rant about Muslims and put morality police in your book?
See, I still hate this book, but I was reading the Pageant wagon story and I just don't get why Deaver wants to join this crazy family, why they can't add Shakespeare to their repetour, why it's a bad thing for Katie to WANT to do plays for people who actual appreciate her? The fringe people don't even like these folks. They hate them. They think the whole family, even the women will just impregnate girls, so why get stuck doing this in the first place? Why don't they perform for the city? Why does Ollie's ho-bag behavior get rewarded with freedom while Katie doesn't get her freedom? She'll just marry Deaver, give up her dreams, have babies and do these plays she hates for the rest of her life.
Urg. OSC is so ANNOYING. Worse of all, I'm trying to find Xenicide and I'll read it. As if I don't suffer enough?!
I need to get these books out of my house. Now another problem is some people with cerebral palsy can have families and children and spouses!
I know his son had cerebral palsy, but that doesn't stop him from being ablist as all hell. It's just, do most people with cerebral palsy feel like this? Why should you feel like a worm, or less than human or want to die just because you're disabled? OSC needs to read Moving Violations. By having this attitude about the disabled, it doesn't help people. How many parents who kill their autistic children get considered as sympathetic victims rather than the REAL victim? Disability isn't easy, but if we keep viewing disability like this we'll just make it so much harder!
7/18 edit
You ever want to just take a character out of a book, give him or her some cookies and a blanket and tell them to have confidence and love themselves and it will be OK? I feel so bad for Mr. Carpenter. I want to tell him that he's not a worm. That he's not less of a human or a man for being disabled. He's actually quite cool, trying to teach these irritating kids and help them instead of teaching at a college where they would appreciate him. He should not have to feel like this just because he can't walk or speak.
OSC treats being gay the same way. As something that is WRONG with them and they should feel guilty and bad about it, but no one really should. So do not do that!
December 31, 2022
Este libro no fue para mí, no me gustó el intento evangelizador, aunque sea ciencia ficción y aunque sea postapocalipsis. Tampoco lo recomendaría.
April 30, 2007
A relatively obscure Orson Scott Card, but one that may be the most revealing about the author. A tale of post-apocalyptic America, that has some interesting characters and ideas and is well told through a set of short stories.
Card's Mormon roots come through heavily in this book. There is a lot of Mormon theology and not too subtle proselytizing. There's also some fairly new age mysticism in the last story, which could turn off a lot of sci-fi fans who are excited by the world in other ways.
However, the characters in these stories are deep and grapple with serious issues, and Card manages to create a set of interpersonal dynamics that are quite gripping. Its not a standard sci-fi novel, but if you're a fan of the genre and looking for something out of the ordinary, you might enjoy it.
Card's Mormon roots come through heavily in this book. There is a lot of Mormon theology and not too subtle proselytizing. There's also some fairly new age mysticism in the last story, which could turn off a lot of sci-fi fans who are excited by the world in other ways.
However, the characters in these stories are deep and grapple with serious issues, and Card manages to create a set of interpersonal dynamics that are quite gripping. Its not a standard sci-fi novel, but if you're a fan of the genre and looking for something out of the ordinary, you might enjoy it.
January 19, 2023
Lo venden como ciencia ficción o postapocaliptico pero es doctrina mormona, me molesta que una reseña mienta sobre lo el contenido de un libro, que sean claros y que uno decida si leerlo o no.
May 7, 2008
This was not what I expected. It's a well-known fact that Orson Scott Card is LDS. He uses LDS-themes and culture throughout his books. His series about Alvin is based on the Joseph Smith story. His series Homeward Bound is based on the Book of Mormon (and was so badly done, that I couldn't finish the first book).
This is an interesting beginning: American has been attacked during World War III and several large cities were bombed. Post-Apocalypse themes abound. The first story involves a group of Mormons leaving South Carolina for Utah, after most of the Mormons have been massacred. (hrmmmm....where have I heard that story before?) Although it seems like the end of the world, Christ has not returned and the Salt Lake Temple is now underwater. I'm not sure I buy that...but it made for interesting talk.
It's collection of short stories, although they are about mostly the same characters. Disjointed, big gaps and you just want to smack around one of the guys for being so entirely self-absorbed that he makes the plot come to a screeching halt, only to do a complete 180 and offer himself. Yeah...whatever.
So, not impressed. Damage done to opinion of Mr. Card.
This is an interesting beginning: American has been attacked during World War III and several large cities were bombed. Post-Apocalypse themes abound. The first story involves a group of Mormons leaving South Carolina for Utah, after most of the Mormons have been massacred. (hrmmmm....where have I heard that story before?) Although it seems like the end of the world, Christ has not returned and the Salt Lake Temple is now underwater. I'm not sure I buy that...but it made for interesting talk.
It's collection of short stories, although they are about mostly the same characters. Disjointed, big gaps and you just want to smack around one of the guys for being so entirely self-absorbed that he makes the plot come to a screeching halt, only to do a complete 180 and offer himself. Yeah...whatever.
So, not impressed. Damage done to opinion of Mr. Card.
April 26, 2014
This is the Mormonest book I've ever read and I was totally not expecting it.
I know OSC is Mormon and everything, but this book is written from the shifting viewpoints of a half dozen people, all of whom are completely fucking devout and guilty-feeling Mormons living in a newly formed pseudo-theocracy in what used to be Utah. It kinda sorta follows the life of someone born a few years before the big collapse but he is conspicuously not involved in the last part of the book... As a post-apocalypse rebuilding-civilization book it wasn't very exciting except for the last chapter which suddenly features Quetzalcoatl and prophetic dreaming. The last chapter is awesome.
The (exceedingly long and self deprecating) authors notes reveals the big secret that this book was a writing exercise to get the author back into short stories, which explains why I had read one of the middle chapters elsewhere. Realizing this kind of made me feel like a sucker for spending three days getting through these weird and herky-jerky christian adventure stories.
I know OSC is Mormon and everything, but this book is written from the shifting viewpoints of a half dozen people, all of whom are completely fucking devout and guilty-feeling Mormons living in a newly formed pseudo-theocracy in what used to be Utah. It kinda sorta follows the life of someone born a few years before the big collapse but he is conspicuously not involved in the last part of the book... As a post-apocalypse rebuilding-civilization book it wasn't very exciting except for the last chapter which suddenly features Quetzalcoatl and prophetic dreaming. The last chapter is awesome.
The (exceedingly long and self deprecating) authors notes reveals the big secret that this book was a writing exercise to get the author back into short stories, which explains why I had read one of the middle chapters elsewhere. Realizing this kind of made me feel like a sucker for spending three days getting through these weird and herky-jerky christian adventure stories.
November 15, 2022
La gente del margen
Libro de postapocalipsis.
Su gimmick, es que es alrededor de la comunidad mormona.
Que más que una historia, es una serie de cuentos o historias cortas que van si relacionadas y en orden cronológico.
Creo que la única historia que realmente me gusto fue la primera, donde un grupo de personas se anima a arriesgarse a viajar de alguna ciudad, hacia salt lake city, donde en teoría están bien las cosas, ese si le sentí en un inicio el peligro, luego la premura del viaje, la pausa en el invierno y lo que desarrolla, y aunque esta un más evangelizadora que las otras, y esta lo del añadido de la persecución previa (que suena como un mal símil), aun así se me hizo interesante.
También la de la banda de actores (segundo postapocalipsis donde hay esto en corto tiempo) también sonaba interesante, pero el problema era el protagonista que ya me había caido mal en una historia anterior.
El resto de las historia muy olvidables
2.5 stars
Libro de postapocalipsis.
Su gimmick, es que es alrededor de la comunidad mormona.
Que más que una historia, es una serie de cuentos o historias cortas que van si relacionadas y en orden cronológico.
Creo que la única historia que realmente me gusto fue la primera, donde un grupo de personas se anima a arriesgarse a viajar de alguna ciudad, hacia salt lake city, donde en teoría están bien las cosas, ese si le sentí en un inicio el peligro, luego la premura del viaje, la pausa en el invierno y lo que desarrolla, y aunque esta un más evangelizadora que las otras, y esta lo del añadido de la persecución previa (que suena como un mal símil), aun así se me hizo interesante.
También la de la banda de actores (segundo postapocalipsis donde hay esto en corto tiempo) también sonaba interesante, pero el problema era el protagonista que ya me había caido mal en una historia anterior.
El resto de las historia muy olvidables
2.5 stars
January 3, 2019
7/10. Media de los 43 libros leídos del autor : 8/10
43 obras que me he leído de Card y media de 8/10. Tela. Creo que eso lo dice todo, y liarme a hacer alabanzas de este autor es superfluo.
Le he puesto nada menos que 10/10 a siete de sus novelas y 9/10 a otras ocho. Casi merece más la pena decir cuales de esas 43 suspenden; solo hay dos: Ruinas (Pathfinder#2) y Esperanza del venado.
Además solo otras 5 se llevarían tres estrellas. El resto, 4 o 5.
Un crack,vamos.
43 obras que me he leído de Card y media de 8/10. Tela. Creo que eso lo dice todo, y liarme a hacer alabanzas de este autor es superfluo.
Le he puesto nada menos que 10/10 a siete de sus novelas y 9/10 a otras ocho. Casi merece más la pena decir cuales de esas 43 suspenden; solo hay dos: Ruinas (Pathfinder#2) y Esperanza del venado.
Además solo otras 5 se llevarían tres estrellas. El resto, 4 o 5.
Un crack,vamos.
November 3, 2007
Read in '99--a year of uncertainty--like the world is on the brink; and the very year of the "Six Missle War". Jamie and Deaver Teague are unforgettable--so honest, so perceptive, so true--and so real. The eerie image of the flooded Temple--the painful truth of human failings magnified by the breakdown of civililization--the fringe a symbol of the tenuous hold thereon--and a very compelling and startling ending, albeit controversial. Reader beware--contains some disturbing elements. Also, some Mormons may object to predictions of a future so completely different than commonly held beliefs about what is to come. As a Mormon myself, I found it very interesting to explore a completely different scenario than any I had previously imagined playing out, and to consider how our people might face such a set of circumstances.
January 23, 2023
Fatal, mi primer contacto con el autor y me topo con un libro sumamente aburrido, cómo libro de ciencia ficción (que se supone que es) le doy una calificación de 0 estrellas. Como libro postapocalíptico también está de pena, 0 estrellas; como libro mormón no me interesa leerlo y debería de especificarse en la sinopsis.
El peor libro que he leído, si pudiera ponerle menos de 1 estrella lo haría.
Mi calificación: ¡no pierdas el tiempo!
El peor libro que he leído, si pudiera ponerle menos de 1 estrella lo haría.
Mi calificación: ¡no pierdas el tiempo!
March 6, 2024
reread in Feb 2023: Bumping this up to four stars for the thoughtful way Card interacts with issues in Mormon culture. This time around I read this with Chris Blythe's Mormon literature class and we talked about the themes of justice, insiders and outsiders, and the secularization of the theological government we see in "Fringe". After reading Jared Hickman's "Amerindian Apocalypse," I can understand more of what Card was going for in "America" (but it is still an incredibly weird and troubling story).
Original review Feb 2020: These four short stories are set in a post-apocalyptic world where Mormons still sing songs together. The first story about a group of Mormons fleeing Greensboro to go to Utah reminded me a lot of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, only not as gritty (dangerous freeways, weird pockets of people, and necessary street smarts).
I think "Salvage" was my favorite. A gentile takes two friends with him to go diving in the Salt Lake temple (because the Bonneville ocean is returning and it's almost underwater) because he thinks gold is hidden there. But all he finds are prayers written on pieces of tin cans. Even though I knew the ending to the story already, it made me emotional to think about how Mormons would cope with losing their "home base" as it were. "Pageant Wagon" was about this same gentile joining a family of a travelling theater company. Orson Scott Card's background in theater really came through here--as a writer he cut his teeth writing plays and watching the audience members react to his plays. The story was a little too long though. "The Fringe" featured a man with palsy who had to talk to his class through a computer. Card had a son who died at age 17 who had cerebral palsy, which probably made this a very accurate depiction of the disability.
The last story, "America" was a very weird story where two people dream that they should make a baby together and actually do so through a dream. I've read some analysis of the story but I don't really get it. Is it supposed to be about how God sometimes asks people to do things that are normally wrong? It just struck me as perverse.
Original review Feb 2020: These four short stories are set in a post-apocalyptic world where Mormons still sing songs together. The first story about a group of Mormons fleeing Greensboro to go to Utah reminded me a lot of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, only not as gritty (dangerous freeways, weird pockets of people, and necessary street smarts).
I think "Salvage" was my favorite. A gentile takes two friends with him to go diving in the Salt Lake temple (because the Bonneville ocean is returning and it's almost underwater) because he thinks gold is hidden there. But all he finds are prayers written on pieces of tin cans. Even though I knew the ending to the story already, it made me emotional to think about how Mormons would cope with losing their "home base" as it were. "Pageant Wagon" was about this same gentile joining a family of a travelling theater company. Orson Scott Card's background in theater really came through here--as a writer he cut his teeth writing plays and watching the audience members react to his plays. The story was a little too long though. "The Fringe" featured a man with palsy who had to talk to his class through a computer. Card had a son who died at age 17 who had cerebral palsy, which probably made this a very accurate depiction of the disability.
The last story, "America" was a very weird story where two people dream that they should make a baby together and actually do so through a dream. I've read some analysis of the story but I don't really get it. Is it supposed to be about how God sometimes asks people to do things that are normally wrong? It just struck me as perverse.
September 20, 2011
A couple of loosely connected short stories about an apocalyptic USA after a nuclear and biological war. Scruffy loner helps clueless group of Mormons get to Utah. They find a kid along the way whose parents have been killed by baddies who the next short stories are about. Child in rebellious get rich quick scheme and Child as a man helping a group of players realize how badly they need each other. One of Card's earlier pieces stuff from what I can gather in the writing. He has a very long last chapter about how he never writes, or has somewhat lost the ability to write short stories but somehow managed to pull this out. I confess I started that last chapter but didn't bother finishing it. Love you Card but I had better things to do. Mormonism is Big in this book. This must have been somewhere around the time Card made his conversion because Mormons found civilization in this book and original scruff loner converts. Child though remains a willful gentile, an interesting counter note.
September 8, 2019
abandonado en la pagina 200
Primer contacto con el escritor y a sido reñido, escribe muy bien pero en el caso de este libro el problema era lo que contaba: es postapocaliptico la tierra esta destruida bueno la tierra no se, estados unidos, y el libro es un grupo de relatos que nos cuentan como lo pasan una serie de personajes... ni he entendido el mundo ni a los personajes y es que lo de el mundo destruido es un segundo plano aquí lo que importe son los MORMONES... mormones para arriba mormones para abajo,(y sí, el escritor es mormon)... todo va en relación a esta religión, el resto es secundario. Y seré yo, pero no cogí la intención del escritor, no capte el mensaje, mayormente porque es todo aburridisimo... cuando empieza a interesarte vuelve al tema mormón no lo deja ni en cinco paginas seguidas... no lo capto lo siento. Ahora que lo pienso, espero que la intención del escritor no sea venderme a los mormones...prefiero no pensar eso.
Primer contacto con el escritor y a sido reñido, escribe muy bien pero en el caso de este libro el problema era lo que contaba: es postapocaliptico la tierra esta destruida bueno la tierra no se, estados unidos, y el libro es un grupo de relatos que nos cuentan como lo pasan una serie de personajes... ni he entendido el mundo ni a los personajes y es que lo de el mundo destruido es un segundo plano aquí lo que importe son los MORMONES... mormones para arriba mormones para abajo,(y sí, el escritor es mormon)... todo va en relación a esta religión, el resto es secundario. Y seré yo, pero no cogí la intención del escritor, no capte el mensaje, mayormente porque es todo aburridisimo... cuando empieza a interesarte vuelve al tema mormón no lo deja ni en cinco paginas seguidas... no lo capto lo siento. Ahora que lo pienso, espero que la intención del escritor no sea venderme a los mormones...prefiero no pensar eso.
February 26, 2010
Some of the greatest short stories I have read. In a post-appocolyptic America, a Morman mecca is set up in Utah. A collection of short stories with main characters Mormans, these stories are not preachy, but are just solid stories in which the characters happen to be Morman. The one part about Baptists killing Mormans on the East coast was kind of funny/ridiculous and sad (because it could happen with extremists out there.)
From empty highways beset with bandits waylaying sojourning Mormans trying to make their way to Utah, to diving in the lakes to find the lost temple, to traveling Morman Gypsy preformoers, the stories create characters who struggle with their world, their faith and themselves.
Orson Scott Card is an amazing writer and world builder. These collection of stories are a great read and I would recommend them to anyone, genre reader or not.
From empty highways beset with bandits waylaying sojourning Mormans trying to make their way to Utah, to diving in the lakes to find the lost temple, to traveling Morman Gypsy preformoers, the stories create characters who struggle with their world, their faith and themselves.
Orson Scott Card is an amazing writer and world builder. These collection of stories are a great read and I would recommend them to anyone, genre reader or not.
March 5, 2010
I'm about halfway through and I really dislike this book strongly. If I didn't need it for a book club, there is NO way I'd finish it.
Finally done. I read it in one day while I was home sick. If I hadn't needed it for book group, I wouldn't have made it through the second story. I really liked the first one, though. Hated all the rest, but I liked the first one. Definitely not one I'd recommend to anyone, though...
Finally done. I read it in one day while I was home sick. If I hadn't needed it for book group, I wouldn't have made it through the second story. I really liked the first one, though. Hated all the rest, but I liked the first one. Definitely not one I'd recommend to anyone, though...
May 2, 2021
This book started out good but then got slow and relatively boring in my opinion. I had no problems reading the story and being able to incorporate the LDS faith that's heavily woven into the plot. Words and phrases like Lehi, sealed in the temple, Alma, bearing testimony, and Hill Cumorah will have little to no meaning to someone who isn't familiar with the LDS religion.
September 2, 2021
I must admit that I almost abandoned this book initially. But, fortunately Orson Scott Card is an excellent writer and somehow he kept me engaged in this 5 part short story set. I was initially put off that all the stories focused on Mormons/LDS characters (note that Card is a Mormon) along with their challenges of living in a post-apocalyptic America. But, given that, even though I'm not very interested in LDS doctrine, the story-lines and character development grabbed me by the end of the 2nd story.
Once I read the afterward I realized what Card was up to in this book it made more sense. He hadn't written short stories in quite a while (back in 1989) and had decided to go to a writer's workshop. The book evolved from story #4 'Pageant Wagon' that he was going to publish as a novel about a Mormon traveling show in post-apocalyptic America but hadn't completed yet. The other four stories became the output that formed this collection. Ironically, 'Pageant Wagon' was the longest but weakest story in the book. However, stories 2 "Salvage", 3 "The Fringe" and 5 "America" were excellent and oddly, the stories he wrote the fastest. In fact "America" was quite good with mystical elements being the only story with a somewhat sci-fi/fantasy feel to it. Story 1 "West" started out with a good idea but dropped into LDS doctrine too much with a truncated ending. Thankfully, all the stories did connect in a way which was a great concept.
All in all, I really think Card knows how to write some of the deepest characters I've read in quite a while - a tribute to his abilities. It's been some years since I read his classics "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead" which makes me want to go back and reread those. I was going give this book 3 stars but by then end I think this was a 4 star read. NOTE - if you were looking for sci-fi in this book its not here - its all about characters.
Once I read the afterward I realized what Card was up to in this book it made more sense. He hadn't written short stories in quite a while (back in 1989) and had decided to go to a writer's workshop. The book evolved from story #4 'Pageant Wagon' that he was going to publish as a novel about a Mormon traveling show in post-apocalyptic America but hadn't completed yet. The other four stories became the output that formed this collection. Ironically, 'Pageant Wagon' was the longest but weakest story in the book. However, stories 2 "Salvage", 3 "The Fringe" and 5 "America" were excellent and oddly, the stories he wrote the fastest. In fact "America" was quite good with mystical elements being the only story with a somewhat sci-fi/fantasy feel to it. Story 1 "West" started out with a good idea but dropped into LDS doctrine too much with a truncated ending. Thankfully, all the stories did connect in a way which was a great concept.
All in all, I really think Card knows how to write some of the deepest characters I've read in quite a while - a tribute to his abilities. It's been some years since I read his classics "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead" which makes me want to go back and reread those. I was going give this book 3 stars but by then end I think this was a 4 star read. NOTE - if you were looking for sci-fi in this book its not here - its all about characters.
February 23, 2017
Esta es una colección de relatos con una premisa común: en una América post apocalíptica la civilización resurge (apenas) en Utah, de manos de los mormones. Eso suena muy proselitista, pero Orson Scott Card es mormón y está muy metido en su comunidad, y su religión es así, proselitista, qué le vamos a hacer. Podemos discutir si los mormones son los únicos que mantendrían la cabeza sobre los hombros en semejante situación (lo dudo), pero yo prefiero atenerme al valor de los cuentos y dejar eso aparte. ¿Merecen la pena? Unos más que otros. Están conectados entre sí porque siguen un orden cronológico (más o menos) y hay personajes comunes, pero se pueden leer más o menos independientemente. El primero, "Oeste", es el mejor para mi gusto. El peor es "Teatro Ambulante", me pareció increíblemente forzado. También hay un epílogo del autor, donde hace un relato muy exhaustivo del proceso de escritura de estos cuentos, con todo tipo de datos personales (como que para ir a un taller literario de no se cuantos días, como está sobradito de peso, para bajarlo decide no llevar dinero para no comer nada y alimentarse únicamente a base de botellas de cocacola que compra ex profeso antes de llegar, que es un dato que me dice mucho sobre la sensatez que tiene este señor en su día a día). Allí menciona que el último cuento que escribió es precisamente "Teatro Ambulante", aunque fue el primero que se le ocurrió. Que no pudo terminarlo hasta que no escribió todos los demás. Y me hace pensar que al darle tantas y tantas vueltas al asunto perdió la perspectiva, porque resulta muy poquito creíble. Os pongo en antecedentes: en esa Utah post apocalíptica el clima ha cambiado tanto que llueve constantemente, y están haciendo un trabajo exhaustivo para recuperar el suelo del desierto y poder cultivar sin que se lo lleven las riadas. Para eso mandan jinetes que patrullan el borde del desierto y hacen informes de erosión sobre el terreno. A uno de estos jinetes se le muere el caballo en medio de la nada, así que coge su silla de montar (propiedad del gobierno) y se va a pie hasta la carretera, a esperar que pase alguien que lo lleve al pueblo más cercano. Los que lo recogen son un grupo de teatro ambulante, una familia. Esto es como las primeras dos páginas. No entraré en detalles, pero es como si desde el minuto uno en que se sube a la cabina del camión todos los miembros de la familia decidieran que ese desconocido salido de la nada que huele a no haberse duchado en semanas es exactamente lo que necesitan para resolver todos sus problemas, y necesitan que entre a formar parte de su familia. Así, de golpe. Y el jinete, que ya conocemos porque sale en dos de los cuentos anteriores y es un huérfano inadaptado, aunque tiene los naturales recelos al principio, les ve casi como la familia que nunca tuvo y siempre quiso tener. Si lo piensas fríamente parecen una panda de tarados que llevan años montado el numerito del "one of us" a todos los autoestopistas que encontraban, a ver si alguno picaba, y justo este pobre idiota es el que ha acabado cayendo. En la familia hay muchos problemas, claro está, todos tienen lo suyo encima (qué familia no), y el jinete lo detecta como si lo llevaran escrito en un cartel colgado del cuello. En menos de dos días, entre lo que deduce y lo que le cuentan, ya es un experto en todas las dinámicas familiares y su trágica historia personal. ¿He dicho que me parecía forzado? Me he quedado corta. Es un relato flojo sobre todo porque el primero, "Oeste" trata un tema muy parecido y lo hace bastante mejor, y las comparaciones son odiosas.
En fin, ¿lo recomiendo? Pues depende de lo que te gusten los cuentos, y de lo que te guste este autor. Yo tengo una compilación (gordísima) de cuentos cortos suyos (no-mormones) y en general son bastante buenos, mejores de lo que son estos, que andarían un poco a medio camino entre la ciencia ficción tal cual y lo que escribe sobre su religión. Aquí los personajes son mormones casi todos, no siempre son dechados de virtudes, pero en general tampoco son mala gente, se nota que es un tipo convencido de que su religión y su forma de vida son cosas estupendas y no cuestiona apenas nada. También es antiracista y pro-integración, y está muy concienciado con el tema de los nativos americanos, y eso también se ve en estos cuentos y le honra. No voy a decir que su fe le lastra, pero a lo mejor un poco sí. A lo mejor no ve las cosas tan claras como cuando lo deja a un lado y escribe ciencia ficción o fantasía pura y dura.
En fin, ¿lo recomiendo? Pues depende de lo que te gusten los cuentos, y de lo que te guste este autor. Yo tengo una compilación (gordísima) de cuentos cortos suyos (no-mormones) y en general son bastante buenos, mejores de lo que son estos, que andarían un poco a medio camino entre la ciencia ficción tal cual y lo que escribe sobre su religión. Aquí los personajes son mormones casi todos, no siempre son dechados de virtudes, pero en general tampoco son mala gente, se nota que es un tipo convencido de que su religión y su forma de vida son cosas estupendas y no cuestiona apenas nada. También es antiracista y pro-integración, y está muy concienciado con el tema de los nativos americanos, y eso también se ve en estos cuentos y le honra. No voy a decir que su fe le lastra, pero a lo mejor un poco sí. A lo mejor no ve las cosas tan claras como cuando lo deja a un lado y escribe ciencia ficción o fantasía pura y dura.
Read
February 10, 2019Couldn't finish this: it was dripping with LDS theology and painted Christians out in a terrible light, namely hateful and murderous, contrary to what the Bible teaches (it heartily endorses loving others and giving up yourself for the benefit others, not murdering or hating them. Indeed, if a "Christian" is hating on you, they aren't a Christian).
The post-aplocayptic stories were very loosely connected (one of them painting one of the most horrific back-stories I've ever read), but has none of the true OSC flavor we loved in the Ender/Shadow Saga. He needs to focus on finishing that series instead of pumping out all of this stuff that is truly not even close to his best.
The post-aplocayptic stories were very loosely connected (one of them painting one of the most horrific back-stories I've ever read), but has none of the true OSC flavor we loved in the Ender/Shadow Saga. He needs to focus on finishing that series instead of pumping out all of this stuff that is truly not even close to his best.
February 28, 2024
I actually enjoyed “West” and “Salvage” in this collection, but the other two…especially “America”…were not my fave. Orson Scott Card is a strange author, and chooses to incorporate some pretty unnecessary and randomly provocative plot points/lines, but in the conversation of LDS speculative fiction, the stories are pretty interesting to read.
February 26, 2021
Out of the thirteen books that I've read so far in 2021, this one is the first (and so far only) one that I've given five-stars.
I read this book just before the January 6th riots at the Capitol, where the lead-up to that event and the controversy surrounding the 2020 elections had acquired an apocalyptic feel. All of that really made the stories in this book stand out to me, because they all take place in a post-apocalyptic United States where the only subculture/community that survived intact through the collapse is the Latter-day Saints of the intermountain west.
The stories are very sparse on the details of the collapse itself. We only learn bits and pieces of what happened, for example that six nuclear weapons went off on the east coast, but that was the extent of the nuclear war. Also, we learn that there was an environmental collapse as well as a social one, but that the new western deserts are in the process of being reclaimed. The United States we know and love is dead beyond recovery, but there is still living memory of it, which helps to guide the rise of the society that will replace it. That new society, descended from our current one, is much more religiously orthodox than our current society, and Card masterfully portrays its strengths, its flaws, and its deepest yearnings, all from the perspective of those who don't quite feel that they belong.
The first story, "West," is definitely my favorite. I actually read it several years ago in a different anthology, while waiting on the train platform in Provo Utah at 4am (the only time when the eastbound California Zephyr passes through). I read it in an hour and was so completely engrossed in it that boarding the train was an inconvenience. When I finished it, I was literally weeping. Everything about that story felt so real, from the post-apocalyptic world itself to the characters themselves: ragtag survivors of an anti-Mormon pogrom all struggling to cross the wasteland and make it to the promised land, high in the Rocky Mountains. It was all so real, it almost felt prophetic, and yet the ending was so satisfying and uplifting that I couldn't stop thinking about it for several days.
The other stories are all pretty good, but what really makes them stand out is the way they all tie together. Characters from one story appear in the next one in unexpected ways, sometimes finding the redemption that had previously eluded them, other times narrating events that happened to others. Taken together, these stories trace the arc of the new civilization that rises from the ashes of the old, and how it ultimately comes to orbit the new locus of power in the post-apocalyptic world.
Perhaps Card's greatest strength as a writer is his ability to understand and skillfully portray all the complicated nuances of the relationships between his characters. It's not just that he writes such interesting and believable characters, but that their relationships with each other feel so deep and so real. The story that shows this best is probably "Pageant Wagon," though "West" was pretty good at it too. All of these stories are about individual people much more than they are about the world, the society, or anything else. And yet, because Card is so masterful at showing how these people relate to each other, the society, and the world at large, we cannot help but get those stories too, through the intimate and personal experiences of the people who live in them.
This book is really fantastic, and it is even more relevant in today's crazy world than it was when it was originally published. Although most of the characters are Mormon, it isn't exclusively written for that audience, and you don't have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to appreciate or enjoy it. A resounding five stars.
I read this book just before the January 6th riots at the Capitol, where the lead-up to that event and the controversy surrounding the 2020 elections had acquired an apocalyptic feel. All of that really made the stories in this book stand out to me, because they all take place in a post-apocalyptic United States where the only subculture/community that survived intact through the collapse is the Latter-day Saints of the intermountain west.
The stories are very sparse on the details of the collapse itself. We only learn bits and pieces of what happened, for example that six nuclear weapons went off on the east coast, but that was the extent of the nuclear war. Also, we learn that there was an environmental collapse as well as a social one, but that the new western deserts are in the process of being reclaimed. The United States we know and love is dead beyond recovery, but there is still living memory of it, which helps to guide the rise of the society that will replace it. That new society, descended from our current one, is much more religiously orthodox than our current society, and Card masterfully portrays its strengths, its flaws, and its deepest yearnings, all from the perspective of those who don't quite feel that they belong.
The first story, "West," is definitely my favorite. I actually read it several years ago in a different anthology, while waiting on the train platform in Provo Utah at 4am (the only time when the eastbound California Zephyr passes through). I read it in an hour and was so completely engrossed in it that boarding the train was an inconvenience. When I finished it, I was literally weeping. Everything about that story felt so real, from the post-apocalyptic world itself to the characters themselves: ragtag survivors of an anti-Mormon pogrom all struggling to cross the wasteland and make it to the promised land, high in the Rocky Mountains. It was all so real, it almost felt prophetic, and yet the ending was so satisfying and uplifting that I couldn't stop thinking about it for several days.
The other stories are all pretty good, but what really makes them stand out is the way they all tie together. Characters from one story appear in the next one in unexpected ways, sometimes finding the redemption that had previously eluded them, other times narrating events that happened to others. Taken together, these stories trace the arc of the new civilization that rises from the ashes of the old, and how it ultimately comes to orbit the new locus of power in the post-apocalyptic world.
Perhaps Card's greatest strength as a writer is his ability to understand and skillfully portray all the complicated nuances of the relationships between his characters. It's not just that he writes such interesting and believable characters, but that their relationships with each other feel so deep and so real. The story that shows this best is probably "Pageant Wagon," though "West" was pretty good at it too. All of these stories are about individual people much more than they are about the world, the society, or anything else. And yet, because Card is so masterful at showing how these people relate to each other, the society, and the world at large, we cannot help but get those stories too, through the intimate and personal experiences of the people who live in them.
This book is really fantastic, and it is even more relevant in today's crazy world than it was when it was originally published. Although most of the characters are Mormon, it isn't exclusively written for that audience, and you don't have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to appreciate or enjoy it. A resounding five stars.
July 27, 2023
Fun little read. Some of the stories really stick with ya, and some don't. The one's that do are really good and well worth reading the one's that don't.
April 27, 2015
Yeah...no. This is some weird Mormon apocalypse book. The author is a conservative Mormon whose books I've read before--Ender's Game being his most famous--but this one is just weird. America is destroyed and the LDS are going to claw us back into civilization. Who knows, maybe there is some truth to that, right? I mean, I just read a book about the Mennonites coming out on top after society falls, so maybe the Mormons would be well positioned to survive due to the nature of their community. I'm just not interested in finding out how it happens.
Mormonism is about a half a step away from Scientology, in my view. Don't get me wrong: I have known several Mormons throughout my life, and they have invariably been kind, good people who value family and are excellent friends and neighbors. But their beliefs are...out there. Let's just leave it at that.
So no Mormpocalypse for me.
Mormonism is about a half a step away from Scientology, in my view. Don't get me wrong: I have known several Mormons throughout my life, and they have invariably been kind, good people who value family and are excellent friends and neighbors. But their beliefs are...out there. Let's just leave it at that.
So no Mormpocalypse for me.
January 14, 2009
I decided to start reading all of OSC's lesser known books after I fell in love with a kid named Andrew Wiggin. I would love to LOVE this book. I did enjoy some of the characters, they gave off a very good "real" feel. I could imagine myself having to deal with some of those issues had this happened.
I almost wonder if it needed to be a little longer, give it more time to go in depth on characters and events that led up to the war. But, alas, the story isn't so much about why or how it happened. It's about what happens afterward.
Fun story, good characters but it was lacking something for me.
I almost wonder if it needed to be a little longer, give it more time to go in depth on characters and events that led up to the war. But, alas, the story isn't so much about why or how it happened. It's about what happens afterward.
Fun story, good characters but it was lacking something for me.
May 2, 2015
Para ser un conjunto de cuentos sobre cómo los mormones rules...no estuvo mal.
Individualmente los cuentos me parecieron perfectos, Card conservó su habilidad construyendo personajes y dotándolos de contexto y todo eso. Pero en conjunto son un poco como cinco veces lo mismo, en resumen los cuentos son: hay un no mormón( ¿les llamaba gentiles?) que se siente perdido y sin lugar en el mundo, entonces llegan los mormones y lo atraen con su hermosa vida de valores hermosos, aunque le hagan fuchi porque es un gentil y ni quién los quiera.
A pesar de todo, el libro se sostiene y no puedo decir que fuera molesto leerlo. Bien por ti Card.
Individualmente los cuentos me parecieron perfectos, Card conservó su habilidad construyendo personajes y dotándolos de contexto y todo eso. Pero en conjunto son un poco como cinco veces lo mismo, en resumen los cuentos son: hay un no mormón( ¿les llamaba gentiles?) que se siente perdido y sin lugar en el mundo, entonces llegan los mormones y lo atraen con su hermosa vida de valores hermosos, aunque le hagan fuchi porque es un gentil y ni quién los quiera.
A pesar de todo, el libro se sostiene y no puedo decir que fuera molesto leerlo. Bien por ti Card.
February 19, 2008
After reading this book again, I enjoyed it even more. The first time was when I was younger, and still saw much of the world as good or bad, black or white, clean or dirty. Some of the book disturbed me then. I even felt betrayed by Orson Scott Card! How dare he write this! It seemed nearly blasphemous. Now after having put another 10 years behind me, I really enjoyed the portrayal of people trying to be good, making mistakes, having to hang on to their faith by a thread. The whole world being turned upside down, but everyone doing their best in a very imperfect world. I loved it.
October 9, 2019
Se trata de un libro post apocalíptico que cree en la vuelta a los valores morales de una comunidad religiosa (los mormones) y de la ayuda entre sus miembros, para poder salir adelante. Consta de diferentes historias alrededor del auto perdón, de la amistad, de la necesidad de vínculos familiares, del miedo a reproducir los errores de nuestros padres... La ciencia ficción se olvida para dar paso a historias emotivas e incluso de fantasía.
Para leer la reseña completa con las influencias del escritor y las emociones que transmite cada historia:
https://www.lolamerida.com/la-gente-d...
Para leer la reseña completa con las influencias del escritor y las emociones que transmite cada historia:
https://www.lolamerida.com/la-gente-d...
April 6, 2019
La gente del margen es un fix up que recoge cinco relatos y novelas cortas de Orson Scott Card que, en conjunto, narran la historia del colapso de la sociedad tras una guerra nuclear y su resurgimiento, al menos en el continente americano.
[+] Reseña completa de "La gente del margen" en Alt+64 wiki: http://alt64.org/wiki/index.php?title...
[+] Reseña completa de "La gente del margen" en Alt+64 wiki: http://alt64.org/wiki/index.php?title...
December 8, 2018
Hay historias de 4 ⭐️... Mi favorita “El teatro ambulante”. Quizá lo más rescatable, como dice la amiga que me recomendó el libro, es que cada historia tiene esta idea de “salir adelante o ser positivo a pesar de las adversidades”. No es el típico libro de Orson Scott Card, seguro no el mejor, pero siempre rescatable.
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