THE LEGEND OF LA LLORONA

by Rudolfo Anaya

Throughout Mexico and wherever Hispanics live, the legend of "La Llorona" has been told for generation upon generation. There are as many versions of the tale of the Wailing woman are story tellers. In this short novel by Rudolfo Anaya, the story assumes historic proportions. The author suggests that the first Llorona of the New World was Malinche, the consort of the Spanish conquistador, Cortez. In Anaya's version of the story, Malinche rises to noble and tragic stature.

Genres: Fiction

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Rudolfo Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest. It is a powerful force, full of magic and myth, integral to his writings. Anaya, however, is a native Hispanic fascinated by cultural crossings unique to the Southwest, a combination of oldSpain and New Spain, of Mexico with Mesoamerica and the anglicizing forces of the twentieth century. Rudolfo Anaya is widely acclaimed as the founder of modern Chicano literature. According to the New York Times, he is the most widely read author in Hispanic communities, and sales of his classic Bless Me, Ultima (1972) have surpassed 360,000, despite the fact that none of his books have been published originally by New York publishing houses. His works are standard texts in Chicano studies and literature courses around the world, and he has done more than perhaps any other single person to promote publication of books by Hispanic authors in this country. With the publication of his novel, Albuquerque (1992),Newsweek has proclaimed him a front-runner in "what is better called not the new multicultural writing, but the new American writing." His most recent volume, published in 1995, is Zia Summer.

"I've always used the technique of the cuento. I am an oral storyteller, but now I do it on the printed page. I think if we were very wise we would use that same tradition in video cassettes, in movies, and on radio."

from
http://www.unm.edu/~wrtgsw/anaya.html
and
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_reso...

Reviews

[Gloo The third · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really strange but tragic story. I heard a tamer version of it in Spanish class but I definitely wasn't prepared for the ending...

[James Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick and enjoyable read for me especially since I read Conquistador last year. Cortes is such an interesting character and the legend of La Llorona as Malinche really linked two interesting stories together although we know she only gave birth to one son of Cortes’.

[Sebastian Altman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like three and a quarter stars. Take of a woman living in the ancient Aztec world and what unfolds when white settlers come: murder, disease, some other not nice stuff. Kind of predictable and a short story turned into a slightly nicer prettier longer version.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very short novella about the legend of La Llorana. On the whole this was good, it was interesting, but this all needed some more space. More room to breathe and the story better fleshed out.

[Dominic Sedillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve never heard this version of the story. It’s not scary like the yarn I heard as a kid; this was very tragic. I loved it. I recommend.

[Gsandoval2 sandoval · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cultural. Old school hispanic. I loved the story's; some were actually handed down from my grandparents before I read this book.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haunting and beautiful. The kind of tale that stays with you.