And of Clay Are We Created

by Isabel Allende

This selection is fictional, but it is based on a real event. In 1985, a volcano erupted in Colombia. The heat of the volcano melted sheets of ice, resulting in mudslides. More than 23,000 people were killed. The media focused much attention on a thirteen-year-old girl trapped in the mud. In this story, the girl is called Azucena, and her rescuer is named Rolf Carlé.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Historical Fiction, School, College, Classics, Adult

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism" tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.

Reviews

[Angela M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a powerful, heartbreaking story and if it doesn’t move you, I’m not sure what it would take. It’s a short story based on a true event, after an earthquake in Columbia in 1985. Since it’s a short story I’m not going to say more about it except that you should read it. Here’s a link to it : http://www.flippedoutteaching.com/les....

Every month in the Goodreads group, Bound Together, my friend Cathrine leads a discussion of a short story. This is the first one I participated in and I’m glad I did . Thanks, C.

[Tucker Almengor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am here from English class (and I'm sure I'm not the only one).

This short story makes me very sad. I truly don't know why all my English teachers seem to be obsessed with making me read sad stories.

I need to vent so here is my sadness in gif form:




And that's it. That's the review. I didn't particularly enjoy this story but it isn't the worst one I've ever read (for English).

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[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on the 1985 volcano in Colombia that resulted in the loss of more than 23,000 people, this short story by Isabel Allende focuses on the life of two people, one a rescuer, and one trapped by the wreckage caused by the mudslide that followed the quake.

Heartbreaking.

Link:
http://www.flippedoutteaching.com/les...

[Connie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A volcano erupted with its intense heat melting the ice and snow on the slopes. The resulting avalanche buried the villages--with more than twenty thousand inhabitants--in the mud and stones. The story is based on an actual event in Colombia in 1985.

The lover of the news reporter on the scene of the tragedy narrates the story. She is getting her information about what is occurring by watching television and seeing some unedited news films at the TV station. Reporter Rolf Carle is trying to rescue Azucena, a girl who is trapped in the mud, and they form a strong emotional connection. As he talks to the girl over several days, experiences from his youth come to the surface.

It's a dramatic story told in an interesting way. Although the lover and Rolf are hundreds of miles apart, she is separated from his experiences only by a TV screen. But Rolf will have to spend a long time processing all his emotions after the traumatic event.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts soon.
Link to storyhttp://www.flippedoutteaching.com/les...

[Lori Keeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a real event of a volcano eruption in Colombia in which the heat of the volcano caused the snow and ice to melt resulting in horrible mudslides. A little girl trapped in the mud is the focus.

In that vast cemetery where the odor of death was already attracting vultures from far away, and where the weeping of orphans and wails of the injured filled the air, the little girl obstinately clinging to life became the symbol of the tragedy.

[Lucero Ardila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isabel Allende es una genia

[Vimaroba · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know the emotional war i was getting myself into. This is based on a very real tragedy, and is served to the common audience in short story format. The real life inspiration for this story is not only heartbreaking but infuriating, and reading about it only fueled those emotions. I do think it was written very well, with a very keen eye kept on the narration in order to balance the story written and the story being told (because those are different things sometimes).

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was heartbreaking and almost made me shed a tear or two tbh.

[Marina Maidou · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a heartbreaking story about a man who tries to save a little girl from death in a volcano eruption. In fact, I am devastated because it is well written, it has the poetic realism that Allende always has, but couldn't make me feel anything else but sadness. The worst is that the Colombian girl's photo, -just before her death- which I have seen in a newspaper when I was at the same age, has haunted me for the next years. Omayra, the real girl, died because her rescuers couldn't save her, without cutting her legs, and the doctors found it more humane to let her die. For three days, she remained trapped in the mud, while a pump could take away all the water and probably could release her legs from the bricks of the roof she was trapped. Sorry, I can't feel anything symbolic, or soothing in this story. Thirty-five years after, I still feel only anger about the Colombian government who left a little girl to die, just because they didn't bring a pump in order to try saving her.
Omayra (and Azucena) aren't their death of course but, I just can't feel anything but sorrow for their horrible fate.

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is so sad and beautiful

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ugh. This was absolutely heartbreaking.

I highly recommend reading up on the tragedy that this story is based on before reading it. In 1985, a volcano erupted in Columbia and killed over 23,000 people. A 13 year old girl was trapped in the mud under her house with her aunt's lifeless arms gripping her tightly under the water. They couldn't get her out without tearing her legs off. She was trapped for 3 days while reporters surrounded her and interviewed her. A picture of her won photo of the year. She died on the third day of being trapped in the mud while the world watched and wept.

This is a fictionalized re-telling of that from the POV of a reporter and his wife. So, come prepared to be sad.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

To knock a star off for being too short would be too cruel, so five stars it gets. This short story is based on true events about the Armero tragedy of the Nevado del Ruiz volcanic eruption of 1985 which buried a nearby town in Colombia in ash and mud. The story is told through the perspective of a news anchor reporting on the story seeing her lover at the site of the tragedy trying to rescue a civilian stuck in the eruption. Despite being separated by vast kilometres, the two lovers are right by each other through the aid of the TV screen and without giving too much away it is a heartbreaking and sad story but was worth reading (despite drastically lowering my average page number per book count).

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Alas way too heartbreaking!

[Ashlyn MacNichol · Rating 5 out of 5]

so beautiful. wow.

[Liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

fuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccccck 🙃

[alina boop · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The child’s every suffering hurt me as it did him; I felt his frustration, his impotence.”

“I’m not crying for you,” Rolf Carlé smiled. “I’m crying for myself. I hurt all over.”

[Everette Rodriguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0 ⭐

This broke me but it was also so amazing

[Spudpuppy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fuckkkkkkkkkk

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!

This was just excellent! I must review this, later.

RTC.

-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1989] [16p] [Fiction] [Recommendable]
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★★★★☆ The Stories of Eva Luna. <--
★★★☆☆ El juego de Ripper.

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¡Excelente!

¡Esto fue simplemente excelente! Tengo que reseñar esto, más tarde.

RTC.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[1989] [16p] [Ficción] [Recomendable]
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[Georgina N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Για τις μέρες της καραντίνας ήταν αυτή η ιστορία!

Μετά από ένα σεισμό στην Κολομβία το 1985 εξερράγη ένα ηφαίστειο με τραγική συνέπεια το χαμό 23.000 ανθρώπων .Ένας διασώστης ανακαλύπτει ένα κοριτσάκι στα ερείπια ,τη μικρή Azucena.Θα καταφέρει να τη σώσει;

Σπαραξικάρδια και συγκινητική ιστορία. Το βρίσκω φοβερά επίκαιρο και με αφήνει με μια αισιόδοξη επίγευση. Όσο οι άνθρωποι είμαστε ενωμένοι και βοηθούμε ο ένας τον άλλον και πιστεύουμε ο ένας στον άλλον ,ακόμα κι όταν χάνονται ζωές σε φυσικές καταστροφές , πάντα θα υπάρχει ελπίδα στον ορίζοντα για όλους μας.Φτάνει να είμαστε παρόντες.

5 στα 5 φυσικά και το συστήνω σε οποιονδήποτε θέλει να συγκινηθεί μέσα σε δευτερόλεπτα.

[Unity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful display of the affect of media from the point of view of both watcher and the one experiencing it.

[Catherine Supron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely tragic. It gives light to rubbernecking disasters instead of actually helping, it informs us on how children can teach adults so much, and shows what little help governments actually provide. This is heart wrenching

[Ravi Nagavarapu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and lovely.

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assigned reading. I'd recommend listening to the audiobook while reading as it brings to life the emotion. This piece was written in 1989 and printed in English in 1991. This story is based on a true story. During the story, a young girl is trapped in a mud pit and a male reporter is by her side as she is close to death. They are both surrounded by death due to the aftermath of the volcanic eruptions but together they bring each other comfort in that they are not alone. The entire tone of this story is written in a sad, sorrowful way that is impossible to not feel emotional about when the girl succumbs to her death. “Rolf Carlé removed the life bouy, closed her eyelids, held her to his chest for a few moments, and let her go. She sank slowly, a flower in the mud.” (Allende) I think that this piece is easy to relate to because the setting of being trapped in a natural disaster is something we have all experienced in some way, whether in person or by reading about or watching it on the news we have all seen the way the earth can crumble in on us in an instant. I also think that the vivid imagery, along with the sense of emotion that is evoked by the tone is what makes this an impactful piece.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

allende is a beautiful writer and the armero tragedy & omayra sánchez is deeply moving tragic source material, but i don't know if this fictional retelling was really effective or fulfilling. i'm thinking about the tumblr post along the lines of "sometimes you want to write a poem but it's too obvious. that's already the poem right there." essentially, i think the armero tragedy is already pretty clear (thematically, poetically, literarily) and it's hard to get a clearer look at it than fourier's photograph sánchez, in which case, what does this story add?

allende's most additive choice is to go from the perspective of the wife of a reporter, which is an interesting choice but maybe not in a good way. it's a centering that i am not as interested in as — obvious poetic choice, already done in the real world & fourier's photography — that of azucena/omayra. it also leads to icky and not in a good way character conclusions of "azucena consoled rolf" and "i [wife] am jealous of azucena." so. not super comfy.

[Alekhya Bhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this story was vivid and beautifully described, but I often caught myself wondering whether it veered on melodramatic. But I did feel quite distanced from what was happening, as opposed to Mukherjee's, where we feel like we are a part of the tragedy rather than just watching it. The unfortunate truth is, during many tragedies that strike communities that are not our own, people have a harder time employing empathy, and, I think I would have felt more captured by the grief and situation had the protagonist been more directly involved. I also did not like that Rolf's issues were projected onto Azucena because it felt like both stories were used as parallels rather than fully getting fleshed out. That being said, I think to capture that much detail in such a short piece is very impactful. I also enjoyed the idea of using the tragedy of one person to explore better another's experiences. How do we explore parallels between characters, pain, and trauma, while making sure to effectively do both stories justice in a short story?

[Kristina Mlynarova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guess who read this for their literature class? This story was definitely super emotional and almost made me want to cry at the end (which is a big deal because I don't cry from works of fiction). Something about the characters being young and experiencing trauma is what gets me every time. I liked the use of metaphors and other comparisons because they allow your mind to imagine the setting so much more vividly. I was just a little confused why the author focused the story on Rolf Carle's suffering instead of Azucena's. Carle is portrayed as this amazing savior who deserves to a better life because of his past but what about her? She doesn't deserve to become a symbol of government negligence, she barely lived.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story was truly heartbreaking. It is a fictional story based on a true life event, something absolutely devastating that killed thousands of people. One of them was a little girl, the symbol of courage, a flower in a pit of mud.
Her story is worth reading about. Just expect to cry a little.

[AE · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is so good but the story was just okay. The girl was just a little too mystical so that it seemed unrealistic, and I was disappointed in the fact that the story ultimately belongs to the white reporter rather than the actual girl. The girl seems to be there to teach the reporter about the world. I also just did not care about his relationship with his girlfriend.