El bosque que llora

by Vicki Baum

En esta la más grande novela de Vicki Baum se narra una historia que comenzó hace doscientos años en la selva brasileña: la historia del caucho, la "madera que llora".
La autora ha elegido como personajes a seres cuyos destinos han estado ligados con la industria de aquel producto. En algunos casos se trata de figuras auténticas e históricas; en otros, de personajes de ficción representativos de las gentes que amasaron sus fortunas o perdieron sus vidas en la explotación del caucho. Éste es el héroe y el villano del libro. En Pará en el siglo XVIII, en Boston en el XIX, en Inglaterra, en Viena , en la India, en Sumatra, en Akron, en Ohio, en Nueva York y en Washington, dondequiera transcurra el relato, el protagonista es siempre el caucho, moviéndose al ritmo de las vidas individuales ligadas entre sí en el tiempo y en el espacio para constituir una narración continua de impresionante verismo.

Genres: Novels

Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Vicki Baum (penname of Hedwig Baum) was born in a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria. She moved to the United States in 1932 and when her books were banned in the Third Reich in 1938, she started publishing in English. She became an American citizen in 1938 and died in Los Angeles, in 1960.

Reviews

[Khia · Rating 5 out of 5]

No other way to put this: harrowing. Some chapters are really, really brutal. Definitely recommend.

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing a reader can say about Vicki Baum and her historical fiction . . . she is thorough.

The Weeping Wood is an exhaustive compilation of the lurid history and endless greed of industry for rubber. From the discovery of Cahuchu, the horrible abuse of natives to harvest it, to the behavior of industry giants such as Goodyear, Summit, and others, to the plight of the workers in tire factories, and finally to World War II, when it became crucial to make synthetic rubber. All of the atrocities and ugliness that accompanies this history are documented in sections that take you through the years with a variety of characters from all different perspectives.

While this book is impressive for its research and woven storylines, it was a challenge to get through. I was ready for it to end. I do think it is a story worth telling, albeit a cautionary one, I do wish it had been done in a more condensed way.

[Princess78 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drvo kaučukovac za Indijance je bilo samo "drvo koje plače" dok nisu došli Bijelci i dok nije zavladala kaučukova groznica, od pomame za sirovinama nephodnim za gumene cipele, do iskorištavanja kaučukovca za izradu pneumatika, što je označilo prelazak s kočija na automobile. Kao i tržište nafte, i tržište kaučuka bilo je
nestabilno, cijene su rasle i padale, tako su i životi onih koji su ili ga mukotrpno brali ili bili vlasnici industrija ili dioničari, pa čak i tehničari u Hitlerovoj vojsci kad se već počela proizvoditi sintetska guma, doživljavali uspone i padove...

[Shan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best book I have read.