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Vida
A New York Times Notable Book, an NPR Best Debut of the Year, and a PEN/Hemingway finalist. These linked stories follow Sabina as she navigates her shifting identity as a daughter of the Colombian diaspora, and struggles to find her place within and beyond the net of her strong, protective, but embattled family. In “Lucho,” Sabina’s family—already “foreigners in a town of blancos”—is shunned by the community when a relative commits an unspeakable act of violence, but she is in turn befriended by the town bad boy, who has a secret of his own. In “Desaliento,” Sabina surrounds herself with other young drifters who spend their time looking for love and then fleeing from it—until reality catches up with one of them. And in “Vida,” the urgency of Sabina’s self-imposed exile in Miami fades when she meets an enigmatic Colombian woman with a tragic past. “Vida calls to mind some of the best fiction from recent years. Like Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, Engel uses stories about connected characters to illuminate her main subject, in this case Sabina, who moves with her family from Bogotá, Colombia, to New Jersey. Engel brings Sabina’s family and culture to life with a narrative style reminiscent of Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao . . . Vivid, memorable . . . An exceptionally promising debut.” —The Plain Dealer
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 7, 2010
66 people are currently reading
1890 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Engel
21 books995 followersPatricia Engel is the author of five books including The Faraway World; Infinite Country, a New York Times Bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick; The Veins of the Ocean, winner of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris, winner of the International Latino Book Award; and Vida, a finalist for the Pen/Hemingway and Young Lions Fiction Awards, New York Times Notable Book, and winner of Colombia’s national book award, the Premio Biblioteca de Narrativa Colombiana. She is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her stories appear in The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere. Born to Colombian parents, Patricia teaches creative writing at the University of Miami.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
May 18, 2017
Wow.... $1.99 Kindle special download today!
I own this little square paperback. It's under two hundred pages and there are 9 short stories. I read this last summer - after meeting the author ....( I was out of town when I read it - and forgot to write a review).
This is Patricia Engel's debut book. She also wrote the novel "The Veins of The Ocean"..... which I also enjoyed.
In "Vida", the stories center around Sabina, the daughter of Colombian immigrants.
The stories deal with ethnic identity, family, friends, and people in the neighborhood.
In this coming of age story. Sabina gets into some trouble with drifters who are looking for love and then run from it. She's witty, funny, and sarcastic.
She meets some interesting characters - One of them being a mysterious Colombian women with a tragic pass.
I liked the writing....( at times it felt as if somebody was talking to me)....simple interconnecting straightforward prose.... some in first person - others in third person.
The characters are wacky, and real.
Definitely worth a $1.99!!!!
I own this little square paperback. It's under two hundred pages and there are 9 short stories. I read this last summer - after meeting the author ....( I was out of town when I read it - and forgot to write a review).
This is Patricia Engel's debut book. She also wrote the novel "The Veins of The Ocean"..... which I also enjoyed.
In "Vida", the stories center around Sabina, the daughter of Colombian immigrants.
The stories deal with ethnic identity, family, friends, and people in the neighborhood.
In this coming of age story. Sabina gets into some trouble with drifters who are looking for love and then run from it. She's witty, funny, and sarcastic.
She meets some interesting characters - One of them being a mysterious Colombian women with a tragic pass.
I liked the writing....( at times it felt as if somebody was talking to me)....simple interconnecting straightforward prose.... some in first person - others in third person.
The characters are wacky, and real.
Definitely worth a $1.99!!!!
February 21, 2024
“I lay in the darkness, the song of Bogotá humming several stories below the window.”
Patricia Engel's debut work, Vida, bears the unmistakable hallmarks of a debut. The prose occasionally succumbs to flowery metaphors, offers an excess of syrupy truisms, and strains to project an air of coolness, even edginess (“I told you, “If I could, I would reach into my chest, rip out my heart, and hand it to you.” You just stared back at me with your gypsy eyes”...gesù).
Nevertheless, the end result is surprisingly endearing. There is an earnestness to Engel's storytelling, a vulnerability, that is refreshing. While Engel subsquent publications certainly show her growth as an author, this first effort feels special.
The collection of nine short stories revolves around Sabina, the daughter of Colombian parents growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey. Each chapter functions as a self-contained narrative, capturing distinct phases or moments in Sabina's life. While not presented chronologically, the stories maintain a fairly linear progression. In the opening story, 'Lucho,' teenage Sabina becomes a persona non grata in her predominantly white neighborhood after her uncle's murder conviction. The tale unfolds as she forms an unexpected friendship with Lucho, a slightly older boy with a 'bad boy' reputation. 'Lucho' stands out as a five-star read, with Engel's understated prose skillfully conveying Sabina's teenage ennui, her sense of otherness, and her growing, confusing, attraction to Lucho.
However, other stories in the collection fall short of this impact. Two appear as writing exercises, prioritizing style over substance—one narrated in the second person, and another where Sabina refers to her current lover as 'you.' As Sabina moves from city to city, from lover to lover, her various boyfriends and partners blur together, lacking distinct personalities. I found myself wanting to learn more about Sabina's family, especially her parents. Sadly, only the first and final stories in Vida seem to feature them.
Despite these shortcomings, Engel's style, characterized by wry humor and a simultaneously muted yet touching tone, is appealing. Even in the less memorable stories, there are moments that resonate, often stemming from Sabina's introspections or conversations with others. Engel successfully incorporates diverse topics throughout the collection, dedicating entire chapters to events or themes such as eating disorders, domestic abuse, and 9/11. Her empathetic treatment of characters and their experiences, further adds depth to the narrative.
Readers who appreciated Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta are likely to find a similar appeal in Engel's work. I could also see Vida work for fans of Elisa Shua Dusapin or those seeking a dose of Y2K nostalgia
February 20, 2023
More stories from a single narrator than a novel in stories, this was immediately absorbing. I haven't been able to get through a story collection in a long time, something about my pandemic-induced reading habits, but reading this was just like breathing.
Continually in these stories, Sabina is surrounded by suffering, pain, struggle. Most of them are not really about Sabina at all but someone close to her, someone who made an impact on her. She observes, she desires, she feels guilty, but she rarely acts. She does not help, often cannot help, and is barely able to keep herself out of her own messes. But nothing about this felt like meaningless meandering.
Continually in these stories, Sabina is surrounded by suffering, pain, struggle. Most of them are not really about Sabina at all but someone close to her, someone who made an impact on her. She observes, she desires, she feels guilty, but she rarely acts. She does not help, often cannot help, and is barely able to keep herself out of her own messes. But nothing about this felt like meaningless meandering.
July 24, 2012
I finished this book in one day, not because I had to for class, but because I couldn’t stop reading it. There is something so powerful about this girl. She’s snarky, she’s depressed, she’s desperate, she’s faithful, she’s impressionable. She’s every girl that’s ever lived. She makes terrible choices and deals with them the way most people do- she makes the same choice again.
Someone in my class said it was “depressing”. I call it human. I call it the voice of a generation that’s lost and at the mercy of (as my professor so brilliantly called it) the tyranny of intimacy. It’s all anyone is looking for anymore. Forget self-awareness or individuality, everyone is looking for someone else they can rely on. That may be depressing, but that’s life in 21st century America.
The book is also so strong because each story doesn’t just a story about love, it tells a story about love while struggling with your cultural identity. It makes Sabina’s search for love more desperate, because how can you love someone else when you don’t know how to love yourself? It’s haunting and cuts into the minority experience so deeply I found myself crying for no apparent reason throughout most of the book. I’m not even Latina, but her struggles with being Latina spoke to me as a black woman in a way I can’t describe.
The writing is brilliant, moving and honest and brutal without losing any of its poetry. It speaks to a generation of lost souls with an honesty and reality that’s been lost in the paranormal romance craze.
Someone in my class said it was “depressing”. I call it human. I call it the voice of a generation that’s lost and at the mercy of (as my professor so brilliantly called it) the tyranny of intimacy. It’s all anyone is looking for anymore. Forget self-awareness or individuality, everyone is looking for someone else they can rely on. That may be depressing, but that’s life in 21st century America.
The book is also so strong because each story doesn’t just a story about love, it tells a story about love while struggling with your cultural identity. It makes Sabina’s search for love more desperate, because how can you love someone else when you don’t know how to love yourself? It’s haunting and cuts into the minority experience so deeply I found myself crying for no apparent reason throughout most of the book. I’m not even Latina, but her struggles with being Latina spoke to me as a black woman in a way I can’t describe.
The writing is brilliant, moving and honest and brutal without losing any of its poetry. It speaks to a generation of lost souls with an honesty and reality that’s been lost in the paranormal romance craze.
June 21, 2022
Η Ένχελ δεν κρύβει τις συγγραφικές της προθέσεις - από την 1η ιστορία, δείχνει διατεθειμένη να πραγματευτεί με τον πιο, ίσως, ευθύ, σαρκαστικό και σκληρό τρόπο τα σύγχρονα προβλήματα διαβίωσης και μετανάστευσης των Λατινογενών συμπατριωτών της στην Αμερική, τα οποία διαποτίζει και με έντονο μαύρο χιούμορ.
Υπάρχει, όμως, μεγάλη ομοιότητα στις ιστορίες, αρκετά στοιχεία που επαναλαμβάνονται, και κανένα στοιχείο μέτρου στην περιγραφή της καθημερινής παρακμιακής ζωής των ηρώων. Οι τελευταίες ιστορίες φέρνουν κάποια 'ισορροπία' και 'σώζουν τα προσχήματα', ωστόσο δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να μην μείνει η αίσθηση του 'παρωχημένου' και της επιτηδευμένης υπερβολής στο τέλος της ανάγνωσης.
Πολύ καλή η πρόθεση της Ένχελ, αφού βραβεύτηκε η συγκεκριμένη συλλογή ιστοριών με δομικά στοιχεία ημερολογίου και νουβέλας, αλλά 'προδίδεται' από την έντονη συναισθηματική υπερχείλιση της συγγραφέα.
Βαθμολογία: 3,2/5 ή 6,4/10.
Υπάρχει, όμως, μεγάλη ομοιότητα στις ιστορίες, αρκετά στοιχεία που επαναλαμβάνονται, και κανένα στοιχείο μέτρου στην περιγραφή της καθημερινής παρακμιακής ζωής των ηρώων. Οι τελευταίες ιστορίες φέρνουν κάποια 'ισορροπία' και 'σώζουν τα προσχήματα', ωστόσο δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση να μην μείνει η αίσθηση του 'παρωχημένου' και της επιτηδευμένης υπερβολής στο τέλος της ανάγνωσης.
Πολύ καλή η πρόθεση της Ένχελ, αφού βραβεύτηκε η συγκεκριμένη συλλογή ιστοριών με δομικά στοιχεία ημερολογίου και νουβέλας, αλλά 'προδίδεται' από την έντονη συναισθηματική υπερχείλιση της συγγραφέα.
Βαθμολογία: 3,2/5 ή 6,4/10.
June 19, 2017
Lo familiar y lo extraño
Cuando la temática de un libro está atravesada por cierta relevancia contextual, ya sea el testimonio de la segunda gran guerra o la problemática de la identidad migrante en norteamérica, existe el riesgo de contaminar la lectura con el exotismo, con el afán de juzgar la calidad literaria en aras de la denuncia o la importancia política del relato.
Así, ese spanglish del que se envanecen ciertas obras contemporáneas o la deliberada calificación de algunos libros como el espacio donde por fin los mudos cobran voz, se convierten en dudosos atributos frente al que, considero, debiese ser el principal fin de toda obra de arte: perseguir lo universalmente humano (que puede, por supuesto, estar en la diferencia) y hacerlo en un marco estético donde se persiga, sea cual sea la definición que de ella se tenga, la belleza.
Temía que Vida hubiese merecido los elogios de la crítica y un reciente premio en mi país debido a esas características, puede respirar sin miedo después del primer cuento. Patricia Engel no evita los temas de la inmigración, la nostalgia del país natal, la identidad mixta de los latinos en Estados Unidos o la discriminación provocada por el acento o el color de la piel, pero no depende narrativamente de ellos.
Sus cuentos son, en la mejor tradición de Munro, una paradoja entre lo familiar y lo extraño, donde tras cada pequeña anécdota puede sentirse latir, pausado y melancólico, el corazón de la tristeza, la búsqueda, el infinito duelo de lo humano.
En ese sentido, la esferas del amor y la muerte confluyen en "Lucho", el primer relato, y marcan la pauta reiterativa del ritmo en todos los demás. Siempre se estará hablando del amor y la muerte, de la figura taciturna de un destino inevitable cuya forma es el azar, de los aprendizajes de Sabina, personaje y narradora de todos los cuentos, y la inexorable complejización del mundo de la infancia, cada vez más lleno de vacíos, de lenguajes incomprensibles, de puntos de vista, y de belleza.
Sobre todo de belleza. Belleza en la nostalgia de una madre anhelando una tierra que la rechaza en "Madre patria", o del ejercicio de la amistad en "Refugio", "Desconsuelo" o "Vida". Belleza en el recuerdo, siempre, y en el infinito laberinto de sentimientos y anhelos que, desde Shakespeare, nos obliga a gritar entre sollozos que somos títeres del destino.
Mi cuento preferido ha sido "Lucho", me garantizó una buena entrada a la selección. Debido a la reiteración en el personaje narrador y en el tono, Vida se puede leer con velocidad de novela. Hay dos historias de amor, bien ejecutadas, eso habla bien de cualquier narrador.
Sea esta, pues, una invitación, espero poder encontrar otros textos de Engel y espero que se la siga traduciendo. Sé de una novela con la bandera colombiana en la portada, que la sociedad del espectáculo juegue a nuestro favor y baste ese detalle para tenerla pronto en las librerías del país.
Cuando la temática de un libro está atravesada por cierta relevancia contextual, ya sea el testimonio de la segunda gran guerra o la problemática de la identidad migrante en norteamérica, existe el riesgo de contaminar la lectura con el exotismo, con el afán de juzgar la calidad literaria en aras de la denuncia o la importancia política del relato.
Así, ese spanglish del que se envanecen ciertas obras contemporáneas o la deliberada calificación de algunos libros como el espacio donde por fin los mudos cobran voz, se convierten en dudosos atributos frente al que, considero, debiese ser el principal fin de toda obra de arte: perseguir lo universalmente humano (que puede, por supuesto, estar en la diferencia) y hacerlo en un marco estético donde se persiga, sea cual sea la definición que de ella se tenga, la belleza.
Temía que Vida hubiese merecido los elogios de la crítica y un reciente premio en mi país debido a esas características, puede respirar sin miedo después del primer cuento. Patricia Engel no evita los temas de la inmigración, la nostalgia del país natal, la identidad mixta de los latinos en Estados Unidos o la discriminación provocada por el acento o el color de la piel, pero no depende narrativamente de ellos.
Sus cuentos son, en la mejor tradición de Munro, una paradoja entre lo familiar y lo extraño, donde tras cada pequeña anécdota puede sentirse latir, pausado y melancólico, el corazón de la tristeza, la búsqueda, el infinito duelo de lo humano.
En ese sentido, la esferas del amor y la muerte confluyen en "Lucho", el primer relato, y marcan la pauta reiterativa del ritmo en todos los demás. Siempre se estará hablando del amor y la muerte, de la figura taciturna de un destino inevitable cuya forma es el azar, de los aprendizajes de Sabina, personaje y narradora de todos los cuentos, y la inexorable complejización del mundo de la infancia, cada vez más lleno de vacíos, de lenguajes incomprensibles, de puntos de vista, y de belleza.
Sobre todo de belleza. Belleza en la nostalgia de una madre anhelando una tierra que la rechaza en "Madre patria", o del ejercicio de la amistad en "Refugio", "Desconsuelo" o "Vida". Belleza en el recuerdo, siempre, y en el infinito laberinto de sentimientos y anhelos que, desde Shakespeare, nos obliga a gritar entre sollozos que somos títeres del destino.
Mi cuento preferido ha sido "Lucho", me garantizó una buena entrada a la selección. Debido a la reiteración en el personaje narrador y en el tono, Vida se puede leer con velocidad de novela. Hay dos historias de amor, bien ejecutadas, eso habla bien de cualquier narrador.
Sea esta, pues, una invitación, espero poder encontrar otros textos de Engel y espero que se la siga traduciendo. Sé de una novela con la bandera colombiana en la portada, que la sociedad del espectáculo juegue a nuestro favor y baste ese detalle para tenerla pronto en las librerías del país.
April 16, 2020
Ένα σύντομο αλλά υπέροχο βιβλιο με ιστορίες που σε ταξιδεύουν στη ζωή και στα προβλήματα των λατινων μεταναστών της Αμερικής. Κάθε ιστορία είναι και ένα ψυχογραφημα των χαρακτήρων ! Το διάβασα σε μια μέρα ,όχι επειδή ήταν σύντομο αλλά επειδή μου άρεσε τόσο πολύ και δεν ήθελα να το αφήσω!
April 5, 2021
I really love reading interlinked short stories, and I'm a sucker for a deckle edge book. I also enjoy migrant stories and latino fiction so Vida was right up in my book sweet spot and it totally delivered.
The nine stories are snapshots of certain moments in Sabina's life and they capture different phases of her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood as she goes with the flow and learns about herself as she half-heartedly finds her way. Sabina lacked sufficient drive or ambition for me to like her much, but I was transfixed and wanted to keep reading more.
I note that all nine stories had been published previously in other publications. I would have liked to see at least one story written just for this collection.
It was good to see the inclusion of discussion questions at the end for book clubs.
The nine stories are snapshots of certain moments in Sabina's life and they capture different phases of her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood as she goes with the flow and learns about herself as she half-heartedly finds her way. Sabina lacked sufficient drive or ambition for me to like her much, but I was transfixed and wanted to keep reading more.
I note that all nine stories had been published previously in other publications. I would have liked to see at least one story written just for this collection.
It was good to see the inclusion of discussion questions at the end for book clubs.
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December 5, 2010I was pretty hopeful when i picked this up, but the reviews are overly generous. i find little that can be called edgy in this collection/narrative. many bad things happen to people surrounding sabina, but not to her diretly. and there's no recognition of this, and so these events feel like a construct. engel skims the surface here, which can be slightly interesting but ultimately leaves me disappointed. to talk about one's sexual wanderings, openly admit disgust and lack of empathy for her sick friend (because she was wronged Sabina), and repeatedly recount being the object of desire for all sorts of men, though apparently bold, is really just indulgent. is it courageous to reveal one's selfishness? i'm supposed to devise who the narrator is through these stories. even if this is a worthy exercise, the narrator is basically an overpriveleged, insensitive girl who puts more stock in sex as a means for discovering her identity than looking at herself. if engel could move beyond narrating the disappointment of the lovers explore what Sabina is really looking for, then the sex and the other disastrous events wouldn't feel like a devise. I like understated-a lot, but perhaps i'm missing something. i wish i could agree with kakutani. despite my negativity, i should confess that i read in a day.
April 6, 2011
Wish I could have given this 1.5 stars. It wasn't terrible, but I didn't enjoy it. The stories jump around in time, so there is no plot that unravels over the course of the main character's life. Yet the content of the stories is remarkably similar: death and destruction among her family and friends, and loser boyfriends/missed romantic opportunities among the narrator herself. I will be donating this book to the used bookstore.
April 24, 2019
this was an interesting short story collection, the main character is the same in all the stories but it shifts to different times in her life, and a new story from that period
June 23, 2017
This was pretty good. I will definitely recommend to my homies. The author has a very simple writing style but it's effective. This kind of read like YA fiction to me sometimes, but it's cool.
It's short, so bonus points for that. I kind of wish I had picked this for my ladies' book club, because we would have had a lot of fun discussing it... maybe I will pick one of her other novels?
I think it's funny how sometimes I like to read books that put me into an entirely different world, but it's also good to read things that make you nod your head at the familiarity. This definitely happened to me a LOT while reading this book -- I liked the character's description of cold Bogota apartments, and lying under so many layers of heavy blankets that she felt like she "was being smuggled." I was like OMG LOL that's exactly what it feels like!! There's lots of those really fun moments of recognition in the book. I could make a giant list of them.
This felt like a very simple read but the characters were strong and every story felt like it had an emotionally satisfying ending. There was a Junot Diaz blurb on the cover, and I definitely got a Junot Diaz vibe from Engel's writing style. I think my favorite story was "Paloma" -- man, those old Colombian ladies just make so emotional!
My final observation: I think I am just not a big fan of short stories anymore because I did find it a bit tiresome to be introduced to an entirely new situation and new characters with every chapter (no shade!).
It's short, so bonus points for that. I kind of wish I had picked this for my ladies' book club, because we would have had a lot of fun discussing it... maybe I will pick one of her other novels?
I think it's funny how sometimes I like to read books that put me into an entirely different world, but it's also good to read things that make you nod your head at the familiarity. This definitely happened to me a LOT while reading this book -- I liked the character's description of cold Bogota apartments, and lying under so many layers of heavy blankets that she felt like she "was being smuggled." I was like OMG LOL that's exactly what it feels like!! There's lots of those really fun moments of recognition in the book. I could make a giant list of them.
This felt like a very simple read but the characters were strong and every story felt like it had an emotionally satisfying ending. There was a Junot Diaz blurb on the cover, and I definitely got a Junot Diaz vibe from Engel's writing style. I think my favorite story was "Paloma" -- man, those old Colombian ladies just make so emotional!
My final observation: I think I am just not a big fan of short stories anymore because I did find it a bit tiresome to be introduced to an entirely new situation and new characters with every chapter (no shade!).
June 29, 2017
This is a book I got out of the library because it sounded intriguing and then I sort of dipped into it in the middle because I was running out of time to read it and kind of hoped it wouldn't really catch me. But it did. It caught me and I ended up reading the whole thing. It's a collection of short stories that I guess are connected, but each stands alone and in fact I read them out of order and it didn't affect my enjoyment. There's a lovely balance of humor and pathos. It also read as autobiographical, but I don't know if that's true or just a sign of very believable fiction writing. The author needs to chill on splitting things wide open, definitely her favorite turn of phrase, but a good editor would have caught that. I'd still say she's an exciting new voice and I look forward to reading more.
February 28, 2018
Heart-breakingly beautiful, this debut novel by Patricia Engel avoids all the cliches while exploring the struggles and crises of the coming-of-age experience of a first-gen Colombian-American woman.
February 4, 2020
Έχεις δει τον εαυτό σου σε βιβλίο;
Σε βιβλίο που έγραψε μια Κολομβιανή που μεγάλωσε στο Μαϊάμι;
Πόσο παράξενο είναι αυτό;
Πόσο ίδιοι είμαστε τελικά οι άνθρωποι;
Σε βιβλίο που έγραψε μια Κολομβιανή που μεγάλωσε στο Μαϊάμι;
Πόσο παράξενο είναι αυτό;
Πόσο ίδιοι είμαστε τελικά οι άνθρωποι;
December 19, 2022
Very tasty debut novel. Reads like autobiographical short stories. Poetic but very clear and concise. I would pass this copy to a friend.
March 20, 2018
a page turner. simple and to the point.. weirdly enough, I relate! maybe because I've lived in America for a few years and I feel it's my home.
July 1, 2011
I loved this book!!! Big thanks to the woman working in Malaprops - another wonderful book store - in Asheville NC who had just finished it and gave it to us as we were checking out, saying we had to read it. Later I kept seeing it in different best books of the year lists yet still didn't get around to reading it despite its relatively short length.
Now having finished it, all I can say is WOW, why did I wait so long! It's definitely one of the best I've read or will read this year! It reminds me of Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. The stories are different, but both works are small collections of short stories that do an amazing job of conveying universal feelings through interesting characters and rich textured stories.
You must get this book and read it! I'll be keeping a look out for whatever Engel does next. She's definitely a great young writer!
Now having finished it, all I can say is WOW, why did I wait so long! It's definitely one of the best I've read or will read this year! It reminds me of Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. The stories are different, but both works are small collections of short stories that do an amazing job of conveying universal feelings through interesting characters and rich textured stories.
You must get this book and read it! I'll be keeping a look out for whatever Engel does next. She's definitely a great young writer!
July 3, 2013
An amazingly powerful book, easy to read because of Engel's terrific, gripping prose. While I didn't want it to end, the brevity is spot-on. This isn't so much a novel as a series of short stories about the same character. I can see the comparisons to Diaz, and his presence in her writing is unmistakable, but to call her a copycat or a rip-off is narrow-sighted and dismissive. Sabina is no Yunior. Engel's writing, while fresh and snappy like Diaz's and Latin@-American focused, sort of stops with the similarities there. I love both writers, but spending too much time griping over the resemblance is pointless because she's carving a different literary identity for herself with Vida. I can't wait to read more of Engel's work.
January 20, 2012
An entertaining book based around coming of age and cultural identity. While technically a series of short stories, the book focuses on one girl, Sabina, and the number of people who shape her as she grows up. The fact that these stories are not told chronologically, and that the style of writing changes through each chapter, only works to add more charm to the book and gives depth to the character of the girl.
July 20, 2014
This year is the first time I've really given short stories a chance. While this isn't my favorite collection, the author, Patricia Engel, writes beautifully. Sabina, who is the protagonist for all of the stories, is a real girl. She doesn't bulls**t, which is probably what I liked most about her. As someone else commented these stories are all example of how things work out in this life. Overall a great purchase and read.
Favorites from the book:
Vida
Paloma
Refuge
Green
Favorites from the book:
Vida
Paloma
Refuge
Green
December 29, 2021
cw / sexual assault, racism, misogyny
it was a time! the overall narrative was interesting, but it meanders a bit, and, similarly to the characters, you don’t get a lot of time to process the traumatic events in the story. the non-linear plot was an enjoyable aspect as we see sabina through all different developmental stages in life which helps the reader contextualize the various events that occur.
it was a time! the overall narrative was interesting, but it meanders a bit, and, similarly to the characters, you don’t get a lot of time to process the traumatic events in the story. the non-linear plot was an enjoyable aspect as we see sabina through all different developmental stages in life which helps the reader contextualize the various events that occur.
September 28, 2011
My biggest complaint about this book: too quick of a read!
Otherwise, I truly enjoyed reading the interrelated short stories about our heroine, written fluidly and seamlessly. I loved the layout that had the character all over the map (literally and figuratively), and I was certainly affected reading the powerful stories that snagged my emotional commitment to them right from the start.
Otherwise, I truly enjoyed reading the interrelated short stories about our heroine, written fluidly and seamlessly. I loved the layout that had the character all over the map (literally and figuratively), and I was certainly affected reading the powerful stories that snagged my emotional commitment to them right from the start.
June 9, 2017
This quick read is a series of vignettes about a young girl/woman of Colombian descent, some of the people and experiences that help shape her and her struggle to find her identity and voice when caught between worlds. I like the writing, direct yet lyrical. While I read it quickly, I suspect a more careful or thoughtful reader could tease much more out of this book than I did.
March 13, 2012
I loved this book. I can't remember the last time I read such an honest, unpretentious coming of age story. I really identified with the narrator and found so much of this book relatable to my immigrant upbringing. I can't wait to read more of Ms. Engel's work.
August 22, 2017
The reoccurring character in Vida, Sabina, is a Colombian-American girl whose coming-of-age story is somewhat strung together in nine chapters that revolve around her relationships with men and relationship to her parents. The epigraph is a line from Grenier's Islands: "In each life, particularly at its dawn, there exists an instant which determines everything." I think these words work well for the novel because so much of what we know about Sabina is in consequence of her relationships to others. The particular moment that changes everything for Sabina, I think, is Lucho's death (the boy who in her teenage years saw her when she felt invisible).
I felt that I finished the novel reading about Sabina, but not really knowing what ultimately defined her. Sabina seems to float through life without fully investing herself into anything or anyone, which is not surprising given that she refers to herself as "invisible." The line that is most telling of Sabina is: "I'm not that charitable. Nothing in me said I should help Vida...I just wanted to drink her up like everyone else." If we learn anything about Sabina, it's that she's honest. Sabina is both pained ("dolor ajena") and apathetic; detached and lost in her experiences; strong and powerless. Some themes that dominate the vignettes are death, depression, sexuality, and fragmentation of one's identity, as well as the body.
What I enjoyed most about the novel was the author's ability to capture a genuine voice--a character you feel you've always known and probably at some point in time did meet her. There's no pretentiousness (or pride) to be found in Sabina, and other's characters' pretentiousness slides off her like butter on a plate, never penetrating the center of who she is ("We're in his flashy car. A total midlife-crisis car. He's forty, rich, and single, so he drives a bullet-colored Ferrari...It's such a stupid car...I feel guilty riding in his car, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't love him."). She's a rich girl (often around rich men) who likes to act as if she's poor.
The same way that other characters cannot move Sabina to emotion, the novel cannot move the reader to emotion; I don't think it's meant to. The noncommittal nature of the novel is both its success and tragedy. We know Sabina has experienced a lot of betrayal and deaths, and I suspect that she ("the character") does not "want" to give readers the satisfaction of more emotion.
While the writing is carefully crafted, Vida didn't leave me wanting more of the ennui that is Sabina and the cruel men in her life.
I felt that I finished the novel reading about Sabina, but not really knowing what ultimately defined her. Sabina seems to float through life without fully investing herself into anything or anyone, which is not surprising given that she refers to herself as "invisible." The line that is most telling of Sabina is: "I'm not that charitable. Nothing in me said I should help Vida...I just wanted to drink her up like everyone else." If we learn anything about Sabina, it's that she's honest. Sabina is both pained ("dolor ajena") and apathetic; detached and lost in her experiences; strong and powerless. Some themes that dominate the vignettes are death, depression, sexuality, and fragmentation of one's identity, as well as the body.
What I enjoyed most about the novel was the author's ability to capture a genuine voice--a character you feel you've always known and probably at some point in time did meet her. There's no pretentiousness (or pride) to be found in Sabina, and other's characters' pretentiousness slides off her like butter on a plate, never penetrating the center of who she is ("We're in his flashy car. A total midlife-crisis car. He's forty, rich, and single, so he drives a bullet-colored Ferrari...It's such a stupid car...I feel guilty riding in his car, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I don't love him."). She's a rich girl (often around rich men) who likes to act as if she's poor.
The same way that other characters cannot move Sabina to emotion, the novel cannot move the reader to emotion; I don't think it's meant to. The noncommittal nature of the novel is both its success and tragedy. We know Sabina has experienced a lot of betrayal and deaths, and I suspect that she ("the character") does not "want" to give readers the satisfaction of more emotion.
While the writing is carefully crafted, Vida didn't leave me wanting more of the ennui that is Sabina and the cruel men in her life.
June 25, 2024
One of the things I admire most about this book is Engel's decision to not translate her inclusion of Spanish. This made me reflect on Anzaldúa's use of Spanish in the same way or Red Shirt's choice to *always* translate Lakota, even after a definition had been given.
Where Red Shirt's narrative began to feel bogged down as the translations were repeated throughout the book, Engel does an excellent job at keeping the center plot moving without rushing through important details or character development.
The book is organized in primarily in chronological order following the protagonist, Sabina, as she navigates growing into herself through a variety of romantic, platonic, and familial relationships. The last story is the only standout as not being chronological, though it mirrors the first story, "Lucho" in a lot of ways: Sabina forms relationships with people that no one else wants to deal with outside of the person's romantic capabilities/availability until meeting an unfortunate and untimely end of their current existence in a motor accident.
The setup for the structure is very similar to Cisneros' "House on Mango Street" as there are many stories where the central character is not Sabina, but the person she's forming a bond with (most notably in the titular story/chapter "Vida" but also in the first story "Lucho" is when this stands out most to me in memory). The result of this is a touchstone (Sabina) for the reader as they see what being an immigrant or first-generation American can mean for someone's existence/survival.
The book seems to exist in a liminal space. Sabina never really figures out who she is or where she belongs (a theme most explored in the final story as she returns to Columbia and receives criticism paralleling the bullying she received growing up in the U.S.). Sabina exists in the in-between in her relationships, her geographical location (bouncing between NYC, Jersey, and Miami most frequently), and most of all, her identity. Though I followed this character and her relationships for the 179 pages that make up this book, I came away knowing very little about Sabina specifically. I mostly remember how the setting and other characters impacted her and revealed hidden truths (a call-back to "Lucho" where she references peeling Lucho's onion while getting to know each other). It's this disconnect from the protagonist (also seen in Cisnero's book) that lends itself more to a collection of stories than a novel. Just as I cannot remember anything about the protagonist of "Mango Street" I doubt I will remember anything about Sabina in a few weeks.
Where Red Shirt's narrative began to feel bogged down as the translations were repeated throughout the book, Engel does an excellent job at keeping the center plot moving without rushing through important details or character development.
The book is organized in primarily in chronological order following the protagonist, Sabina, as she navigates growing into herself through a variety of romantic, platonic, and familial relationships. The last story is the only standout as not being chronological, though it mirrors the first story, "Lucho" in a lot of ways: Sabina forms relationships with people that no one else wants to deal with outside of the person's romantic capabilities/availability until meeting an unfortunate and untimely end of their current existence in a motor accident.
The setup for the structure is very similar to Cisneros' "House on Mango Street" as there are many stories where the central character is not Sabina, but the person she's forming a bond with (most notably in the titular story/chapter "Vida" but also in the first story "Lucho" is when this stands out most to me in memory). The result of this is a touchstone (Sabina) for the reader as they see what being an immigrant or first-generation American can mean for someone's existence/survival.
The book seems to exist in a liminal space. Sabina never really figures out who she is or where she belongs (a theme most explored in the final story as she returns to Columbia and receives criticism paralleling the bullying she received growing up in the U.S.). Sabina exists in the in-between in her relationships, her geographical location (bouncing between NYC, Jersey, and Miami most frequently), and most of all, her identity. Though I followed this character and her relationships for the 179 pages that make up this book, I came away knowing very little about Sabina specifically. I mostly remember how the setting and other characters impacted her and revealed hidden truths (a call-back to "Lucho" where she references peeling Lucho's onion while getting to know each other). It's this disconnect from the protagonist (also seen in Cisnero's book) that lends itself more to a collection of stories than a novel. Just as I cannot remember anything about the protagonist of "Mango Street" I doubt I will remember anything about Sabina in a few weeks.
October 12, 2021
“There is no love. Only people living life together. Tomorrow will be better.”
TW: death, violence, sexual assault, anoxeria
VIDA by Patricia Engel is a collection of nine short stories that are narrated by an older and slightly wiser Sabina, who recalls vignettes from her twenties in New York and Miami; her youth in suburbs in New Jersey; and a family vacation in Colombia when she was a child. Sabina navigates her shifting identity as a daughter of the Colombian diaspora and attempts to escape her realities by befriending other outcasts of society and falling in love with the wrong people that leaves her doubtful about love and about herself.
In “Lucho,” Sabina’s family - already “foreigners in a town of blancos” - is further shunned by the rich, white community when a relative commits murder, but she is in turn befriended by the town bad boy; in “Green,” in Sabina is uncomfortable with her body and faces an old bully that made her feel ugly; in “Desaliento,” Sabina rebels against the exception of getting married and having kids right away by refusing to commit to the Colombian men her parents set her up with by having affairs with other men.
In my favorite short story “Vida,” Sabina learns that her self-imposed exile needs to end when she meets a Colombian woman named Vida. Sabina meets her through one of her boyfriends and learns that Vida was sold into prostitution and had been held captive for many years until a bodyguard helped her escape but trapping her into a different cage. This was my favorite story because the character provided Sabina a wake up call on how to improve her own life by no longer denying what she deserves.
I enjoyed reading Sabina’s narrative because she is honest and sincere with her comments and questions and she holds herself accountable with the many choices she has made, even though she is obviously flawed. But I mean who isn’t? Sabina traverses from the physical landscapes from New Jersey to Colombia as she mentally struggles to find her identity in a world full of love and loss, guilt and redemption, and hope and disappointment.
TW: death, violence, sexual assault, anoxeria
VIDA by Patricia Engel is a collection of nine short stories that are narrated by an older and slightly wiser Sabina, who recalls vignettes from her twenties in New York and Miami; her youth in suburbs in New Jersey; and a family vacation in Colombia when she was a child. Sabina navigates her shifting identity as a daughter of the Colombian diaspora and attempts to escape her realities by befriending other outcasts of society and falling in love with the wrong people that leaves her doubtful about love and about herself.
In “Lucho,” Sabina’s family - already “foreigners in a town of blancos” - is further shunned by the rich, white community when a relative commits murder, but she is in turn befriended by the town bad boy; in “Green,” in Sabina is uncomfortable with her body and faces an old bully that made her feel ugly; in “Desaliento,” Sabina rebels against the exception of getting married and having kids right away by refusing to commit to the Colombian men her parents set her up with by having affairs with other men.
In my favorite short story “Vida,” Sabina learns that her self-imposed exile needs to end when she meets a Colombian woman named Vida. Sabina meets her through one of her boyfriends and learns that Vida was sold into prostitution and had been held captive for many years until a bodyguard helped her escape but trapping her into a different cage. This was my favorite story because the character provided Sabina a wake up call on how to improve her own life by no longer denying what she deserves.
I enjoyed reading Sabina’s narrative because she is honest and sincere with her comments and questions and she holds herself accountable with the many choices she has made, even though she is obviously flawed. But I mean who isn’t? Sabina traverses from the physical landscapes from New Jersey to Colombia as she mentally struggles to find her identity in a world full of love and loss, guilt and redemption, and hope and disappointment.
April 6, 2021
28: Vida by Patricia Engel.
I ordered this one right away after finishing Engel's new Infinite Country last week.
I am not disappointed to have picked up this title next. Engel has a way with words, and while this eleven-year-old work by her is much more flippant, in ways--say in its tropes, even--than Infinite Country is, I found that to be somewhat related to and indicative of how the immigrant experience has changed in that time as well. First, this book contains a mix of immigrants who have done amazingly well for themselves and found comfortable success in America with those who have been brought in against their will and/or are very much struggling to find their place. I should say,too, that Vida is a collection of short stories, rather than a novel like Infinite Country, so it introduces readers to many more personalities/characters/situations as well. But seemingly much of the book is presented, too, from a place and time when immigrants were appreciated/supported/valued in more ways than they have been the past five years. That difference in, I'll call it attitude toward immigrants, came through in several layers of this book.
One of Engel's many consistent talents is conveying and sharing culture, through language and customs and food addressed within. I have already researched a recipe for arepas and will be making them at some point this week! Any author who prompts additional research on my part--not to question validity of details but to learn even more due to the mentioning--has engaged me in valuable ways.
Even more Engel to come for this reader!
I ordered this one right away after finishing Engel's new Infinite Country last week.
I am not disappointed to have picked up this title next. Engel has a way with words, and while this eleven-year-old work by her is much more flippant, in ways--say in its tropes, even--than Infinite Country is, I found that to be somewhat related to and indicative of how the immigrant experience has changed in that time as well. First, this book contains a mix of immigrants who have done amazingly well for themselves and found comfortable success in America with those who have been brought in against their will and/or are very much struggling to find their place. I should say,too, that Vida is a collection of short stories, rather than a novel like Infinite Country, so it introduces readers to many more personalities/characters/situations as well. But seemingly much of the book is presented, too, from a place and time when immigrants were appreciated/supported/valued in more ways than they have been the past five years. That difference in, I'll call it attitude toward immigrants, came through in several layers of this book.
One of Engel's many consistent talents is conveying and sharing culture, through language and customs and food addressed within. I have already researched a recipe for arepas and will be making them at some point this week! Any author who prompts additional research on my part--not to question validity of details but to learn even more due to the mentioning--has engaged me in valuable ways.
Even more Engel to come for this reader!
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