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jess

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White Teeth

by Zadie Smith

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2009

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jess said: " so far, i can only say that, oh my god, this book is trying soooooo hard. and that should mean something coming from me, because i am not a book snob. little hints at complexities to come, and the occasional decent metaphor or insight, keep me hangin ...more "

Aug 10, 2009 06:13PM · see review

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Esperanza Rising

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

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Sep 10, 2008 01:47PM

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The Autumn of the Patriarch

by Gabriel García Márquez

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read in July 2008

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jess said: " on the whole, the novel is impressive. i can't imagine what it took for him to write this whole thing the way that he did. most of the sentences run for ten pages, moving from one point-of-view to another without warning, from dreams to real-life (ma on the whole, the novel is impressive. i can't imagine what it took for him to write this whole thing the way that he did. most of the sentences run for ten pages, moving from one point-of-view to another without warning, from dreams to real-life (maybe?)action. at the beginning of each chapter, we are reminded that the patriarch of the novel's title is dead, but we are quickly taken back to years before his death and pushed through memories of the years leading up to his first fake and then real death. it certainly makes your head spin, and it's difficult to read less than 40 pages at a time without completely losing track of what the hell is going on.

his technique of using one event as the touchstone from which he begins each section of the book, in this one the death of the patriarch, is common for marquez, but this stream-of-consciousness style of writing is not. what makes it more intriguing is how any given sentence switches from the 1st- to the 3rd-person point-of-view, and is usually delivered by at least 3 different characters. factor in that the characters telling the story are sometimes extremely minor and therefore hard to keep track of and you become quite dizzy.

all of this said, however, the style works with the subject matter. the main character doubles as both protagonist and antagonist, and marquez does such a good job of winning the reader's sympathy for him that by the time he is filling a crate full of children with concrete in order to more easily dispose of them in the ocean, we have forgotten that he is a monster, that we hate him. the narrative style makes it clear that marquez does this on purpose. knowing what is known about him politically (he has infamously opposed numerous latin american leaders throughout history) combined with what is known about him as a deeply romantic humanitarian, all of this makes sense. his dictator is painted on one hand as horrific, maniacal, and frighteningly self-absorbed and on the other hand as troubled, insecure, and confused by his own power.

i struggled with this one, in part because it didn't do what his other books do for me. approaching it with that expectation was a bad idea, though. i usually read "100 years of solitude" every summer, and i have found marquez to be a perfect travel companion, particularly if i'm going into mexico; his stories are always dreamlike with such a strong dose of reality added to the characters and relationships that i enjoy his books the same way i enjoy a good drug experience. this story was not a comment on human relationships, however, as much as it was on the nature of leadership and the vulnerability of those being lead. all in all, i'd say it's definitely worth picking up, but be sure you've got some time to commit to digesting it properly. ...more "

Jul 26, 2008 04:13PM · see review

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