By The Light Of My Father's Smile: A Story Of Requited Love, Crossing Over, And The Sexual Healin...
The Mundo are a new tribe, created by the intermingling of escaped Black slaves and native Indians in the Mexican Sierras. Ineligible for academic ...
read full description
reviews
Oct 28, 2011
elisa
rated it: 
from october 26, 2011:
rereading this book, now for at least the third time, i love it even more. there's something about it. the language, the sensuality, the otherworldliness, the honesty. i don't know if i can even name it. i just love it. i think this is a 5 star book thing time around, definitely 4.5 stars.
some other quotes, although some of the ones below i marked again this read:
"It is as if ideas are made of blocks. Rigid and hard. And stories are More...
rereading this book, now for at least the third time, i love it even more. there's something about it. the language, the sensuality, the otherworldliness, the honesty. i don't know if i can even name it. i just love it. i think this is a 5 star book thing time around, definitely 4.5 stars.
some other quotes, although some of the ones below i marked again this read:
"It is as if ideas are made of blocks. Rigid and hard. And stories are More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 01, 2009
Penelope
rated it: 
holy crap, i say!
all right. i had to let this one sit and rumble around before i can get my mind around. i'm not all the way there yet, by any means. however, i have made progress with walker's point about it being not only crucial that parents are honest with their children about sex but that it's soul important to teach them the joy of sex. even further, to give them our blessing to be loved in the way our bodies are meant to be.
i think about what our kids More...
all right. i had to let this one sit and rumble around before i can get my mind around. i'm not all the way there yet, by any means. however, i have made progress with walker's point about it being not only crucial that parents are honest with their children about sex but that it's soul important to teach them the joy of sex. even further, to give them our blessing to be loved in the way our bodies are meant to be.
i think about what our kids More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 30, 2011
Dominic
rated it:
This is one of the best books I have ever read because it is practically breathes. It is so profoundly human, and returning to it again is its own timely meditation. It speaks to me on several levels--that as a man, as a soon-to-be-father, as a lover of women and justice, as a broken heart, as a healing soul. No story I've ever read speaks more to human health than this one--sexual health, forgiveness, healing personal wounds, finding peace.
Alice Walker, who I've said before is a More...
Alice Walker, who I've said before is a More...
Jan 25, 2009
Juna
rated it:
for the longest time if you asked me my greatest fear i would say..death. so reading this book really shook me out of that and for that im really grateful. like it shows death as just another transition in life just as growing and maturing in adulthood is transition. and so you cant have one without the other. but focusing on the end makes it impossible to appreciate the journey
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Sara
rated it: 
i don't know why but i really did not like this book, which was disappointing as i usually really like walker's work. something just didn't click with me.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 12, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I have great admiration for Alice Walker----as a writer, as a humanitarian. Like many others, the title drew me but titles aren't enough to keep readers turning the pages. This unique story was compelling and honest; the characters also compelling. They had much to say and much to offer to each other and the reader. Good character development leaves one wanting more and simultaneously feeling satisfied. Odd how that works. Characters with failings and strengths, idiosyncrasies, growth and
More...
May 01, 2010
Virginia
rated it:
Delightful, unusual--I loved the structure and perspectives of the narrators. I think there are fabulous pieces of prose on nearly every page...so, I just flipped to a random page and will cite a sample here:
"At one point Manuelito mumbled something about needing a drink. I would have died for a burger and fries. But we persevered. I thought I had to find on his body those few remaining places where he could still be quickened sexually. He thought he had to battle to find my c More...
"At one point Manuelito mumbled something about needing a drink. I would have died for a burger and fries. But we persevered. I thought I had to find on his body those few remaining places where he could still be quickened sexually. He thought he had to battle to find my c More...
Nov 30, 2010
Zoë
rated it:
"By The Light of my Father’s Smile is held together by a construct that at first seems artificial initially: a father is looking down on his daughter after his own death.
She was not even aware at the time of my death that she missed me. Poor child. She did not cry at my funeral. She was a stoic spectator. Her heart, she thought, was closed. (3)
As an atheist, I found the idea of an afterlife from which the father was speaking a little disappointing. However it becomes More...
She was not even aware at the time of my death that she missed me. Poor child. She did not cry at my funeral. She was a stoic spectator. Her heart, she thought, was closed. (3)
As an atheist, I found the idea of an afterlife from which the father was speaking a little disappointing. However it becomes More...
Apr 04, 2010
Caroline Alicia
rated it:
I can't say I loved the way 'A color Purple' or 'Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart' read. However, I LOVED this book. I don't know much about Walker, but I'm guessing she is a bit of a free spirit, unrestrained by societies ideas on love and wealth.
I never expected this book to be so...liberating. In America, as well as so many other countries in the world, a woman's sexuality isn't hers. It is something commandeered by men. Men that have women gyrating in music videos. Who More...
I never expected this book to be so...liberating. In America, as well as so many other countries in the world, a woman's sexuality isn't hers. It is something commandeered by men. Men that have women gyrating in music videos. Who More...
Feb 07, 2012
Tracey
rated it:
I have been at a loss for expression regarding this book. I do not feel I can do it justice. It was with much trepidation that I began, not really certain that I would truly enjoy it, given what I read on the jacket. I was compelled and in the end rewarded. It is worth another reading. More than a hint of magic, less than a full on spiritual guide. Soup for the soul, perhaps?
I should add to this that there are sexually explicit moments which are a bit too much for this reader and I w More...
I should add to this that there are sexually explicit moments which are a bit too much for this reader and I w More...
May 28, 2011
Vasha7
rated it: 
A family story, about loving parents and children, sisters and lovers; about forgiving hurts. Written in the alternating narratives of many characters, most (all?) of them dead. Lots of lectures about spirituality, the history of oppression, how to behave at marriages, the afterlife, etc. Entirely too much lecturing, indeed, thinly disguised as dialogue. Too much of this book sounds like it should be filed in the self-help section.
Jun 09, 2011
Holland
rated it: 
Though i do love the works of Alicve Walker, her poems, her short stories, novels and other writings, this novel is hard to get through. The reason why is that i get confused time and time again by whom i am adressed as reader : the father? the daughter? her friend?..................Did I read all her other works in a few days, this one is taking me months as i only doit in a few chapters by and by.
Aug 27, 2011
Coco
rated it:
Preachy. A different writing style from the author. I suspect it was intended to sound like musing; instead, the narration was messy. All of the characters in the book seemed to be whining for their own reasons, but all but one seemed difficult to relate to. My lack of compassion for the main character made the entire book rather unreadable.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 13, 2009
Becca
rated it:
She has an amazing power to draw you into the story as if you're truly there with her descriptive form of writing. What I love most about her is that she doesn't try to impress her audience with ridiculously large vocab - just simplistic language with artfully woven sentences that does not take away from the reading experience.
Jan 01, 2010
Nadine
rated it:
LUV Alice!
Fathers relationship with daughters.
Lesbian relationship
Guides = dwarf Irene (in life)=forest people; manuelito (in death)
death realm - peaceful, questions answered
Fathers relationship with daughters.
Lesbian relationship
Guides = dwarf Irene (in life)=forest people; manuelito (in death)
death realm - peaceful, questions answered
Oct 09, 2009
Carol
rated it:
I'm usually good about remembering books I've read, but I remember absolutely nothing about this one. I guess that says more than anything else could about it.
Nov 19, 2011
Tanmayee
rated it:
Amazing lessons to learn about illusions that stem out of our intricate personalities and to be aware that pain you inflict on others is actually the biggest punishment you can ever give to yourself.
Mar 07, 2009
Karen
rated it:
This book has a few interesting ideas but overall I found it unreadable
Nov 29, 2010
Peggy
rated it:
This book was not what I expected. I didn't like the style of the writing. I didn't think much of the plot, either.
Jul 29, 2011
Megan
rated it:
The storyline is created by a dead character; it makes the book very interesting.
Mar 24, 2009
Chanita.Shannon
rated it:
highly, highly recommended. a short book, only 219 pages. i loved how it has multiple narrators and the complexity. the blurbs about it are misleading, including in goodreads and on the book jacket. don't judge whether or not you'd like it/be interested in it by that, just trust me and read this book! :)
Mar 12, 2011
Susan
rated it:
No matter how hopeful I am, lightning is not striking twice.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
