Throughout his career, Eduardo Galeano has turned our understanding of history and reality on its head. Isabelle Allende said his works s fears, an...
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Jul 05, 2009
Heather
rated it: 
I read Galeano's Memory of Fire trilogy in college, and it's always stayed with me, so I'm very excited to read this.
I didn't get to finish this (14 day book again) But what I read was excellent. Galeano focuses on the poor, women and all of those that history tends to forget in short, beautiful little vignettes.
I didn't get to finish this (14 day book again) But what I read was excellent. Galeano focuses on the poor, women and all of those that history tends to forget in short, beautiful little vignettes.
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Jul 28, 2011
Ilya
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Eduardo Galeano is one of Uruguay's best known writers; his moment of fame in the United States came when Hugo Chávez presented Barack Obama with a copy of Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America at the Summit of the Americas; when a military junta ruled the writer's native country, it imprisoned him and banned his book. This book is a collection of some 600 mini-essays, most a few paragraphs long: a history of the humanity with a focus on the oppression of the poor by the rich, of the working cla
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May 16, 2010
Brad
rated it: 
This is my current bedside book. It replaces William T. Vollman's 'The Atlas.'
For a long, long time, I read The Bible or The Way of Zen before bed. It was a nice preparation for prayer or meditation. This stopped being a good plan a few years back- I'm so tired by bedtime that I'm asleep within minutes. Blame SSRI's. Blame my career.
As a replacement- I followed WTV's reccommendation in the forward of 'The Atlas.' Keep a wide-open book by your bedside. Somethi More...
For a long, long time, I read The Bible or The Way of Zen before bed. It was a nice preparation for prayer or meditation. This stopped being a good plan a few years back- I'm so tired by bedtime that I'm asleep within minutes. Blame SSRI's. Blame my career.
As a replacement- I followed WTV's reccommendation in the forward of 'The Atlas.' Keep a wide-open book by your bedside. Somethi More...
Jun 23, 2009
Sara-Maria
rated it:
a sporadic sampling:
-Water and light-
Back in the year 1600-something, sculptor Luis de la Pena wanted to sculpt light. In his workshop on an alley in Granada, he spent his entire life trying and failing.
It never occurred to him to look up. There, on the crest of a hill of red earth, other artists had sculpted light, and water too. In the turrets and gardens of the Alhambra, crown of the Muslim kingdom, those artists had made the impossible possible.
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-Water and light-
Back in the year 1600-something, sculptor Luis de la Pena wanted to sculpt light. In his workshop on an alley in Granada, he spent his entire life trying and failing.
It never occurred to him to look up. There, on the crest of a hill of red earth, other artists had sculpted light, and water too. In the turrets and gardens of the Alhambra, crown of the Muslim kingdom, those artists had made the impossible possible.
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Sep 27, 2011
Kirby
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Mirrors reminded me very much of Zinn's People's History of the United States, except with a greater sense of poetry and style, and a scope covering the entire globe from the beginning of time.
Galeano presents hundreds of tiny historical and mythological nuggets, mostly focused on systematic oppression and all the effed up shiz you didn't learn in history class.
Besides going in chronological order, these stories are not linear at all. Thus, this is not really much of a More...
Galeano presents hundreds of tiny historical and mythological nuggets, mostly focused on systematic oppression and all the effed up shiz you didn't learn in history class.
Besides going in chronological order, these stories are not linear at all. Thus, this is not really much of a More...
Jun 15, 2009
NPR Recommendation:
Imagine Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but penned by a poet and expanded to include the history of the entire world. Framed in inventively organized tiny vignettes — most just a paragraph or two long — Eduardo Galeano's Mirrors explodes our ideas of history in both content and form.
Fiercely political and fiercely human, Mirrors is a feast for the browser, armchair historian, poet and activist. Galeano rewrites the histories of the fo More...
Imagine Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but penned by a poet and expanded to include the history of the entire world. Framed in inventively organized tiny vignettes — most just a paragraph or two long — Eduardo Galeano's Mirrors explodes our ideas of history in both content and form.
Fiercely political and fiercely human, Mirrors is a feast for the browser, armchair historian, poet and activist. Galeano rewrites the histories of the fo More...
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Jan 20, 2010
Katherine
rated it:
from "Caves"
"Stalactites and stalagmites spend thousands of years reaching down or reaching up, drop by drop, searching for each other in the darkness.
It takes some of them a million years to touch.
They are in no hurry" (2).
from "How Could We?"
"Weren't we able to survive, when survival was all but impossible, because we learned to share our food and band together for defense? Would today's me-first, do-your-own-thi More...
"Stalactites and stalagmites spend thousands of years reaching down or reaching up, drop by drop, searching for each other in the darkness.
It takes some of them a million years to touch.
They are in no hurry" (2).
from "How Could We?"
"Weren't we able to survive, when survival was all but impossible, because we learned to share our food and band together for defense? Would today's me-first, do-your-own-thi More...
May 31, 2009
jeremy
rated it:
Mirrors are filled with people.
The invisible see us.
The forgotten recall us.
When we see ourselves, we see them.
When we turn away, do they?
Eduardo Galeano, famed Uruguayan journalist and author, has said of himself, “I’m a writer obsessed with remembering, with remembering the past of America above all and above all that of Latin America, intimate land condemned to amnesia.” That credo has been ably demonstrated throughout works spanning four decades, in More...
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Apr 02, 2011
Tony
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History, as stories. History, from the beginning, sort of, with a poetic re-working of Genesis and ending as the new century enters at stage right, despairing from what's come before. History, as examined by a cynic, skeptic, artist, lover, collector, judge. History, without all the commercials and talking and stuff. History, that is simplistic, selective, apocryphal and occasionally wrong, and necessary for all of that. History, that grabs you by the lapels or the scruff of the neck and ye
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Oct 17, 2011
Jay
rated it:
We Americans seem to have a fascination for history viewed from the lives of, generally, great men. It is a reflection of our commitment to the National myth of the rugged individual: the rugged, self-energized individual leads the parade, determining who marches and where and how the crowd will go. That bedrock belief has led to the growing popularity in recent years of biographies, to the publication of works, for example, on the Founding Fathers, Jackson, Lincoln. These and similar giants
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Jul 27, 2009
Chris
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Galeano's subtitle for this book is "stories of almost everyone". Which appeals to me, since I'm always pursuing the un-written or less-commonly-written histories. But this is not one of those. It is a great retelling of the gods and kings and fighters of the world, but there are few stories about people whose name you wouldn't recognize. This is a great, concise, entertaining story of world history written from an alternative perspective, but there are no unwritten histories here.
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Oct 26, 2009
Gina
rated it:
If you want a history of the world as if you were sitting by a campfire listening to a timeless, ageless sage spinning the (true) stories of past ages, then read this book. Hundreds of vignettes tracing the history of our culture from before time to the present day. Beautifully written. No holds barred on cruel details of what we humans can do. Greed. Money. Religion. Love. Invention. Fascinating accounts. Read this book!!!
Jan 15, 2012
Ugh. I got this from the library on the recommendation of someone I was in a graduate class with. I wish I were still in that class with her so I could ask what exactly she loved about this book. As I see it, Galeano is 1 part useful insight, 9 parts cynicism and mockery. And that one part doesn't make the other nine worth trudging through. If I wasn't offended myself, I was feeling the sting of offense on someone else's behalf. I made it through about 60 pages before deciding it just wasn't wor
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Nov 19, 2009
Chris
rated it:
I just read this book for my Literatures in Translation class, and I have to say, it’s better than any world history book that claims to be such, without even claiming to be such. It contains an astounding amount of facts and information about world history, all presented in such a way that it effectively undermines the typical western historical narrative familiar to so many of us. I recommend it to all.
Sep 27, 2011
Louis
rated it: 
Galeano tells the history of the world in 600 stories over 300 pages. The title is not for nothing: the stories he sets out to tell--of the have-nots, the forgotten, and the silenced--really do mirror each other...and that doesn't necessarily make for a ripping-good read. By page 100 I found myself asking "but why??" Why are people so mean to each other? Why does life suck so much for some people and not others? Basically, I wanted to be reading Guns, Germs, and Steel. Or any book with
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Sep 07, 2009
Elaine
rated it:
The library just told me that my turn has come for this book. Can't wait -- Galeano is one of my favorite authors!
This author is brilliant -- if you have read his trilogy about Latin America, Memory of Fire, you know his unique style of using anecdotes of everyone from the humblest shoe peddler in El Salvador to the overthrown President of Chile to weave a rich tapestry of life through the centuries. Well, Mirrors uses the same technique but takes on nothing less than the history of the More...
This author is brilliant -- if you have read his trilogy about Latin America, Memory of Fire, you know his unique style of using anecdotes of everyone from the humblest shoe peddler in El Salvador to the overthrown President of Chile to weave a rich tapestry of life through the centuries. Well, Mirrors uses the same technique but takes on nothing less than the history of the More...
Mar 11, 2011
Dale
rated it:
I really wanted to like this book, but didn't. It's a large set of half-page vignettes, little stories and fables. This is a format that I just can't wrap my head around. Even short stories (I mean, typical 10 page short stories) begin to annoy me after three or four. Hundreds of micro-stories soon became pure torture. Don't get me wrong: the writing is excellent, there's a sort of liberation theme running through the book. But there's no actual narrative flow. Maybe it's a postmodern thing. I d
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Oct 22, 2011
Kronik
rated it:
Adıyla çok örtüşen bir kitap. Yazar Galeano, Avrupa tarihinden ibaretmiş gibi görünen Dünya tarihini, tüm çıplaklığıyla okuyucularına hatırlatıyor. İnsanoğlunun unutmaya meyilli belleğine hatırlatıcı post-it ler koyuyor.
Tarih okumayı sevmeyen insanların bile, bu her konuda (neredeyse evrensel bir tarih) kısa kısa yazılmış notları büyük bir ilgiyle okuyacağını sanıyorum.
Bazen bir keşfin tarihi anlatılırken, bazen de belli bir tarihte birbirinden bağımsız gelişen olaylar fa More...
Tarih okumayı sevmeyen insanların bile, bu her konuda (neredeyse evrensel bir tarih) kısa kısa yazılmış notları büyük bir ilgiyle okuyacağını sanıyorum.
Bazen bir keşfin tarihi anlatılırken, bazen de belli bir tarihte birbirinden bağımsız gelişen olaylar fa More...
Aug 07, 2011
Javier
rated it:
Este libro te demuestra que la Historia es un iceberg, que sólo conocemos la décima parte de lo que ha ocurrido (y ocurre), y que los vencidos han sido muchas veces vencedores... Como todos los libros de Galeano, es un libro sobre los "nadies", para recordarnos que el mundo "oficial" es una gran mentira, una gran pesadilla.
Jul 24, 2010
Juanny
rated it:
Me encantó!, la forma en como Eduardo Galeano hace un recorrido por la historia de la humanidad, dandole voz a grupos que quizas en su tiempo, en su momento no hubo quien los escuchara, y ahora solo nos queda la reflexión y conseguir el objetivo de la historia...no repetir los pasajes obscuros de la cual esta plagada.
Aug 07, 2011
Thrilling, chilling and thought-provoking, Galeano's sweeping tour through world history presents the losers' viewpoint - that of women, blacks, the poor and disposessed - in a series of erudite and moving bite-size tales. An important book, this is the best thing I have read in the past 12 months.
Oct 10, 2009
Stephen
rated it:
This book is my new religion. I'm taking collections to go to South America on a mission to spread the word. It's not a book that you need to read all at once, instead you can pop these gems into your head and let them dissolve a while, however there is an arc that forms with long sittings with this book.
Jun 20, 2009
Rick
rated it:
There really needs to be an Eduardo Galeano for each continent on Earth, each country, each area of study. (There should be an Eduardo Galeano just for music.)
I read this while in London and Austria. The loot from the pillage Galeano writes about is right there in the streets.
I read this while in London and Austria. The loot from the pillage Galeano writes about is right there in the streets.
May 10, 2010
Cathleen
rated it:
Half-page length stories from world mythology and history. Ultimately more depressing than not, but many interesting tales, all in a distinctive wry voice. A few bits that stuck with me:
-- The original "Cinderella" story was created in China at about the same time the footbinding custom took root
-- Beethovan originally titled the Ninth Symphony "Ode to Freedom" rather than "Ode to Joy"
-- The original "Cinderella" story was created in China at about the same time the footbinding custom took root
-- Beethovan originally titled the Ninth Symphony "Ode to Freedom" rather than "Ode to Joy"
Jul 05, 2011
Jacquelinelborda
rated it:
Galeano is great. An interesting, thoughtful, educated, and intelligent man. I went to listen to him when he introduced his books in Washington D.C. He read some extracts of his book. He is a fabulous raconteur. I wish he had read the entire book.
Jul 03, 2009
Jkrusoe1
rated it:
One of those potpourris of interesting and not-so-interesting facts from history, this from the history of mankind, and the overall result is a thought-provoking portrait not only of the human race, but also of the writer.
Dec 12, 2010
Christopher
rated it:
Galeano portrays the continuous injustices that have plagued the world since the beginning. The only flaw in this tragic poem is his devotion to communism as the restitution for these crimes.
Aug 06, 2009
Jocelyn
rated it:
I've never read anything else like it. It tells the story of human history through hundreds of vignettes, weaving together history, poetry, mythology, and folk tales. Just beautiful. And haunting.
Feb 27, 2011
Jessie
rated it:
Hard to explain why so enchanting. I guess I just loved the stream of connections about things that don't have an obvious connection. Also, Galeano inserts his dry wit wherever possible.
Jul 06, 2010
John
rated it:
Galeano is one of the true geniuses of Latin American literature. "Espejos" describes the little stories, the struggles of men and women against their oppressors.
