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483rd out of 689 books
—
2,800 voters
Cellophane
by
Marie Arana
Don Victor Sobrevilla, a lovable, eccentric engineer, always dreamed of founding a paper factory in the heart of the Peruvian rain forest, and at the opening of this miraculous novel his dream has come true—until he discovers the recipe for cellophane. In a life already filled with signs and portents, the family dog suddenly begins to cough strangely. A wild little boy tur...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
June 27th 2006
by The Dial Press
(first published 2006)
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Cellophane reads like Gabriel Garcia Marquez story if he wrote in English instead of his native Spanish. Maria Arana brings the beauty of magical realism into the English language. The writing superbly surrounds believable life events in a fantastical aura. The genius in her story telling comes from the different points of view between the story book characters and the resulting comedic misunderstanding between them. The critcs rightly say her comedy is well timed.
The book tells of a man who goe...more
The book tells of a man who goe...more
Well written, great adventure, developed characters. The story is set in the Amazon jungle where a family-run paper factory has sustained the community. The patriarch seeks guidance from the local priest as well as the medicine man to help him develop clear paper. Sounds dry so far, but love stories, magic, and government intervention make it a great read.
A delightful story that's something of a cross between Like Water for Chocolate and an Isabel Allende novel. Set on the Amazon in the heart of Peru's rain forest, where an engineer builds a paper factory and raises a family, relying on both a Catholic priest and, even more, a local native curandero for spiritual guidance (along with a fortune given by a gypsy fortune-teller when he was a child). When he converts his factory to cellophane production, the family's life undergoes dramatic change: f...more
Parts of this book are kind of a slog, but it's all worth it in the end, besides the fact that all the characters are so rich and colorful. I think the book makes me want as much as not want to go to the rainforest, though. Sounds like there's some scary but beautiful stuff there.
This book is definately weird. Sort of like the Isabel Aliende (sp?) books which I did not like at all, but for some reason I am hanging in with this one. It is a slow read for me. It is packed with great vocabulary and it seems like some major bit of info is on each page so I can't skim/speed like I often do. It is set in S Am jungle so I may have more interest in the setting than others. I am not sure yet if I would recommend it to other...definatley read the synopsis before you commit! It too...more
Feb 05, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
Marie Arana, editor of Washington Post Book World and author of the memoir American Chica (2001), a finalist for the National Book Award, skillfully balances humor and passion in her engaging debut novel. Critics applaud all aspects of the novel, from setting to characterization to plot to Arana's skill with language, her charming sense of playfulness, and her imagination. They also draw the inevitable comparisons to the work of the South American writers Gabriel Garc"a M
a new magical realist text, and it is handled quite well. the invention and use of cellophane parallels the stories of this chaotic and quirky family.
Cellophane is a rather flamboyant book set it in an exotic setting with very strange characters. The main character, Don Victor Sobrevilla Paniagua, is obsessed with his fantasy of being able to create cellophane from the earthly components that are found the jungle of Peru. When he finally succeeded, he was plagued by an epidemic of truthfulness that threatened to undo his carefully constructed world in the jungle. It seemed that the clarity of the cellophane showed the illusion of their world....more
I found this book beautifully written. Like I had said before, it started out very slowly and then sped towards a really intense finish. There were some awesome quotes that I had to note:
How fortunate to be counseled by a cat! Cats are superior creatures, he had said--hard to please, but passionate. Disinterested, but curious. Sedentary, but graceful. (p. 75)
Read your books, darling. Life is better when we imagine it. Infinitely better in our heads. (p. 105)
'It is how you see good and bad that m...more
How fortunate to be counseled by a cat! Cats are superior creatures, he had said--hard to please, but passionate. Disinterested, but curious. Sedentary, but graceful. (p. 75)
Read your books, darling. Life is better when we imagine it. Infinitely better in our heads. (p. 105)
'It is how you see good and bad that m...more
Although somewhat like a soap opera, I mostly liked this book. It was an interesting read from the standpoint of the culture, family, religion and mysticism. About a young boy who becomes fascinated by things mechanical as well as a scrap of cellophane he gets from a gypsy woman when he is young, the main character goes on to become an engineer, a papermaker, whose quest is to produce cellophane. He moves his family to the jungle and develops a large factory providing many jobs to hundreds of wo...more
If you don't like magical realism, then you won't like this book. But if you do, then I definitely recommend it. This is the story of an obsessive engineer who builds a paper factory in the middle of the Amazon. When he discovers how to make cellophane, all those who look through, and see the way the truth is both revealed and distorted, are affected irreparably. A plague of tongues, love, and revolution sweep through his house and the Amazon.
The author has a stunning use of language that both t...more
The author has a stunning use of language that both t...more
Set in the Peruvian Amazon, the style is very South American. That is to say, there's a small helping of magical realism, the imagery is florid, and the characters are colorful and a little exaggerated. The setting is so vivid that it's almost a character itself. The plot is another strong element. It spans one man's lifetime and a large cast of characters, but the author maintains control of her scope and her momentum right through the end.
Oh my god..... I am returning this book to the shelf because when I contemplated curling up with it last night I heard myself say aloud (I live alone) "I can't take any more." I don't care that the book has won awards from esteemed entities. Maybe I just don't get it. It feels like an amateur or diluted version of Gabriel Garcia Lorca. I'm donating this one to the heart-breakingly bare shelves of my local library.
A wonderful colourful novel about a culture unknown to me. I grew to love the eccentric patriach in the course of this book, despite his flaws, and although I'm not a big fan of magical realisme, here it was subtly done and very effective.
Well written, interesting ideas and characters but runs out of steam towards the end. Basically it failed the memory test - I can't remember what happened in the end! Definitely would have been improved by cutting 100+ pages. 2 1/2 stars.
I am strongly recommending this one -- if you're a fan of magical realism. The story is completely fantastic, whimsical and sexy, at times hilarious. It's escapism at its best. I would strongly recommend this as a vacation read.
Four stars because I was transported to the Peruvian rivers and jungle, and for the depiction of varied characters and their struggles to adapt to circumstances.
If you find this book in your hands, read it.
If you do not find this book in your hands, don't seek it.
Not bad, but not worth seeking.
If you do not find this book in your hands, don't seek it.
Not bad, but not worth seeking.
Loved it.
Beautifully written.
Wonderful characters.
Great adventure.
Redemption, loss, faith, love, betrayal, grace.
Of letting go.
Loved it.
Beautifully written.
Wonderful characters.
Great adventure.
Redemption, loss, faith, love, betrayal, grace.
Of letting go.
Loved it.
Takes place in Peru. About industrialization, indigenous workers vs educated, European Peruvians. Family issues. Beautifully written.
I loved reading this book for the wonderful writing. I enjoy the magical realism genre and Marie Arana does a lovely job. However, I felt the plot a bit unsatisfying somehow. Hard to put my finger on it.
Dec 14, 2008
Beatriz
marked it as to-read
I have yet to read it but I won the book at work and I heard it was good but havent had the chance to begin reading it.
A good fun read. The middle gets a little tedious and some bad guy vs. main character is tiresome, but overall a nice book.
A Classic novel set in the heart of the amazone rainforest telling the live of a patriarch, his family and his servants. Recommended for fans of Marquèz
This is a beautifully written book. The ending was fantastic and I was sad for it to end.
not as magically realistic as I'd been led to believe. needlessly depressing ending
This was a beautifully written book and I am glad that I read it, but I can't say that I completely enjoyed it. So much of the story rambled on about seemingly nothing. I found myself not really caring about the characters that weren't being discussed at the time. Maybe there was just too many stories going on at once for me to truly be engaged by the story. After a while I found myself reading just to finish the book, not to find out what was happening next. I did like seeing how Don Victor fou...more
I listened to this on audio and it was a really interesting, rambling narrative.
I just didn't get this book. It was Boring, with a capital B.
Having grown up in Peru and spent a bit of time in the rainforest around Pucallpa, I recognized so many of the characters and situations in the book. Arana delivers the absurdities in such a matter-of-fact manner that I often found myself re-reading certain parts to make sure I had really read what she said. I thoroughly enjoyed this story.
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She was born in Peru, moved to the United States at the age of 9, did her B.A. in Russian at Northwestern University, her M.A. in linguistics at Hong Kong University, a certificate of scholarship at Yale University in China, and began her career in book publishing, where she was vice president and senior editor at Harcourt Brace and Simon & Schuster. For more than a decade she was the editor i...more
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