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85th out of 251 books
—
88 voters
Stones for Ibarra
Two Americans, Richard and Sara Everton, are the only foreigners in Ibarra. They live among people who both respect and misunderstand them, and gradually, the villagers--at first enigmas to the Evertons--come to teach them much about life and the relentless tide of fate.
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
January 8th 1985
by Penguin Books
(first published 1984)
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This is one of a handful of books that I always buy used in order to give away to people. What I liked best about it (as well as her "Consider this, Senora") as the poetic prose. Not too heavy, not too light. Not too flowery, not too sparse. Just right. Musical in a sense, but not obviously so. The kind of writing that's more a window than a door to help you see the beauty and sacredness that's inherent in "everyday life."
What I especially liked in "Stones," however, was the very artful way -- s...more
What I especially liked in "Stones," however, was the very artful way -- s...more
Harriet Doerr's STONES FOR IBARRA depicts with subtle exactness the interchanges that occur when two cultures meet. An American couple, Richard and Sara Everton, are travel off to rural Mexico to find the roots of family history and myth in Ibarra, where Richard's family owned a pre-Revolution copper mine. The couple, rather than finding a world built from family stories and photographs, discovers a culture which faces an austere existence through blending native and Catholic superstitions and w...more
You should read this book even if it's not really your kind of thing. A couple, one just over 40 and the other just under, move from the Bay Area to rural Mexico to start up the husband's old family mine. The book feels more like a collection of short stories than a novel. The language is lyrical without being gushing and Jake will be happy to know that Doerr never dips into magical realism. There might be odd coincidences and an oddly humorous but sad bit in which an old priest is followed arou...more
I read this at the request of someone who has taught it for years and thinks it's all that. For me it was a mixed bag. The prose is elegant and almost deceptively simple. So why not 5 stars?
Each chapter is basically a stand-alone story. It's kind of a patchwork of all of these stories of different characters and situations and how they all come together to make up this small Mexican town Ibarra. Where I got hung up is that is that I never had the drive to pick up the book and see what was going...more
Each chapter is basically a stand-alone story. It's kind of a patchwork of all of these stories of different characters and situations and how they all come together to make up this small Mexican town Ibarra. Where I got hung up is that is that I never had the drive to pick up the book and see what was going...more
This story centers on the brief years that a U.S. couple reclaim and reopen a family copper mine in the Mexican village of Ibarra. The Evertons are following in the footsteps of Richard Everton's grandparents, who abandoned the mine in the wake of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and then never returned. The family mine had become legend, so the young Everton couple went to seek that legend.
The story is essentially about revisiting a dream and adding to the family memory. It is also about the min...more
The story is essentially about revisiting a dream and adding to the family memory. It is also about the min...more
STONES FOR IBARRA is about an American couple who decide to leave San Francisco to live in an old family home (without electricity and other amenities) in Mexico and reopen the family mine. The adjustments they must make to live amongst the "natives" is nothing compared to what they learn about themselves and the eventual way they think of their neighbors. Doerr captures the Latin American style of poetical thinking and if you like this style, you should read this novel.
For me, when I'm surpris...more
For me, when I'm surpris...more
Stones for Ibarra is one of those books which should be read at least once in life. I thought that I will like this book as much as I like To Kill a Mockingbird or Frankenstein but I just couldn't. However, what made Stones for Ibarra a rediscovery of life for the Evertons was the division of chapters in stories of the people of Ibarra. If nothing else, Ibarra isn't one of those honest-to-God small towns in far off rural Mexico.
While the community of Ibarra, from the cura to Remediosa Acostas,...more
While the community of Ibarra, from the cura to Remediosa Acostas,...more
I struggled with the rating for this book, because it probably deserves 5 stars. However, I as the reader had a little difficulty putting everything together so that the lower rating more likely represents a deficiency on my part instead of a commentary on the book itself.
Nevertheless, this book is beautifully written, because the rhythm is very lyrical in nature. It's about a couple who move to Mexico in the 1960s to re-establish a mine that the husband's grandfather had abandoned in 1910. The...more
Nevertheless, this book is beautifully written, because the rhythm is very lyrical in nature. It's about a couple who move to Mexico in the 1960s to re-establish a mine that the husband's grandfather had abandoned in 1910. The...more
A beautiful but maybe slightly dated book. An American couple moves to a very small village in Mexico to reopen his grandfather's abandoned copper mine. They are the only foreigners in the village - both better educated and much better funded than the locals. But the locals are comfortable with their culture and beliefs and hold their own in the relationship. He is strong and dedicated and respected as he builds his business. She is realistically portrayed as she struggles with the language, is...more
Although the plot is simple -- an American couple reopening a family mine in a small Mexican village -- "Stones for Ibarra" invokes layers of meaning. More than anything, this is a story about stories. While Richard works his grandfather's mine and waits for leukemia to claim his life, Sara builds her own reality from the will-power of denial and her interpretation of the tragic tales of the village. Where missing facts and her minimal Spanish leave gaps, Sara fills in and embellishes with her i...more
I can't remember why I only gave this book 4 stars. What remains with me from this book, is the passion Doerr has for her husband and the passion she has for his life. He brings her to a remote village in Mexico to the ruins of a family dwelling to re-start a mine his father began. Everything in their new life is built with, on and around stones. There is a strength that exudes from every view and experience -- except that her husband becomes ill and is dying. Again, Doerr is painting texture an...more
It feels like assigned reading for a high school English class. Like it is probably good for me somehow but I'm just not getting it. I didn't connect to any of the stories or characters. My favorite part was being done.
Fits in the theme "A stranger comes," one of those top 3 storylines.
Each chapter reads like a stand-alone short story, while the whole fits together as a portrait of the couple who decamp from California to rural Mexico, to reopen his grandfather's mine, with the 6 year time line of his illness ticking. (I could say spoiler alert, but I think the author reveals this tidbit early in chapter 1.)
I enjoyed the details suggesting how the habits of the couple appear incongruous, inappropriate and was...more
Each chapter reads like a stand-alone short story, while the whole fits together as a portrait of the couple who decamp from California to rural Mexico, to reopen his grandfather's mine, with the 6 year time line of his illness ticking. (I could say spoiler alert, but I think the author reveals this tidbit early in chapter 1.)
I enjoyed the details suggesting how the habits of the couple appear incongruous, inappropriate and was...more
A story of American expatriates in Mexico in the 1960s. The Mexicans are as curious to the Americans as the Americans are to the Mexicans of the small town they all share (Ibarra). Much of the book consists of short stories, usually grim or pathetic with none-too-likeable characters, about different members of the community. These loose threads are tied together with the story of the expatriates, the Evertons, and their experiences in Ibarra during the six years they live there.
The Evertons see...more
The Evertons see...more
I first read this book in the mid-80's when it was required reading in an undergraduate lit class. I really enjoyed it, a very well written story with a nice style to the writing. Clear yet slightly lyrical (in a Fitzgerald sort of way).
I came back to it more than once in the next five years and have purchased extra copies over the years to give as gifts.
The author's life story is quite compelling as well. As I remember, Harriet Doerr went back to school at Stanford as a senior citizen to compl...more
I came back to it more than once in the next five years and have purchased extra copies over the years to give as gifts.
The author's life story is quite compelling as well. As I remember, Harriet Doerr went back to school at Stanford as a senior citizen to compl...more
I first read this book many years ago, and recently came back to it. The story is about an American couple who move to a small Mexican village to reopen a copper mine, originally started by the husband's grandfather. I won't give away the main theme of the book, but I loved how this story explores relationships, cultural idiosyncracies, and the question of fate versus choice. Each chapter is a carefully crafted short story and I love how the author develops a sense of time and place.
Speaking of...more
Speaking of...more
I actually thought about how much I love this author when I picked the name Harriet for our daughter. Very nice voice in her writing.
This is a haunting, melancholy kind of book. It weaves a collection of tales throughout the book, many violent or scandalous or religious in nature. It's an enchanting tale, one that takes you on an emotional journey back and forth through time and leaves you feeling like you've just stepped out into the fresh air after a summer rain. I really enjoyed this story.
an interesting quote from the book:
"These two Americans are confirmed in their agnosticism. To them purgatory and hell hold no threats...more
an interesting quote from the book:
"These two Americans are confirmed in their agnosticism. To them purgatory and hell hold no threats...more
I wanted to love this book...people I trust tout it as their favorite, but I just didn't. Perhaps it's the disjointed nature of the stories, but I just couldn't get involved with any of the characters. The writing has some beautiful little gems along the way--exquisite when you find them--but I'm not sure I found them worth the digging. Perhaps if I'd "gotten it" earlier that this was not a single story, but a series of barely connected stories, I might have enjoyed it more. I kept trying to tie...more
Fabulous book. It reads so fast, just absolutely addictive. It's one of those books I just couldn't put down; I had to know what was going to happen. I look forward to rereading it to see the little things I might have missed.
I really liked the structure. You could pick out the individual chapters as short stories; they would make sense, would be impactful, outside of the book as a whole. But they were even better together. I really liked the point of view, close in to Sara Everton. I also reall...more
I really liked the structure. You could pick out the individual chapters as short stories; they would make sense, would be impactful, outside of the book as a whole. But they were even better together. I really liked the point of view, close in to Sara Everton. I also reall...more
Harriet Doerr finished her degree from Stanford at the age of 67 and received The National Book Award for her novel “Stones for Ibarra” in 1984 at the age of 73; talk about your late bloomer. From what I can gather, she did everything very deliberately and with painstaking effort. It’s said that when writing, she wrote little more than a sentence a day, meticulously crafting each sentence with the utmost care. And when reading her novel one can’t help seeing the result of her precision. If you e...more
This is the 3rd time I have read this book. There is something about it that draws me back. Maybe it is the list of items at the bottom. I'll probably read it again in a few years.
It is the story of a 40 year old couple who move to Mexico to open a defunct copper-silver mine that had been mined 50 years previously by a grandfather. The story is of the people in the small village of Ibarra as told through the eyes of Sara Everton. Her husband, Richard, has been diagnosed with some sort of blood d...more
It is the story of a 40 year old couple who move to Mexico to open a defunct copper-silver mine that had been mined 50 years previously by a grandfather. The story is of the people in the small village of Ibarra as told through the eyes of Sara Everton. Her husband, Richard, has been diagnosed with some sort of blood d...more
This is a wonderful, gentle book. A couple, Sara and Richard, leave the US to leave full time in a small Mexican Village that does not even have phone service. They move into the once elegant villa owned by Richard's grandfather and plan to run an old mine. We learn in the first chapter that Richard will only live for 6 more years. Although the villa and the mine are the major source of income for the people of Ibarra, it Richard and especially Sara who have the most to learn from the village. T...more
This is a short, beautifully written tale of two Americans who move from San Francisco to a small village in Mexico called Ibarra.
As short and lovely as it is (214 pages) it took me FOREVER to get through because of my ambivalence toward the main character. She struck me as a bit spaced out and sometimes foolish: she is faced with losing her husband, the love of her life and she copes by imagining things and creating scenarios in her head and even repeating some silly notions to her husband who...more
As short and lovely as it is (214 pages) it took me FOREVER to get through because of my ambivalence toward the main character. She struck me as a bit spaced out and sometimes foolish: she is faced with losing her husband, the love of her life and she copes by imagining things and creating scenarios in her head and even repeating some silly notions to her husband who...more
I read this book in my early twenties and loved it. The writing is filled with light, both real and figurative. She successfully evokes the heat, landscape, and people of Mexico and also illuminates the complications of relationships, especially the difficulty of learning to live in another culture and learning to live with mortality. I wish that Doerr had written many more books. Her writing gives me such pleasure. I reread this book recently and find that it resonates even more now that I'm ol...more
I liked this book. It's a picture of the cultural disparity between affluent Americans in the middle-of-the-desert Mexico. I found it interesting that in the 1950s, an American couple moves to this tiny Mexican town to revive a mine they have inherited. The mine and the couple employ the local people, providing them with income that is normally of short supply there. The way of life for the indigenous people is hard, harsh and often depressing. The American wife struggles to make a home there, c...more
What I liked about this story of a cross-cultural experience was the absence of that familiar voice in the background saying, see how much we (whites, Westerners, whatever) can learn from these simple people? And what I also liked was the author's depiction of everyday life in a small village in Mexican from the perspective of an American couple. What I didn't like was the austerity of the author's style. I wanted to get much closer to the characters than she allowed.
A beautifully told story of two Americans who reopen a copper mine in the Mexico sierra. Husband Richard has six years to live before succumbing to Leukemia, and wife Sara can only dream of extending this time. Through her eyes readers are told anecdotes of small town Mexico life. This book was very enjoyable because the imagery is so powerful. It reminds me of my experiences in Mexico. By the end of the book we see that the small moments are those that are remembered and important in our lives....more
Doerr writes with unusual clarity. The stories gradually build an impressionistic image of the main characters and the small Mexican town where they restart a family mine long abandoned. This is a writer who, despite or perhaps because she did not publish a novel until late in life, has the deft literary touch of great experience and compassion.
I might perhaps wish to have known Richard and Sara more intimately, though the moments Doerr captures in their lives are telling enough, but I think suc...more
I might perhaps wish to have known Richard and Sara more intimately, though the moments Doerr captures in their lives are telling enough, but I think suc...more
Stones for Ibarra is a beautifully written book about an American couple who move to a small village in Mexico to re-open the family's mine. Through what feels like a collection of short stories, Doerr creates a many-layered personality for the village, Ibarra. The writing is graceful and delicate - not flowery or austere - while treating themes such as fate, mortality and religion/ spirituality. A truly lovely read.
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Harriet Doerr (April 8, 1910 – November 24, 2002) was an American author whose debut novel was published at the age of 74.
A granddaughter of California railroad magnate and noted collector of art and rare books, Henry Edwards Huntington, Doerr grew up in a Pasadena, California, family that encouraged intellectual endeavors. She enrolled in Smith College in 1927, but transferred to Stanford Univers...more
More about Harriet Doerr...
A granddaughter of California railroad magnate and noted collector of art and rare books, Henry Edwards Huntington, Doerr grew up in a Pasadena, California, family that encouraged intellectual endeavors. She enrolled in Smith College in 1927, but transferred to Stanford Univers...more
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“They have not considered that memories are like corks left out of bottles. They swell. They no longer fit.”
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5 people liked it
“It is something they will see everywhere - a disregard for danger, a companionship with death. By the end of a year they will know it well: the antic bravado, the fatal games, the coffin shop beside the cantina, the sugar skulls on the frosted cake.”
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2 people liked it
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Oct 04, 2011 09:57pm