Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies
by Laura Esquivel
book data
11261 ratings, 3.94 average rating, 1065 reviews
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published
November 1st 1994
(first published 1989)
by Anchor
binding
Paperback, 256 pages
setting
Mexico
isbn
038542017X
(isbn13: 9780385420174)
description
Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in turn-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend ...more
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avg 3.94
Read in June, 2003
Few times does an author create something completely unique; Laura Esquivel has accomplished just that. Her themes of passion, familial insubordination, dictatorial governance, and romance are not new to literature. But communicating those themes through family life on the ranch of northern Mexico using magical realism and monthly recipes as metaphors is truly pioneering.
Tita is a suppressed daughter of Mama Elena, head of a Mexican ranch at the time of the Mexican Revolution. Tita was ...more
Tita is a suppressed daughter of Mama Elena, head of a Mexican ranch at the time of the Mexican Revolution. Tita was ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This book was disappointing. It felt overwrought and melodramatic.
Tita, the youngest daughter of overbearing Mama Elena, has to give up the hope of ever marrying. It will be her duty to take care of her mother in old age. This becomes a big problem when she meets Pedro. When Pedro learns of Tita's duty to her mother and impossibility of future marriage, he agrees to marry Tita's sister, just so he can be closer to Tita. This sets in motion this fable of unrequited love that is the thread thr...more
Tita, the youngest daughter of overbearing Mama Elena, has to give up the hope of ever marrying. It will be her duty to take care of her mother in old age. This becomes a big problem when she meets Pedro. When Pedro learns of Tita's duty to her mother and impossibility of future marriage, he agrees to marry Tita's sister, just so he can be closer to Tita. This sets in motion this fable of unrequited love that is the thread thr...more
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this is definately a book that you should make the time to read.(b4 the year is up) its one of those timeless stories about forbidden love. i guess its sorta like Romeo & Juliet...except its put in words that you know, arent ancient and spoken in tounge? no offense to Romeo & Juliet, which is a great book, it really is, but deciphering all those words i found to be a real hassle. i mean talk about inconvienent. well anyway, enough of my sexy tangents. Like water for chocolate is about a ...more
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Read in January, 2002
recommends it for:
romantics, women, fans of magical realism
This is kind of the ultimate chick novel, in that it's about unrequited love, romance, food, and it's a very well-written piece of magical realism as opposed to the kind of mass-produced romantic tripe that's marketed towards women these days. This is a beautiful, beautiful novel - not something that someone forged in order to meet a contract obligation stating that if they write a generic chick novel that they can follow it up with whatever they want.
This is filled to the brim with magical ...more
This is filled to the brim with magical ...more
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2 comments
Read in April, 2008
recommended to Jessica by:
Robinrecommends it for: Foodies, and anyone who enjoys a good love story
The tradition in Tita’s family is to keep the youngest daughter unmarried so she can care for her mother until she dies. Tita is the youngest daughter. When she falls in love and mentions to her mother that young Pedro will be coming by to ask for her hand, the mother decides to have him marry her eldest daughter instead. Tita is further punished by having to cook the wedding feast and bake the wedding cake. Only, her emotions find their way in the food she prepares, and in the heart of everyo...more
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Read in January, 2007
What an easily forgettable novel. The language was exceedingly childish, and the style of the novel massacred the subtlety with which magic realism is to be employed. This was my first taste of the famed Latin American style of writing, and I was sorely disappointed.
(Class discussions surrounding this book also bothered me - not only were we forced to read bad literature, we were forced to analyse it for meaningful content.)
The characters were not at all developed successfully; no motiv...more
(Class discussions surrounding this book also bothered me - not only were we forced to read bad literature, we were forced to analyse it for meaningful content.)
The characters were not at all developed successfully; no motiv...more
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When I first started reading this book, I expected to get hooked right away. I anticipated a mix of family recipes and the drama that comes along with it. Many people I've spoken to have told me it was a great book. Well, I would have to disagree. I felt the content was engaging, but the language wasn't as exciting. It was basically the story of a mother and a daughter and their struggles as a family. The daughter falls in love with her sister's husband, which sounds pretty scandalous, but the w...more
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Read in October, 2005
There are two things that made me want to try this book: the story, which is centered on food, and the word “chocolate” in the title. After reading it, I learned the book had more to offer. Set in a Mexican home, Like Water for Chocolate is a story about Tita, her love for Pedro and her talent for cooking. This, for me, is a unique book as each chapter begins with a recipe that the main character cooks in the story. With dishes like Turkey Mole with Almonds and Sesame Seed or Quail in Rose P...more
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This is the story of Tita, a woman who is forbidden to marry her love, Pedro, because of a family tradition where the youngest girl can never marry and must take care of her mother instead. As a way to stay close to Tita, Pedro marries her older sister, Rosaura. Tita expresses her loss and heartbreak in her cooking and which become a part of every meal she creates.
Okay, I have to admit something here--I read this book after I watched the movie. I fell in love with the movie and wanted to ...more
Okay, I have to admit something here--I read this book after I watched the movie. I fell in love with the movie and wanted to ...more
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Read in January, 2004
This book was recommended to me by a friend after I sent her a couple of recipes touted as the surest way to win any guy's heart. And indeed the book is full of references to Mexican cooking; every chapter is preceded by a recipe.
I think my most memorable impression of this book is the way it sticks to hard realism one moment and strays into the realm of fantasy the next. It left me lurching trying to adjust my perception, until I finally gave up attempting to fit it into either realism ...more
I think my most memorable impression of this book is the way it sticks to hard realism one moment and strays into the realm of fantasy the next. It left me lurching trying to adjust my perception, until I finally gave up attempting to fit it into either realism ...more
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Read in March, 2008
I loved the way this book tells a very realistic story of the period. The prose is not pretentious but somehow the author is still able to tell an intricate love story without the sappiness of a romance novel. The ending of this story left me feeling a bit emotionally torn regarding each character's respective fates.
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Read in June, 2008
I'd say I enjoyed this. At first I thought the translation was dodgy - after all, how can you match up English, the thief of the language world, to Spanish, the tongue of sensuality? I actually found myself wanting to punch Mama Elena at times, which shows a creation of a good character, I suppose. There were little surreal twists every so often, which I liked. The ending was weird, but satisfying. But I have to say my eyes skimmed over the recipe parts - reading about how to castrate a turkey i...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Food lovers, Hispanic Culture, those looking for a quick fun read
I got this for .50 cents at the Bellevue Library Bookstore. I love that place. I've been wanting to read it for a long time. The older guy who sold it to me said "This book is weird". "Great, I said". My kind of Book. A tale of Mexican life complete with food recipes,monthly installments and Home remedies. I just spent time in Texas and really enjoyed being surrounded by Hispanic and Southern culture more than I am here in Seattle. I had never heard of a Frito Pie until I was...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Lovers of love, magic, and food.
Like food for your romantic soul. I wanted to cry out of sheer joy and sadness at the completion of this novel. This is anything but a circular story. Unlike One-Hundred Years of Solitude, House of Spirits, or Kiss of the Spider Woman, this ending is one for the lovers of love. The story of Tita pulls you in so many emotional directions... love, hate, lust, creation, depression, conflicted desire, abandonment, depletion, deception, passion, love. For once, there is a main, female character ...more
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Read in January, 2003
Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel, is probably my favorite book. It is the ultimate love story. The main character, Tita, is the youngest in the family. It is tradition on her mother's side of the family for the youngest daughter to care for the mother after the father passes away. The youngest daughter may not get married or create her own independence in case the mother needs her care. Tita's father has already passed, so she is burdened with the responsibility of taking care of her ...more
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مثل آب برای شکلات داستان زندگی زنان نسلهای گذشتهٔ مکزیک است که به سبک رئالیسم جادویی و با زبان خانگی و فُرم زنانه (نوشتار زنانه) نگارش شدهاست. این رمان، عشقی زیبا را در کنار مبارزهٔ یک زن با سنتهای جامعه خود نشان میدهد.
هر فصل از این کتاب با دستور آشپزی و یا داروسازی جالبی...more
هر فصل از این کتاب با دستور آشپزی و یا داروسازی جالبی...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
Cooks :)
I'm starting to feel a little hyperbolic - is it wrong to rate everything you put in here as 5 stars?? But - I personally, love this book. I've never seen the movie - I heard it was alright, but not great.
The book - I just love it. But maybe that is because I tend to love the whole Latin-American magical realism genre. The way the veil between living and dead is non-existent, the universally accepted emotional and supernatural cause and effect, the subconscious made into real daily life.
...more
The book - I just love it. But maybe that is because I tend to love the whole Latin-American magical realism genre. The way the veil between living and dead is non-existent, the universally accepted emotional and supernatural cause and effect, the subconscious made into real daily life.
...more
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Read in February, 2008
Conceptually, I loved this book. Who can resist a story that is artfully blended with delicious recipes, and even includes the full recipe at each new chapter? I would like to give it the benefit of the doubt and suppose that I read a bad translation (the book is originally in Spanish) but no...I think it's a great concept destroyed by ugly writing.
It took two days to finish, and would have taken less but I only read it in short snatches of down time over a weekend. The language was simpl...more
It took two days to finish, and would have taken less but I only read it in short snatches of down time over a weekend. The language was simpl...more
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Read in October, 2007
Why was this book considered, by some, a classic? It read like a smut novel to me. I enjoyed learning about Mexican culture, and this novel certainly gave me an unrealized appreciation for modern kitchen technology. It also makes me feel good about the fact that while once upon a time, women had servants to do the housework, laundry and cleaning, because it was too much to handle, I can handle it all myself. Okay, again, that's a huge appreciation for modern technology. Anyway, many of the relat...more
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This now classic book is an exercise in passion for romance and food, sometimes the food builds the passion, other times it adds to the heartsickness. Three daughters are born to an overbearing mother, but it’s Tita that falls in love with Pedro and isn’t allowed to marry him because long traditions force the youngest daughter live out her life caring for the mother instead. (My husband had a secretary fifteen years ago that was living proof of this tradition.) Instead, Pedro is asked to ma...more
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