The Queen of the South
by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
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I'm on holiday - hurrah! This means it is time to turn my attention to the (very important) task of learning Spanish. I made two "New Year's Resolutions". One was to learn some Spanish before the year was out, the other was to keep a running list of the books I have read on this here blog. So, time to work on one of my resolutions.
Instead of learning Spanish I have been reading! The Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte is the latest book that I have finished. The best way...more
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überzeugend !!!: Dies ist das zweite Buch von Reverte das ich gelesen habe. Ich muss sagen, dass mir dieses sehr gut gefallen hat. Die Handlung beruht auf wahren Begebenheiten und ist vom Autor sehr realistisch und nicht zu überladen dargestellt. Es geht um Teresa Mendoza, die aus Mexiko fliehen musste und in Spanien ein Drogennetzwerk aufgebaut hat. Dem Autor gelingt es von Anfang an, die Hauptfigur Teresa sehr glaubwürdig und nachvollziehbar darzustellen. Auch der Schreibstil von Reverte ge...more
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Read in April, 2006
The telephone rang, and she knew she was going to die.
Talk about a line to draw a reader into a story! And it did pull me into the first chapter.
Then I paused. What, he’s making drug-scum into heroes and heroines? I didn’t really want to go on. Yet, I couldn’t resist the appeal of Perez-Reverte’s prose. I’m glad I didn’t. Because “The Queen of the South” is another winner by an author I’m really beginning to like.
“Queen” is a look into the sordid world of drug ...more
Talk about a line to draw a reader into a story! And it did pull me into the first chapter.
Then I paused. What, he’s making drug-scum into heroes and heroines? I didn’t really want to go on. Yet, I couldn’t resist the appeal of Perez-Reverte’s prose. I’m glad I didn’t. Because “The Queen of the South” is another winner by an author I’m really beginning to like.
“Queen” is a look into the sordid world of drug ...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Drug Runners
This story is told in two styles; from an omniscient perspective following the main character, and from the first-person point of view of a journalist researching her story. At first I was quite bored by the latter story. Later on, however, I began to feel like Perez-Reverte was trying to coax me into a state of mind whereby I would begin to use Teresa Mendoza's story as a truer reality. Throughout the book Teresa discovers that through books she can live more fully, and understand her life m...more
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Read in February, 2004
Foi o meu primeiro livro deste autor e adorei. Conta-nos a história de uma mexicana que vence num mundo domindao pelos homens, o mundo da droga. A história é contada da perspectiva dela e também das pessoas que tiveram contacto com ela ao longo da sua vida.
Gostei imenso de algumas passagens do livros, tais como:
"Os livros são portas que te levam para a rua (...). Com eles aprendes, educas-te, viajas, sonhas, imaginas, vives outras vidas e multiplicas a tua por mil. Quem te oferec...more
Gostei imenso de algumas passagens do livros, tais como:
"Os livros são portas que te levam para a rua (...). Com eles aprendes, educas-te, viajas, sonhas, imaginas, vives outras vidas e multiplicas a tua por mil. Quem te oferec...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to Laura by:
no one - found it in my used book store
I loved this book. I listened to the audio book (though I can't recall who read it), and I found it to be a riveting story. It was complex and multi-layered, and I found that hearing the story read by a Spanish speaker allowed me to really sink into the story, as it sounded authentic and real (as opposed to how I may have narrated in my head). I would highly recommend this book, and would urge readers to listen to this story instead of (or in addition to) actually reading it. For word pronun...more
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Read in August, 2006
"Um romance onde não há bons nem maus, que é, sim, o reflexo de um universo cruel onde matar, morrer, enganar, corromper, trair, subornar e traficar faz parte do quotidiano. Um mundo amoral porque a moralidade é em absoluto impraticável e onde a chave do sucesso reside na falta de esperança. Arturo Pérez-Reverte é actualmente o romancista mais completo da literatura espanhola."
in, El País
«O novo romance de Arturo Pérez-Reverte tem como personagem principal uma mulher: ...more
in, El País
«O novo romance de Arturo Pérez-Reverte tem como personagem principal uma mulher: ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in September, 2004
This Perez-Reverte's best book, in my opinion. All of his dark brooding moments, the efforts to weave taut suspense filled mysteries...they all finally pay off in Queen of the South. The globe-trotting heroine, her own life very self-consciously linked to the redemptive and ultimately destructive arc of The Count of Monte Cristo, is fascinating, if not entirely sympathetic. We are introduced to Teresa mainly through the work of an ...more
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One of my favorite novels; I have read this book three times and will go back for more. Best in Spanish, though Perez Reverte is decently translated into many languages. I heard someone was making a film, but I would be hesitant to see it, as I have developed my own little mental cinema in which to "watch" this sometimes brutal, sometimes exquisitely tender story of a girl of the streets turned world-class black marketeer unfold. Be prepared to crave tequila.
Uno de mis mas favorit...more
Uno de mis mas favorit...more
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recommends it for:
men
The only reason I am giving this piece of literary disaster two stars is because I actually learn something about another culture and subculture through this story. Other than that, this book was boring, boring, BORING. I also firmly believe this man has never even met a woman in real life because his potrayal of the heroine is so off, I thought he was a monk devoid of all contact with the female gender. So of course, he creates a woman who gets what she needs by selling her body for it. She...more
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Read in July, 2008
07/22/08
An utterly fascinating book that starts with an utterly gripping and suspenseful sentence that catapults you write into the action. The tone of the book is perfect, as it shifts from third person narration to first person reflection. It's a great book that had me completely engrossed in it. My only complaint is that it was so good and read so quickly that I had already finished it on the plane before I even got to Guatemala.
07/01/08
Another book for the trip. I like to read ...more
An utterly fascinating book that starts with an utterly gripping and suspenseful sentence that catapults you write into the action. The tone of the book is perfect, as it shifts from third person narration to first person reflection. It's a great book that had me completely engrossed in it. My only complaint is that it was so good and read so quickly that I had already finished it on the plane before I even got to Guatemala.
07/01/08
Another book for the trip. I like to read ...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Jody by:
Ardie
I picked up the book for its foreign locations, and it ended up being foreign to me in more than one way. The story was of a woman who was peripherally involved with the drug trafficking world via her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is killed then she has to go on the run. Her story is intermingled with a sub-story of a reporter doing research to write a book about her. The story is engaging and the book generally well written. I just didn't feel personally connected to the characters, which, for ...more
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Read in January, 2006
Arturo Perez-Reverte is one of my favorite authors. I read his first book, The Flanders Panel, all in one weekend by candlelight feeling I'd traveled to Spain and solved a mystery. The Queen of the South, Teresa Mendoza, is fierce and silent like the heros of old western novels. Perez-Reverte tells a story of poverty and opportunity, treasure and greed, friendship and obsession. He draws a parallel to The Count of Monte Cristo, but never lets the reader know whether Teresa is Edmond Dantes or Ab...more
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Read in July, 2007
after the inheritance of loss, i need something fun (and still well-written). that and it was one of the only interesting books i could find in the english section of the gracia neighborhood library. thusfar, enjoyable but not thrilling (ie i'm currently more compelled by the dvd boxed set of "the wire" that a friend just lent me.)
(most of this library's english-language books, by the way, are uncorrected advance copies that say "not for distribution" all over th...more
(most of this library's english-language books, by the way, are uncorrected advance copies that say "not for distribution" all over th...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
anyone who's ever had chocolate in retiro park... and anyone who'd ever like to.
"Why tell you no when the answer is yes?" One of my all-time favorites, this book follows the rise of Teresa, the mexican girlfriend of a mid-level drug runner from a violent mexican town, as she makes a transformation into the most powerful and glamorous woman in the costa del sol (thanks, of course, to her brilliant business sense for drug transport and money laundering, and her knack for escaping death time and time again). It's got everything anyone could want in a book- love and...more
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Read in January, 2005
Being from Sinaloa, this book took me back to all the stories and "corridos" (regional songs that mention local heroes; originally from Mexican Revolution but now about drug dealing "heroes") I used to hear in my chilhood.
I have to mention that I find Perez-Reverte very easy to read. This book took me about three days to be completed (and is a big book); it has some slow parts, however once you get past those the pace this book has lets you craving for more. Of course mak...more
I have to mention that I find Perez-Reverte very easy to read. This book took me about three days to be completed (and is a big book); it has some slow parts, however once you get past those the pace this book has lets you craving for more. Of course mak...more
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Interesting novel about a drug runner's girl friend set in Mexico (she is Mexican) and later in Europe. She gets the call she never wanted, to tell her that he is dead, killed by his employers and the running begins. They will be after her to kill her to put away any trace of him and any knowledge she may have. She goes through some harrowing things to finally escape to Spain and the rest is who she becomes after and how things come full circle. I enjoyed the novel and cared enough about the...more
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Read in June, 2006
Mexican drug dealer's girl friend moves to Spain after boyfriend is killed, becomes large importer of drugs from Africa. But it's much better than it might sound from that description. Is this based on Perez-Reverte's original reporting when he worked in television in Spain. Is it an attempt to emulate Garcia Marquez? Or is it just the Count of Monte Cristo updated? Whatever, it's a very good read. I wouldn't call it his best -- I'm still partial to The Club Dumas and its intertwined plots -- bu...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in November, 2007
The heroine of Arturo Perez-Reverte's novel begins as a gangster's girlfriend, and ends as the kingpin (queenpin?) of a highly organized smuggling ring. The setting shifts from Mexico to Spain and back, and the action is fast-paced. However, this is no run-of-the-mill thriller. Teresa Mendoza is a vividly drawn and compelling character, whose largely-unintended rise through the ranks of organized crime is balanced by the underlying sense of morality that guides her.
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Read in April, 2008
Good spicy pulp fiction from Spain, about a gang moll from Jalisco who flees Mexico when her drug-pilot boyfriend is executed, then winds up becoming a smuggling tycoon in her own right in the Mediterranean. Better than your average beach book, with some interesting plot twists in the later chapters. If Perez-Reverte occasionally overanalyzes his protagonist's feelings, IMO that's not the worst mistake a male author can make when trying to write from a female POV.
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