Polyana's comments (member since May 16, 2009)

Polyana's comments from the Latin American Literature and Magical Realism group.

Julia wrote: "i did love One Hundred Years of Solitude, of course, and i quite liked Love in times of the Colera and Of Love and other Demons, but i just couldn't finish The General in his Labyrinth - it was so ..."

Hello Julia,

I can understand exactly why you did not enjoy The General in His Labyrinth. In order to appreciate this book, one has to be exposed to Latin American history, and to Simon Bolivar's "cause" in particular. I just loved it. Growing up reading and listening to all types of stories about Bolivar, it was very refreshing to get to know Bolivar the man, and not the hero.

Memories of my Melancholy Whores is a book that you can read in a day or two. I have to confess that through half of the book I was a bit disgusted by the main character, and I couldn't avoid feeling a bit angry at him, but eventually, all that anger turned into an enormous compassion and tenderness. I think that a great book has the ability to change hearts, minds and appeals to different emotions, and this book certainly does it.

This is a great book. I would read it again, in a heart beat. Enjoy it!

Hello Leonor,

I'm also Latin American, but I agree with Doug, Latin American literature is so vast, Magic Realism is just a little part of it. In my opinion, Cortazar and Vargas Llosa don't qualify as Magic Realism writers, so I can understand why you can't get what you are looking from them. I personally love their styles, but if Magic Realism is what you are looking for, I would sugest Jorge Amado's "La Desaparicion de la Santa", "Doña Flor y Sus Dos Maridos" and there's a book that you would probably love, but the author is not a Latin American is from Mozambique. The name of the book is "Terra Sonambula" by Mia Couto. This book is pure Magic Realism, I read it in Portuguese, but Portuguese translates so nicely to Spanish that I'm sure you won't lost anything.

I was forgetting to list Jorge Amado's Tieta, and The War of the Saints. The latter one gives you a good idea of Candomble (the Afro Brazilian religion) that I find so fascinating, in this book magic realism meets religion.

Juan Rulfo's Pedro Paramo and El Llano en Llamas keep staring me into the eyes, I even got both books at one point, but I gave them away without reading them. I've heard nothing but great reviews about them. It seems like is time for me to read them.

Well, here is the list of the Latin American Nobel prizes. What a shame, the Swedish are either racist or pure ignorant. Borges, Cortazar, Carpentier and now Benedetti, are gone and never got a prize. Are the Swedish waiting for Vargas Llosa to die as well?

Sorry that I'm not answering your question, but when you mentioned the Nobel prize, I got a bit upset. Anyway, here is the list, your book does not ring a bell, and I don't think that it was written by a Latin American Nobel Prize. I might be wrong though. Good Luck finding your book, I will let you know if I find something.

1945 Gabriela Mistral, Chile (mainly poetry)
1967 Miguel Ángel Asturias, Guatemala (check his work, he may be the author you are looking for)
1971 Pablo Neruda, Chile (mainly poetry)
1982 Gabriel García Márquez, Colombia
1990 Octavio Paz, Mexico (mainly poetry)

Julio Cortazar's Hopscotch
Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits
2666 and The Savage Detective by Roberto Bolanos
Gabriela Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado
Converstation in the Cathedral by Vargas Llosa
Diablo Guardian by Xavier Velasco, among many, many others. I mainly read Latin American Literature, and the amount of good books and great writers is overwhelming.

One "Hundred Years Of Solitude" is a tour de force for anyone who enjoys Latin American Literature, and my favorite book from Gabo. I wouldn't dare to criticize this book in any shape, way, or form, since to me, it would be like a simple mortal criticizing the work of the creator. I also have to say that I really liked "The General in His Labyrinth". This is a very objective and realistic story about the last days of Simon Bolivar, a Latin American hero. Probably this book appeals more to a Latin American audience, but you never know, some of you may enjoy it as much as I did.