Alexia Polasky's Blog, page 2

Salvatierra - Pedro Mairal

RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL (Scroll down to read the review in English // Reseña en inglés debajo)

Quiero empezar esta reseña destacando que Pedro Mairal es un genio de la ambientación. Valiéndose de imágenes vívidas  que están plasmadas en la pintura, logró recrear la atmósfera rural, campestre, de un pueblo en aquella época y, a la vez, reflejar la realidad actual. Transmite a la perfección el sentimiento de nostalgia y melancolía que genera volver al pueblo natal cuando uno lleva una vida de ciudad.

La escritura es sencilla, pero la voz del narrador tiene una carga de intimidad que le permite al lector empatizar con los personaje, y hace que la historia se sienta real, factible. Además, por momentos “salpicaduras” de humor sutil intercalados en los momentos justos para generar un cambio de tono.

Cabe mencionar que, si bien hay un misterio de por medio, no es el tema central. Este relato se enfoca más en las relaciones, las costumbres y los secretos familiares (tanto a voces como guardados bajo siete llaves).

Por lo general, desconocemos el trasfondo detrás de una obra, y sabemos aún menos acerca de la historia personal del autor. En este libro, Mairal nos lleva detrás del telón para revelarnos el contexto de creación de este “cuadro” en particular. Es más, si lo pensamos, en realidad no conocemos la historia completa de nadie, y mucho menos desde su perspectiva.

Termino con una cita que resume y desmuestra todo lo que dije:

"Uno ocupa esos lugares que los padres dejan en blanco. Salvatierra ocupó ese margen alejado de las expectativas ganaderas de mi abuelo. Se adueñó de la representación, de la imagen. Yo me quedé con las palabras que la mudez de Salvatierra dejó de lado. Empecé a escribir hace un par de años.  Siento que este lugar, este espacio de la hoja blanca, me pertenece más allá de los resultados. El mundo entero cabe en este rectángulo". 
Estrellas: 5 de 5 Idioma original: españolIdioma de lectura: español
Editorial: EmecéEdición: tapa blanda

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33287190-salvatierra


ENGLISH REVIEW
(Scroll up to read the review in Spanish // Reseña en español arriba)
I'd like to begin this review highlighting the genius of Pedro Mairal at creating a setting. Using vivid images that are embodied in the painting, he managed to perfectly recreate the rural, country atmosphere of a town at that time and the current reality at the same time. He manages to instill the nostalgia and melancholy that causes returning to our home town when one is currently living a city life.
The writing is simple, but the voice of the narrator is so intimate that it allows the reader to empathize with the characters and makes the story feel real and feasible. In addition, there are "splashes" of subtle humor interspersed at the right moments, generating a timely change of tone.

I should mention that, although there is a mystery involved, it's not the central issue. The narrative is focused on family relationships, home, old customs and family secrets ─be it well-known or kept under lock and key.

In general, we dn't get to know the background of a work of art, and we know even less about the author's personal history. In this book, Mairal takes us "backstage" to reveal the context in which this particular painting was created. What's more, come to think about it, we don't really know anyone's full story, let alone from their own perspective.

I'll finish with a quote that summarizes and demonstrates everything I said:
"We occupy the places our parents leave blank. Salvatierra occppied a marginal space as far away as possible from my grandfather's hopes of his becoming a cattle rancher. I inhabit the words that Salvatierra’s muteness left untouched. I began to write a few years ago. I feel that this place, the space of the blank page, is mine, independently of what the results might be. The whole world fits into this rectangle."
Rating: 5 out of 5 starsOriginal language: SpanishLanguage read: Spanish Publisher: New Vessel PressEdition: paperback
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17936779-the-missing-year-of-juan-salvatierra

Trans Voices: Becoming Who You Are - Declan Henry

ENGLISH REVIEW

Had this book only contained the interviews without the inclusion  of clinical or psychological of documents and studies, this would have been a five-star read. However, I have to say that I feel this is a great book for people curious about the subject with little knowledge going in. Coupled with a comprehensive glossary and explanations throughout each chapter, I believe it would be a good starting point for such readers.

Even I, being cisgender, cringed at some of the statements made regarding psychiatric disorders and trans identity being closely linked to autism, more so because the study in question is dated and didn’t actually arrive to a definite and fact-based conclusion.
Nevertheless, the testimonies felt so true and sincere that I feel the purpose of this book was fulfilled, which is to make trans voices heard, figuratively speaking.


Nevertheless, I found the testimonies so true and sincere that I feel the purpose of this book was fulfilled, which is to make trans voices heard, figuratively speaking.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Original language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Edition: e-book (Netgalley ARC)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32200296-trans-voices

The Lost Path by Amélie Fléchais

I really appreciate the prose in fairy-tale style and the versatility of the author's ability at illustrating. Sadly, I injoyed the illustrations more than the story itself, I thoroughly enjoyed the first part, but when the style and theme changed, I felt confused and I also felt that it clashed with the previous part.
The premise sounded great and the illustrations are lovely, but I was expecting something different, more similar to the first part, which was much more akin to fairy tales.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Original language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors
Edition: e-book (ARC provided by Netgalley)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39805744-the-lost-path

Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion - Michelle Dean

The premise of this book sounded interesting, especially in the era of female empowering we are living right now.  I found the selection of women to talk about perfect. However, the writing style was dry and that kept we wanting to pick up some other book, instead of getting my full attention. It felt like reading a textbook for school on a subject that interests me and bores me at the same time, because of the pacing.
What I did thoroughly enjoy was being inspired by the lives led by such powerful women. If you are looking for that, take a chance and you will surely get something out of it.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Original language: EnglishLanguage read: EnglishPublisher: Grove Atlantic
Edition: ARC e-book
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36624415-sharp

La casa de los eucaliptus - Luciano Lamberti

El Diablo, Hermann Hesse, humanos que no lo son tanto, criaturas casi mitológicas,  saltos en el tiempo, rituales satánicos, etc.
Reconozco que las temáticas y los personajes son interesantes. No obstante...
Se compara al autor con Mariana Enriquez pero, si bien se trata de un terror más “cercano” como el de ella, sus cuentos tienen una cuota de crueldad y machismo que me molesta bastante y me dificulta el disfrute. Por otra parte, varias de las historias son casi monotemáticas en escenarios diferentes; supongo que en un intento de mantener un estilo.
En las historias más fantásticas y en las de locura lo disfruté más porque no había nada de eso que me molestó. Así que, si va por ese lado, voy a seguir leyendo lo que publique.

Detalle por historia:

- Los caminos internos: 3 estrellas;
- La casa de los eucaliptus: 3 estrellas;
- El tío Gabriel: 3 estrellas
- Los chicos de la noche: 3 estrellas;
- El Espíritu Eterno: 4 estrellas;
- Vida de E.: 5 estrellas;
- La ventana: 4,5 estrellas;
- Eddie: 4 estrellas;
- Muñeca: 1 estrella;
- Acapulco: 1 estrella;
- Carolina baila: 4,5 estrellas;
- Santa: 2 estrellas

Estrellas: 3 de 5 Idioma original: español Idioma de lectura: español
Editorial: Random HouseEdición: tapa blanda

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35925868-la-casa-de-los-eucaliptus

Little Bee - Chris Cleave

ENGLISH REVIEW
(scroll down to see the review in Spanish // Reseña en español debajo)
The premise was promising, but I feel there was something missing. Or should I say that there were three things that bothered me.
One was that I would have left out the chapters with Sarah's view point, because I truly enjoyed the story when it was told by Little Bee in such beautiful writing, but I found myself utterly uninterested in Sarah. In fact, the most striking aspect for me was how well Little Bee's voice and culture was represented, coming from a white, male, English author. Bravo for that!
The second problem had to do with how Andrew is portrayed, for the reader not to like him and thus justify an unimportant plot point. Also, I believe the relationship aspect should have been left out because it didn't contribute to he story at all.
And my last criticism is related to Bee saying that she would have to explain things in a different manner to the girls back home when retelling her story. I get that it is supposed to denote a clash of cultures, but I took it as the author unconsciously underestimating Nigerian people's reasoning capacity.
Nonetheless, I would recommend this book because of the refugee story and the fragments of beautiful writing.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Original language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Edition: paperback
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6948436-little-bee


RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL (Scroll up to see the review in English // Reseña en inglés arriba)

La idea sonaba prometedora, pero me faltó algo. O quizás debería decir que hubo tres cosas que me molestaron.
Por un lado yo no habría incluido los capítulos con el punto de vista de Sarah, porque cuando más disfruté la historia fue durante los capítulos relatados por Little Bee, y no me interesó para nada el personaje de Sarah. De hecho, el aspecto que más me sorprendió, para bien, fue lo bien que estaba representada la voz de Little Bee y su cultura, sobre todo viniendo de la pluma de un autor hombre, blanco e inglés. Lo felicito por eso.
El segundo problema tiene que ver con la caracterización negativa de Andrew, porque apunta a que resulte desagradable para el lector para justificar un punto poco importante de la trama. Además, me parece que se debería haber excluido el tema de las relaciones  porque no aporta nada a la historia.
Por último, la tercera crítica es que Little Bee se la pasa diciendo que tendría que explicar su historia de otra forma si se la estuviera relatando a las chicas en casa. Si bien entiendo que se supone que eso se usa para representar un choque de culturas, sentí como si el autor estuviera subestimando inconscientemente la capacidad de razonamiento de las personas nigerianas.
No obstante, recomendaría este libro de todos modos por la historia sobre la realidad de los refugiados y por los momentos de escritura hermosa.


Estrellas: 3,5 de 5 Idioma original: inglés Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Simon & SchusterEdición: tapa blanda

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10373413-con-el-coraz-n-en-la-mano

Template

ENGLISH REVIEW
(scroll down to see the review in Spanish // Reseña en español debajo)
The premise was promising, but I feel there was something missing. Or should I say that there were three things that bothered me.
One was that I would have left out the chapters with Sarah's view point, because I truly enjoyed the story when it was told by Little Bee in such beautiful writing, but I found myself utterly uninterested in Sarah. In fact, the most striking aspect for me was how well Little Bee's voice and culture was represented, coming from a white, male, English author. Bravo for that!
The second problem had to do with how Andrew is portrayed, for the reader not to like him and thus justify an unimportant plot point. Also, I believe the relationship aspect should have been left out because it didn't contribute to he story at all.
And my last criticism is related to Bee saying that she would have to explain things in a different manner to the girls back home when retelling her story. I get that it is supposed to denote a clash of cultures, but I took it as the author unconsciously underestimating Nigerian people's reasoning capacity.
Nonetheless, I would recommend this book because of the refugee story and the fragments of beautiful writing.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Original language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Edition: paperback
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6948436-little-bee


RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL (Scroll up to see the review in English // Reseña en inglés arriba)

La idea sonaba prometedora, pero me faltó algo. O quizás debería decir que hubo tres cosas que me molestaron.
Por un lado yo no habría incluido los capítulos con el punto de vista de Sarah, porque cuando más disfruté la historia fue durante los capítulos relatados por Little Bee, y no me interesó para nada el personaje de Sarah. De hecho, el aspecto que más me sorprendió, para bien, fue lo bien que estaba representada la voz de Little Bee y su cultura, sobre todo viniendo de la pluma de un autor hombre, blanco e inglés. Lo felicito por eso.
El segundo problema tiene que ver con la caracterización negativa de Andrew, porque apunta a que resulte desagradable para el lector para justificar un punto poco importante de la trama. Además, me parece que se debería haber excluido el tema de las relaciones  porque no aporta nada a la historia.
Por último, la tercera crítica es que Little Bee se la pasa diciendo que tendría que explicar su historia de otra forma si se la estuviera relatando a las chicas en casa. Si bien entiendo que se supone que eso se usa para representar un choque de culturas, sentí como si el autor estuviera subestimando inconscientemente la capacidad de razonamiento de las personas nigerianas.
No obstante, recomendaría este libro de todos modos por la historia sobre la realidad de los refugiados y por los momentos de escritura hermosa.


Estrellas: 3,5 de 5 Idioma original: inglés Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: Simon & SchusterEdición: tapa blanda

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10373413-con-el-coraz-n-en-la-mano

Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore - Paula Guran

Although this is a rather large book, the review will be short and sweet.

Sci.Fi, Gothic, Mystery, Existential, you name it. This book touches on a variety of topics and genres, al revolving around the theme of books, libraries and librarian.

A book that is alive, another acts as a philosopher's stone, a baby as payment for a late return, witches, authors living after their deaths through their books, and much more.

What I love the most about anthologies is that they are a great medium for discovering new authors, some that I would probably never have heard of in other circumstances.

My favorite stories were:

5 stars
- Exchange by Ray Bradbury
- Paper Cuts Scissors by Holly Black
- The Green Book by Amal El-Mohtar
- The Fort Moxie Branch

4.75 stars
- The Inheritance of Barnabas Wilcox by Sarah Monette
- The Midbury Lake Incident by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- What Books Survive

4.5 stars
- If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Xia Jia
- Ad Librum by Paula Guran

4 stars
- In Libres by Elizabeth Bear
- In the House of the Seven Librarians by Ellen Klages
- Special Collections by Norman Partridge

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 starsOriginal language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: Diamond Book Distributors 
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)Expected Publication; 05/30/2017

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33163204-ex-libris?ac=1&from_search=true


* NOTA: No hay reseña en español porque por el momento solo está disponible en inglés.

Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh

ENGLISH REVIEW
(scroll down to see the review in Spanish // Reseña en español debajo)
The story was disturbing, intriguing, disgusting and twisted -all in a good way. The writing style is gripping and makes you want to finish the whole thing in one sitting.

Then why 2.5 stars, then? you might be asking. The problem I had with it was hearing the author say that she wanted to write something different, strange, that would get her noticed so she could become famous. Hadn't I learned that, I would have given it 3.5 stars. 


I don't like it when authors o publishers think they are better than the reader/consumer, that they know what we like and would buy; them trying to play puppet master as if we were chess pieces.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 starsOriginal language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP (The Penguin Press)
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23453099-eileen


RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL (Scroll up to see the review in English // Reseña en inglés arriba)

El libro es perturbador, intrigante, desagradable y retorcido (todo en el buen sentido). La escritura es atrapante y hace que te quieras comer el libro de un saque.

Se preguntarán "entonces, ¿por qué solamente 2 estrellas y media?. El problema que tuve con este libro fue que me enteré que la autora dijo que quería escribir algo diferente y raro, que le diera notoriedad, porque quería hacerse famosa. De no haberme enterado de eso, este libro se llevaría una estrella más.


Me molesta cuando los autores y/o editoriales se creen mejores que el lector/consumidor porque "saben" lo que nos gusta y vamos a comprar; que jueguen al titiritero y nos quieran manejar como piezas de ajedrez.

Estrellas: 2,5 de 5 Idioma original: inglés Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: PENGUIN GROUP (The Penguin Press)Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33384705-mi-nombre-era-eileen

Eileen - Otessa Moshfegh

ENGLISH REVIEW
(scroll down to see the review in Spanish // Reseña en español debajo)
The story was disturbing, intriguing, disgusting and twisted -all in a good way. The writing style is gripping and makes you want to finish the whole thing in one sitting.

Then why 2.5 stars, then? you might be asking. The problem I had with it was hearing the author say that she wanted to write something different, strange, that would get her noticed so she could become famous. Hadn't I learned that, I would have given it 3.5 stars. 


I don't like it when authors o publishers think they are better than the reader/consumer, that they know what we like and would buy; them trying to play puppet master as if we were chess pieces.


Rating: 2.5 out of 5 starsOriginal language: EnglishLanguage read: English Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP (The Penguin Press)
Edition: ebook (provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23453099-eileen


RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL (Scroll up to see the review in English // Reseña en inglés arriba)

El libro es perturbador, intrigante, desagradable y retorcido (todo en el buen sentido). La escritura es atrapante y hace que te quieras comer el libro de un saque.

Se preguntarán "entonces, ¿por qué solamente 2 estrellas y media?. El problema que tuve con este libro fue que me enteré que la autora dijo que quería escribir algo diferente y raro, que le diera notoriedad, porque quería hacerse famosa. De no haberme enterado de eso, este libro se llevaría una estrella más.


Me molesta cuando los autores y/o editoriales se creen mejores que el lector/consumidor porque "saben" lo que nos gusta y vamos a comprar; que jueguen al titiritero y nos quieran manejar como piezas de ajedrez.

Estrellas: 2,5 de 5 Idioma original: inglés Idioma de lectura: inglés
Editorial: PENGUIN GROUP (The Penguin Press)Edición: ebook (proporcionado por Netgalley a cambio de una reseña honesta)

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33384705-mi-nombre-era-eileen