Alexandra García Galván's Blog, page 7

Book Review: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

★★☆☆☆
"I wish I could go away somewhere, but the only problem with that is that I'd have to go too."
How difficult can it be to portray a character, not only for one movie but five, and impact not only one generation but several? Carrie Fisher is very clear about this in The Princess Diarist. And if I think about it, I think she could be showing her middle finger right at me for attempting to write this weak review, I mean, the whole question sounds like an euphemism. Should I rephrase? How fucking difficult can it be to portray a fiction character in one of the most important sagas of all time while inspiring all generations while losing control of life, privacy, and sanity?
Movie stars sell their body and souls to media the moment they sign their first contract. Lap dancing. The thing with Carrie Fisher's life was that hers was already sold since she first came into the world. Being the daughter of Debbie Reynolds wasn't something small. What could she do? Go with the flow. What she didn't know was that such flow was actually a !hyperspace  jump.
In this book, Carrie shared some of her memories while filming the first Star Wars movie, but she did it with dialogues integrated, which seemed a little weird, because no people can remember that much... well, there are some, but this wasn't the case.
She remembered the moment when she made her audition for Leia's role, when she was picked for it, how uncomfortable she felt with hair and costumes, but mostly, she talked about her forbidden and sad romance with Harrison Ford... a part that she advised to skip. I'd recommend that too, but that particular part was necessary to understand the following two chapters.
Now, the writing part. Hers didn't grab my attention at first, but after that Carrison chapter, I felt she started to show her true colors. Some of her poems were raw, incredibly intense for a young woman, but still understandable because of her lifestyle and with the things she previously lived with Ford. In this part, another Carrie Fisher is talking. The text feels more free and sincere. She expressed what she felt at fan conventions, at seeing her old photographs, and how this whole experience made her feel she lived as two persons in some moments of her life, because of fans, because of herself.
In simple words, I see this book as her way to say "I'm Carrie, not Leia. Please look at me as Carrie."

Book Review: Matilda by Roald Dahl

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹
★★★★★
I had never had the pleasure of reading a Dahl's book and I have mixed emotions!
When I was a child, I used to watch the movie every time it was on TV. I always felt identified with this intelligent girl, not because of her wisdom, but with her incomparable love for books. I'm a bit ashamed that I learned about this book quite recently, I mean, I know some of Dahl's books and their adaptations (haven't read them but still knew about them) and then BOOM, found out about Matilda here (Goodreads). I got completely astonished but decided to find this book and devour it.
I DID, AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.
Dahl's writing is exquisite, full of beautiful words that drive you nostalgic about your childhood, and at the same time, it makes you feel that you've read this book in the perfect time. Not all books make you feel this way, they always have that little something that makes you feel that they belong to a certain genre, and I couldn't help but disagree about the classification of this one.
Matilda is the book I didn't know I needed. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2016. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections, but has not changed its intention.

Book Review: Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹


★★☆☆☆

After thinking about it a lot, I decided to change the rating of this book from 3 to 2 stars. This story could've been written in such a marvelous way and it wasn't. I understand that Piper Kerman is not a professional writer, but that's why editors exist, I suppose.
I felt a lack of depth in many situations, like Kerman's development as a character and with the inmates for example. You forget who they're because there are a lot of names and no story about them.
There were some things that freaked me out. For example, I didn't believe in what was Kerman saying in almost every situation, and in a book the most important thing is that your reader believes in what you're saying, even if it is in a fantasy book. The point here is that, even if she's saying the truth, I don't buy it.
But the thing that won a second star in this book is that I could actually see how the system works if you have a white woman as an inmate. No one can deny privileges, we see that every day.

Well, for me, this book was a disappointment and to have watched the series before isn't even a factor, they're totally different. The series is believable.

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2014. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections, but has not changed its intention.

Book Review: Orange Is the New Black

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹


★★☆☆☆

After thinking about it a lot, I decided to change the rating of this book from 3 to 2 stars. This story could've been written in such a marvelous way and it wasn't. I understand that Piper Kerman is not a professional writer, but that's why editors exist, I suppose.
I felt a lack of depth in many situations, like Kerman's development as a character and with the inmates for example. You forget who they're because there are a lot of names and no story about them.
There were some things that freaked me out. For example, I didn't believe in what was Kerman saying in almost every situation, and in a book the most important thing is that your reader believes in what you're saying, even if it is in a fantasy book. The point here is that, even if she's saying the truth, I don't buy it.
But the thing that won a second star in this book is that I could actually see how the system works if you have a white woman as an inmate. No one can deny privileges, we see that every day.

Well, for me, this book was a disappointment and to have watched the series before isn't even a factor, they're totally different. The series is believable.

¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2014. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections, but has not changed its intention.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne

Previously posted on Goodreads!


★☆☆☆☆
This is one of the worst book reviews I've made... and I'm completely broken about it. I must say though, that I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much because of the way it's written (I'm no fan of written plays) and because Rowling didn't write this all by herself. But Harry Potter is Harry Potter and Rowling approved, right? So, of course I had to read it.
Plays are written in a way that if you don't go see it, you can imagine how does the stage look because of the descriptions; the characters have long speeches because of the same reason, they need to show their emotions through them and explain things that we, as readers, can't understand without a narrator. As I said, I'm not into reading plays, but I found this one lacking a lot of play structure.
The pace of the book was OK, I suppose. They gave enough background to show us how Albus didn't feel comfortable with being Harry Potter's son. Harry is a celebrity and, as in real life, a child of a celebrity can't cope with this kind of life, but in Harry Potter's arc... this wasn't exactly expected. I mean, didn't Harry and Albus feel comfortable around each other at the end of Deathly Hallows? They looked so confident between them, Harry even shared one of his biggest secrets to him, showing us a very nice relationship between a father and son, and then all of that just *writers saying Evanesco* bye-bye?
I didn't buy it.
This story could've been easily saved and just got worse and worse. I didn't find the story original, but I have to accept they picked a good place to return in the Harry Potter saga. Goblet of Fire is the point where a children's book series becomes so dark and cruel that it was nice to revisit, specially because this gives Albus the opportunity to become aware of his father's battle with darkness at the same age. That was a good part, but here's a list of the not bad but ugly parts that made me wanna throw away what I was reading:
SPOILER ALERT!

I'm a Doctor Who fan, I've seen all the episodes since the Ninth Doctor, therefore I wasn't surprised of how things were happening. I was even expecting Harry's death in some point and guess who died? And even without Doctor Who, there are a lot, A LOT of movies and TV shows that portray this same plot... I need a rest.When I was younger and I read Deathly Hallows, I tried to write a fic where Voldemort had a daughter with Bellatrix and that said daughter arrived to Hogwarts looking for revenge. I stopped writing because I found it stupid. And guess what I just read?WHAT HAVE THEY DONE WITH RON WEASLEY?? I've seen a lot of you complaining about Harry's behavior but I can't agree with you. One of Harry's traits is to be a VERY impulsive character. How many times didn't he say something hurtful? Like in Order of the Phoenix. Ron on the other hand... Oh my God... Did they take inspiration of movie!Ron? Because I only saw him as the comic relief failure. His lines were poor and immature, they tried to make him funny and failed, even in the darkest part of the play!Rose x Scorpius was so forced! When I read DH and knew Draco had a child, in that moment I shipped him with Rose, of course, but when reading this one... this is more an Scorbus ship and it didn't happen, WT...?There are a lot of plot holes but the one that matters to me is Sirius Black. I mean, wasn't he in Godric's Hollow with Hagrid? The story was supposed to focus on father figures. We revisited a lot of characters that were important to Harry, like Dumbledore, Snape (and him being all nice, ugh, no), Hagrid, so where the hell was Sirius?I couldn't get used of the way they addressed to each other. I mean, Malfoy and Harry calling Professor McGonagall "Minerva", Hermione calling Malfoy "Draco"... It was supposed to be something cute, I guess, it just didn't make click.Hermione keeping the time turner in her library... Really? Hermione Granger??I didn't know it was that easy to get to Hogwarts grounds. You should show me your ways, Delphi! Should I forget the little we know about Hogwarts, A History?Ron.Amos and Cedric Diggory, two of the kindest persons in the wizard story, were transformed into very weak beings, one is a very resentful person, and the other becomes a Death Eater... a DEATH EATER OF ALL THINGS!I guess is so easy to get Harry, Ron, and Hermione's hair these days for polyjuice potion.And I better stop now or I'll rewrite the entire play.END OF SPOILERS!
In conclusion, I'm sad and angry, but mostly sad. I totally agree that all characters were, in fact, OOC. I understand that they had to be different because they're grown ups now, but that doesn't mean is OK to change them completely and transform them into lifeless beings. The only two moments I felt "something" were a mini discussion that Ginny had with Malfoy and the scene between Harry and Dumbledore's portrait. JUST TWO MOMENTS! I guess that's the main reason of my disappointment. I didn't enjoy a thing and while I was reading it I was telling myself "maybe this is a prank, a very good one, but it needs to stop."
Of course it didn't.

Very Tiny Book Reviews: Lullabies, My Beautiful Birds, Sinful Cinderella and A Court of Wings and Ruin

The following reviews are so small that are rather comments. I still think they deserve to be here.
Previously posted on Goodreads!

★★★★★My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne del Rizzo: A masterpiece. I hadn't read a book so touching and raw in a very long time, and even though it's aimed for children, it almost made me cry. It truly makes you put things into perspective. I have the need for all kids and adults around the world to read and see it, for the illustrations are mesmerizing.


★★★☆☆A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas: This book was kinda disappointing. I think the development of the story and the writing was good in the first part, but it started to lack something in the second half, I couldn't read it right away because I had homwork, but I didn't feel the need to finish it. It was nothing compared to the second book... but Rhysand didn't disappoint ;) And... how dare you, Sarah? You know which part I mean!




★★☆☆☆Lullabies by Lang Leav: I didn't find all of the writing good, compared to The Universe of Us, and the ones that were a bit of my taste are unfortunately forgettable. Sad, because I pretended to read more of her next.

★★☆☆☆Sinful Cinderella by Anita Valle: It as an interesting idea, like a good idea for a Once Upon a Time  episode because of the main character's wikedness. Unfortunately, the writing didn't captivate me, the book and I didn't have chemistry. Also, I felt that it's like an incomplete book, probably because it makes you go right to the next one without a cliffhanger.

Book Review: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

★★★★★


"Listen to the MUSN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me-
Anything can happen, child, 
ANYTHING can be."


I heard about this book when I was at the university. A teacher gave us the poem Hug O' War and asked us how we would translate/adapt it into Mexican Spanish -being aware that we were upon a pun and also a tiny drawing related to the text. Those kind of translations make your brain explode, by the way, but you also have a lot of fun doing them. I don't remember know how we collectively translated it, but the title of the poem and its little drawing stuck for a while. I never looked for that book, though.

Years later, I started to read small poems with drawings, Rupi Kaur style, and I found Where the Sidewalk Ends when looking for more similar works. I didn't recognize the book at first, but it caught my attention because of the funny dog on the cover. Then I turned the page and saw it: the tiny drawing of two kids hugging. Hug O' War. I had my flashback and I knew I had to read this book completely. And what a delight!

This is one of those books that you can't put down until you finish it... or at least that's what would've happened if I hadn't had an existencial crisis in the middle of it. The poems are aimed for children, but I think it was written with the purpose to entertain their parents as well. I have no kids, but I was equally entertained and happy reading it... maybe I'm still a kid, I don't know, I need to ask. The texts are rhymed, have puns, have jokes, have drawings that are also poems! If you're an adult, they transport you to your childhood and remind you of your dreams and games. If you're a kid, you laugh at their hilariousness, their sound, and their drawings.

Definitely 5 stars! And I can't wait to read it again!

Sobre la lectura

Este es un texto ficcionalizado para una clase de la maestría. El propósito es informar un poco sobre la evolución de la lectura durante los años 2000-2020... pero soy una ridícula, así que me fui un poco más allá:

Hoy cumplí 70 años. Acabo de llegar del restaurante en donde celebré con mi familia y lo primero que hago después de bañarme y ponerme la pijama, es buscar mis lentes para leer un rato. Apago la luz, me acurruco en la cama y los lentes se encienden. Mis ojos buscan el título que mi hermana dijo que habría en mi biblioteca virtual como regalo de cumpleaños. No me toma nada de tiempo, ya que el nuevo título brilla a diferencia de los otros. El libro se abre al momento y las letras aparecen frente a mí, como si flotaran. Mis ojos ya no tienen que configurar ni el tipo ni el tamaño de la letra o el ritmo de lectura, solo me deshago del audio para poder tener una lectura normal.

Una lectura normal…

Es curioso cómo lo normal cambia de una época a otra. Yo solía leer de una manera muy distinta… ¿Hacía cuánto de eso ahora? ¿15 años desde que me rendí totalmente al vicio de leer de manera puramente digital? ¿Más? Cuando tenía casi 30 no hacía más que pensar en ampliar mi biblioteca física de libros, y a pesar de que no tenía demasiados como hubiera deseado, me sentía orgullosa de lo que ahí había. Pero el incendio llegó y se llevó nuestra casa, nuestras fotos… mis libros. Ahí había de todo: libros pequeños de la infancia, algunos clásicos que no había leído completos por lo enormes que eran, una increíble pila de libros por leer… pero eran todos míos, por regalos o por berrinches.

Obviamente mi biblioteca no era la de Alejandría, pero de igual manera no creo necesario decir cuánto lloré. Curiosamente, mi Kindle, que tenía más de 50 libros, sobrevivió porque ese día lo llevaba conmigo, pero aquel Kindle no era de la primera generación de 2007, esa que simplemente tenía la función de ser un lector electrónico y ya, el mío era de hecho de la octava generación, aquella que además de lector era de los que a la vez podían tener todas las aplicaciones de un teléfono, lo cual era mucha distracción. El caso es que… esos 50 libros no los podía tocar, ni oler… pero al menos quedaban guardados en un lugar donde el fuego tal vez podría dañar al dispositivo, pero no las obras. Lo cual es irónico considerando que Kindle significa encender.

Yo solía tener una relación amor-odio con el aparatito desde antes del incendio. Odio porque no consideraba a aquello leer, leer, pero amor porque me gustaba descargar los libros que había gratis en la tienda y sí, también terminaba descargando PDFs que no eran copias autorizadas. Aunque aquello tenía una ventaja: a pesar de que en un principio quería tener una biblioteca enorme, sabía que aquello era muy difícil debido a lo económico, así que el tener copias virtuales gratis o PDFs, me ayudaba a la hora de escoger qué comprar. Así que leía un libro de ahí cuando no me distraía, lo compraba en físico si me gustaba, con la portada más linda que pudiera encontrar por cierto, o lo borraba del dispositivo para no saber más de él si resultaba ser una decepción. No lo niego, aquel método de búsqueda de tesoros era divertido.

Antes del incendio y por allá de 2011, yo tenía un blog, pero después decidí mudarme a la página de Goodreads, en donde una comunidad enorme de lectores compartía sus reseñas, calificaciones hacia los libros y escritos propios, aunque lo último era lo menos frecuente. ¡Esa página era el verdadero Face-book! Aquello hizo que comenzara a escribir mis propias reseñas, que no eran tan buenas ni extensas como las que había ahí, pero eso me entusiasmaba a leer más y a hacer comparaciones. Las maneras en que se recomendaban los libros o las maneras de saber sobre ellos cambiaban de manera un tanto brusca pero satisfactoria. Había otro método que también me encantaba para el proceso de lectura, pero para ello utilizaba el celular. No, no me ponía a leer directamente ahí, sino que había páginas, como Tumblr e Instagram, en donde usuarios compartían fotos de manera muy artística de los libros que leían en el momento o que les gustaban, eran fotos tan maravillosas que parecían sacadas de algún estudio. Así que, gracias a todo ello, mi biblioteca estaba adquiriendo un toque colorido, tanto de manera literal como metafórica. Tuve también el placer de conocer a una Booktuber y de ver sus reseñas en vez de leerlas desde que estaba en la universidad, alrededor de 2010. Escuché audiolibros y descubrí que me gustaban más si eran los mismos autores quienes leían. ¡Eran libros y libros por doquier y aquello no podía ser más perfecto! 10 años después, era como si no hubiera hecho nada.

Sí volví a comprar libros, sí volví a recibirlos como obsequios en San Valentín o cumpleaños, pero el miedo a perderlos otra vez era más fuerte, por lo que dejé de llenar estantes casi a los 40. También me ganó el impulso porque los Kindle eran cada vez más hermosos. Recuerdo que me volví loca cuando la versión con proyector salió. ¡Tenías tu libro proyectado y parecía que lo tenías justo frente a ti para cambiar la página sin tocar la pantalla! Años después, sentía que ya había vuelto a recuperar casi todos los títulos de mi juventud de manera más barata y todo guardado en la nube. Sin embargo, los que llegaban a mi casa a visitarme ya no veían estantes con libros, ni preguntaban “¿A poco has leído todo eso?” Ya nadie se detenía a mirar si teníamos gustos en común, y si llegaban a tener la más remota curiosidad, podían ver mi inventario en TBR, sucesor de Goodreads (que crecía más que nada en la sección Libros que quiero leer). ¿Aquello hería mi ego? Pues sí.

Aún en el año 2061, en donde ahora me encuentro, los libros se siguen leyendo, coleccionando, publicando en físico. Sin embargo, los lectores siempre se han ido adaptando a sus necesidades. El mundo avanza cada vez más deprisa, por lo que comprar en línea, guardar los libros para después y leerlos cuando se tiene tiempo desde cualquier dispositivo electrónico es una ventaja fascinante. A los 26 años, yo no consideraba siquiera cambiar los libros por una pantalla, pero ahora me doy cuenta que lo importante no es el cómo leer, sino el poder leer.

Alexandra, The Dorky Writer - Chapter 4

Alexandra, The Dorky Writer, thought this time she'd succeed with the delivery of her tasks on time and in perfect conditions, but she was wrong -what a shock. She had a lot of enemies, but this time she didn't face a writer's block but drowsiness. It was like fighting to stay awake against the curse that was cast on the Sleeping Beauty. The problem was that she was no Beauty and there was no member of a royal family near to help her waking up, so... double trouble.

The Dorky Writer was defeated, but it was a sleeping curse and not a death one, so she woke up years later, drank a potion, and then stayed awake for almost 24 hours... which wasn't so good either.

I decided to stop drinking coffee months ago because caffeine makes me more anxious than normal, but yesterday... damn. I had to stop at a convenience store and buy one of those drinks that give you energy. I didn't take the one that has taurine or similar in them but the one that only has caffeine. I have to admit that I felt nervous about it, but it was that or having a car accident on my way to the other place where I work.

I had been trying to read for my homework in the last days and had been failing miserably. I've been tired and in a sad mood, which doesn't help. Anyway, I drank that thing, I didn't have any anxious episode, which was more than perfect, and I could continue with my daily work. But when I got home I had problems again. I grabbed the ebook and tried to reread all I had previously "read", I felt I was going to sleep on it and then BOOM. That beverage made its effect way later and I took advantage of it, I started to read the way I like, fast and making important notes. I felt I was finally going to deliver a good paper, because the last one had been crap. And then... "the following pages aren't available due to copywright." WHAT WAS I EXPECTING? 

I was reading it from the Google Books page. I'd never read a book from there, but one of my classmates said almost the entire book was available, so I decided to give it a shoot instead of looking for it online to order it and wait a lot to get it. I looked for it in a PDF format, on another site, nothing. My last resort was buying the ebook, but my debit card wasn't accepted for a reason I still don't understand. So... no completed homework. It's terrible, because I'm going to go to class and feel like an irresponsible student, even if it wasn't completely my fault.. or maybe it is, I don't know. What made me real angry was that I was there, with no book anymore... and completely awake.

I think I felt asleep around 3 am. At least I slept wonderfully because I didn't have to go to work the next day.

The Dorky Writer never drank that potion again.

End of Chapter 4.

Alexandra, The Dorky Writer - Chapter 3

I've discovered a very funny thing: writing inspiration strikes when I need to do homework. And, if I really think about it, I used to do that at the University... I could be doing a translation exercise and BOOM! Ale had to write. And she did! Mostly in the last pages of her notebook, and rarely on a second Word document.

So, in what am I thinking about now?

The Dorky Writer had a job: she was also a Jedi Master [insert disc scratch]. OK, OK, not a Jedi Master, but still a teacher. An English teacher, if I want to be more specific. A pretty average one. Nothing special. Anyway... After months, and months, and months of wanting to go to a dragon's hoard, maybe not to steal some money but to politely ask for a loan, the Dorky Writer could finally get paid and feel some silver coins in her pocket. Her first stop? THE BOOK SHOP [insert another annoying disc scratch]. OK, I didn't go there, I had to pay school, and gas, BUT the idea of going is still there. 

Some months ago, I made a TBR list featuring female writers. But I can't lie: I know I still need to narrow my idea for The Mighty Thesis. Should I compare them according to their age? Should I go through a political path? An educational one? What about feminism? Or cultural differences? THE HELL I KNOW! But I think I've selected a good bunch for either case:

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter by Simone de Beauvoir (born in France, 1908)
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (born in Germany, 1929)
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (born in Iran, 1948)
Geisha, A Life  by Mineko Iwasaki (born in Japan, 1949)
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China  by Jung Chang (born in China, 1952)
Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail by Malika Oufkir (born in Morocco, 1953)  
Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard (born in UK, 1955) 
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (born in Iran, 1969)
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung (born in Cambodia, 1970)
Daring to Drive by Manal al-Sharif (born in Saudi Arabia, 1979) 
I Am Malala  by Malala Yousafzai (born in Pakistan, 1997) 

With the exception of Beard's book, all of these are memoirs (the ones in bold are the only ones I've read, but definitely need to visit again).

IMPORTANT NOTE:
I have the idea that when I finish with another two books, I'll get closer to what I want. And I know it seems I hadn't started at all, but I realized something: I started to read Amy Poehler's Yes Please , and even though her story is interesting and funny (I mean, have you ever seen Parks and Recreation? That woman is fun indeed!), getting to know how an artist of any category became a celebrity isn't what I want to write about.

POINT FOR THE DORKY WRITER! 

It will depend of its availability, but I feel I need to read Women & Power first. It's the only one that has historical references and it might even mention some other women's stories that can help. 

End of Chapter 3.