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Lilus Kikus and Other Stories
Elena Poniatowska is recognized today as one of Mexico's greatest writers. Lilus Kikus, published in 1954, was her first book. However, it was labeled a children's book because it had a young girl as protagonist, it included illustrations, and the author was an unknown woman. Lilus Kikus has not received the critical attention or a translation into English it deserved, until now. Accompanying Lilus Kikus in this first American edition are four of Poniatowska's short stories with female protagonists, only one of which has been previously published in English. Poniatowska is admired today as a feminist, but in 1954, when Lilus Kikus appeared, feminism didn't have broad appeal. Twenty-first-century readers will be fascinated by the way Poniatowska uses her child protagonist to point out the flaws in adult society. Each of the drawings by the great surrealist Leonora Carrington that accompany the chapters in Lilus Kikus expresses a subjective, interiorized vision of the child character's contemplations on life.
"A tantalizingly complex feminist author, whose importance and originality have yet to be appreciated in this country."--Cynthia Steele, author of Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988
"A tantalizingly complex feminist author, whose importance and originality have yet to be appreciated in this country."--Cynthia Steele, author of Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988
135 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
About the author
Elena Poniatowska
174 books848 followersHélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor was born on May 19, 1933, in Paris, France. Her father was French of Polish ancestry and her mother a Mexican who was raised in France. When she was nine Poniatowska's family moved to México City. She grew up speaking French and learned English in a private British school. However, her knowledge of Spanish came from talking with the maids, so her written Spanish was largely colloquial. Poniatowska developed ties with the Mexican lower class in her youth and thus gained a sense of belonging to and an understanding of the Mexican culture. She felt and thought of herself as completely Mexican and of Spanish as her native language. Her works include characters who belong to the underprivileged classes, and she often gave voice to the powerless of her country.
She started writing as a journalist in 1954 and interviewed many famous Mexican and international writers. Many of these interviews can be found in her Palabras Cruzadas (1961; Crossed Words) and later in her Todo México (1990; All of Mexico). Besides her famous interviews, she also wrote several novels, short stories, chronicles, plays, and poems.
Among her novels are Hasta no verte, Jesús mío (1969; Until I see You, My Jesus), which earned her the Mazatlan Prize; Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (1978; Dear Diego, love Quiela); La "Flor de Lis" (1988; The "Flower of the Lily"); and Tinísima (1992; Tinisima). Other narratives include Lilus Kikus (1954; Lilus Kikus; later an expanded edition appeared as Los cuentos [The Accounts] de Lilus Kikus in 1967); De noche vienes (1979; You Come at Night); Ay vida no me mereces (1985; Life, You Don't Deserve Me); Domingo 7 (1982; Seventh Sunday); Gaby Brimmer (1979; Gaby Brimmer); Todo empezó el domingo (1963; Everything Started on Sunday); and El último guajolote (1982; The Last Turkey).
Her chronicle La noche de Tlatelolco (1971; Massacre in Mexico) earned her the Javier Villarrutia Prize. She refused to accept it because she did not want to identify herself with then-President Echeverría's political establishment. Other chronicles include Fuerte es el silencio (1980; Silence Is Strong), and Nada, nadie: las voces del temblor (1988; Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Earthquake).
In theater, her play Melés y Teleo (1956; Melés and Teleo) uses a word game in the title, meaning "you read to me and I read to you." Finally, her poetry can be found in the Spanish publications Rojo de vida y negro de muerte, Estaciones, and Abside.
Ponistowska's skill as a novelist was her ability to combine fact with fiction. She lent her voice to the voiceless, but at the same time she took a step back and let the victims come forward to express their needs and pain, letting the Mexican people speak through her. Her settings were mostly in Mexico, and her characters were either Mexicans or people such as Angelina Beloff (Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela) or Tina Modotti (Tinísima) who lived important passages of their lives in Mexico. Many of her female characters are at the mercy of men. Their lives are ruled by a world made up of double standards. They try to do the right thing, but in the end they lose the men they loved and for whom they sacrificed. It is clear then that these women are never really appreciated.
Poniatowska had a great affinity with women and liked to write about them. But she also was interested in the poor, the weak, the street children, and the powerless. Interviewing the common people of Mexico became her trademark. After her first publication (Lilus Kikus, 1954), her writings became more and more political. For example, in Querido Diego (1978) Quiela's story is completely personal. It focuses upon her and her lover, the famous painter Diego Rivera. By comparison, in Tinísima (1992) Poniatowska reveals not just Modotti's emotional life but also her professional and political life as a communist.
However, Poniatowska's style often made it difficult fo
She started writing as a journalist in 1954 and interviewed many famous Mexican and international writers. Many of these interviews can be found in her Palabras Cruzadas (1961; Crossed Words) and later in her Todo México (1990; All of Mexico). Besides her famous interviews, she also wrote several novels, short stories, chronicles, plays, and poems.
Among her novels are Hasta no verte, Jesús mío (1969; Until I see You, My Jesus), which earned her the Mazatlan Prize; Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela (1978; Dear Diego, love Quiela); La "Flor de Lis" (1988; The "Flower of the Lily"); and Tinísima (1992; Tinisima). Other narratives include Lilus Kikus (1954; Lilus Kikus; later an expanded edition appeared as Los cuentos [The Accounts] de Lilus Kikus in 1967); De noche vienes (1979; You Come at Night); Ay vida no me mereces (1985; Life, You Don't Deserve Me); Domingo 7 (1982; Seventh Sunday); Gaby Brimmer (1979; Gaby Brimmer); Todo empezó el domingo (1963; Everything Started on Sunday); and El último guajolote (1982; The Last Turkey).
Her chronicle La noche de Tlatelolco (1971; Massacre in Mexico) earned her the Javier Villarrutia Prize. She refused to accept it because she did not want to identify herself with then-President Echeverría's political establishment. Other chronicles include Fuerte es el silencio (1980; Silence Is Strong), and Nada, nadie: las voces del temblor (1988; Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Earthquake).
In theater, her play Melés y Teleo (1956; Melés and Teleo) uses a word game in the title, meaning "you read to me and I read to you." Finally, her poetry can be found in the Spanish publications Rojo de vida y negro de muerte, Estaciones, and Abside.
Ponistowska's skill as a novelist was her ability to combine fact with fiction. She lent her voice to the voiceless, but at the same time she took a step back and let the victims come forward to express their needs and pain, letting the Mexican people speak through her. Her settings were mostly in Mexico, and her characters were either Mexicans or people such as Angelina Beloff (Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela) or Tina Modotti (Tinísima) who lived important passages of their lives in Mexico. Many of her female characters are at the mercy of men. Their lives are ruled by a world made up of double standards. They try to do the right thing, but in the end they lose the men they loved and for whom they sacrificed. It is clear then that these women are never really appreciated.
Poniatowska had a great affinity with women and liked to write about them. But she also was interested in the poor, the weak, the street children, and the powerless. Interviewing the common people of Mexico became her trademark. After her first publication (Lilus Kikus, 1954), her writings became more and more political. For example, in Querido Diego (1978) Quiela's story is completely personal. It focuses upon her and her lover, the famous painter Diego Rivera. By comparison, in Tinísima (1992) Poniatowska reveals not just Modotti's emotional life but also her professional and political life as a communist.
However, Poniatowska's style often made it difficult fo
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August 11, 2013
Through the fog of her illness, Lilus sees many women pass, stiff and moralistic, with black letters on their chests and backs that say, "Prohibited, Prohibited," and who threaten her with expulsion from the organization Flowering Souls. Lilus feels enclosed and imprisoned.
A train that is happy for some, sad for others stomps through their beds like he's Godzilla. Not stopping to smell anything, smile anything, bringing Lilus to the convent school. God speed to God fearing. All of the things she liked to do travel backwards. She would charge her little friends to see her cuts and scrapes. She'd smash blackberries in her palms to see the blood. I bet they tasted better than they looked. Lilus used to be a little friend and a wild haired child. Little beneath the answering figures. All of the stories of Lilus' life end in swallow yourself and be good. This is the way to goodness.
I liked the drawings (Leonora Carrington's illustrations) of the nuns who cloister in cross-eyed and straight ahead knowing slants. They know everything of which she must do to grow up and be submissive. I stare at them all to see if one of them looks like she knows something else than she is saying.
In these stories a wild flower is stomped on and crushed as if it were the only way it could ever go. If some trains were sad and some were happy they share the same destination. Sometimes they are similar Lilus Kikus flowers. They could answer to Kolis Liko or maybe a Fuchis Lokis. It killed me a little every time she learns the right way to be. Little girls don't. The best friend to Lilus is a simpleton. I didn't hear secrets in her baby talk. The word on the street is to be a stupid woman is to be more attractive to men. Her husband will strangle her one day after an announcement of no dinner. Such a spirited flower makes its bed. I hate the winds if it has got to be this way.
Lilus is disillusioned. Things always happen to her only halfway.
The drawings were great. Elena Poniatowska's lines of her girls and people, sometimes happy and sometimes sad, are in movement and not in endings. Every time I think she's going to peel back the too fasts and then the boots win again. So I liked the drawings the best. A giant and hair you can't see her eyes as if she were a breed of the Muppets that don't have eyes, only hair. She sits in a tree and seems to want to hold the nest of birds. She's this big only when she's alone.
There's a bed with a cat underneath it as if it were made of the bed and the bed were made of it. Covers up to the eyes. Shrouding the eyes. Maybe if you keep your eyes closed you could avoid the maybe not inevitable but happens too damned often fates of flowers in a world of sexist beasts. The sides of her fever dream bed are met in fishies, frogs and creepy crawlies. They appear walk upside down and shaking fists. I'm relieved someone noticed. If someone saw her stop and smell the flowers I hope they hope she was doing it without any conscious gratitude. In this story Lilus learns about virgins and Mary Magdalene. Don't learn about that. It doesn't have to always be that way. Hide the big book with all of the hateful words like slut and virgin. Someone should, anyway.
Lilus is so little under mustachioed men (their mustaches swallowed their smiles like satisfied felines) and a big messy sun. No one tells this sun what to do. Look up. I can't see the eyes and I like that she seems to be looking up. I liked that. Would it be terrible to say that I missed the heroine of my childhood, Ramona Quimby. I'd reread those books, hidden under my desk in class. In a move to make Ramona herself proud I had the ludicrous notion that I would get in less trouble if I pretended to be asleep rather than reading. She was the not-right girl I could wear over my heart and say: "This is me." I wonder if little girls in Mexico took Lilus Kikus to their sleeves and then walked as slow as they could to avoid reaching the end.
I read in the biography/introduction that Poniatowska had to have her rape baby in secret,far away in France. Later she would marry a man she loved and he adopted this baby. The wikipedia page on her is la di da happy clappy this didn't happen and the depressing as shit(though that's in this edition's biography too) of the exception, the Mexican lady author. The in spite of, carving away against the tides. (She sounds bad ass too, still working her bad ass butt off for the downtrodden.) I wish I had something to rail against and make that not so. Where are the maps to send the trains of everything in other directions? Lots of other possibilities. That anyone has to be the exception. It is written all over her face hidden behind earth and wind hair that it is a world to make me feel pitfall stomach. The other side of the speeding future. I can understand the shadows and the ugly and all of that without knowing where she was when she wrote Lilus Kikus. The fear overtakes the running. Was anyone listening to the injustices when the own lives kill themselves for supposed to-dos and gottas? Lilus Kikus made me too damned sad. Would it be terrible if I rewrote the ending? Lilus isn't afraid of God. She looks out the window and she's big no matter if anyone else is around.
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December 15, 2021Lilus Kikus, by Elena Poniatowksa, on the surface level, is about a young girl and her adventures as she grows up. This book was first published in 1954 erroneously as a child’s novel due to the age of the protagonist (although her age is never clearly defined) and the simplistic writing style. However, Lilus Kikus is bursting at the seams with a feminist and anti-patriarchal agenda.
As a modern reader, the evidence of this book’s agenda is so apparently and blunt that the only explanation as to how it could ever be passed as a children’s novel is because the publishing industry in the 50s, especially in Mexico, was dominated by men and they just didn’t expect this sort of commentary from a woman.
The reader is first introduced to Lilus when she is outside playing. Lilus does not like to play with dolls (which are traditionally feminine), instead she prefers to play doctor and perform experiments (traditionally masculine roles). As she grows up, she joins an all-girls school where one of her closest friends, the “Lamb,” is being sent away due to pre-marital sex that resulted in pregnancy.
When Lilus is talking to her next-door neighbor, the Philosopher, he says this of the Lamb:
“The lamb, the lamb… let me think. Ah yes, the feminist. The free thinker. … Well, life started too early for her.” Lilus herself is neither fully feminine nor fully masculine, but she knows better than to try and stand up for her female rights. She knows she will end up exiled like the Lamb and decides that "she would rather keep quiet. It is better to feel than to know."
Indeed, the Lamb was born into the wrong time period, where women are not allowed to commit the same “sins” as men or hold the same positions. They are meant to be beautiful, vivacious and submissive: “Also, Lilus had heard it said that dummies were the most enchanting women in the world.”
One of my favorite parts of this book is when Lilus is describing her good friend, Chiruelita, who is very naiive and innocent. Chiruelita is the picture perfect idea of a "feminine" lady, of a "delicate" woman. She ends up marrying an artist and obeying him easily, until the one day she decides to think for herself and “with a languid gesture, the eccentric artist wrung her neck!”
If that's not a blatant statement comparing the patriarchy to the silencing of women, then I don't know what is. It is baffling to see how original readers missed all of this subtext.
Eventually, Lilus cannot be contained and is sent to a nunnery where she is completely oppressed, both by the patriarchy and the Catholic religion. The ending is open – it can be read as Lilus searching for signs of rebellion or as Lilus searching for signs of God.
All this in a “children’s” book.
As a modern reader, the evidence of this book’s agenda is so apparently and blunt that the only explanation as to how it could ever be passed as a children’s novel is because the publishing industry in the 50s, especially in Mexico, was dominated by men and they just didn’t expect this sort of commentary from a woman.
The reader is first introduced to Lilus when she is outside playing. Lilus does not like to play with dolls (which are traditionally feminine), instead she prefers to play doctor and perform experiments (traditionally masculine roles). As she grows up, she joins an all-girls school where one of her closest friends, the “Lamb,” is being sent away due to pre-marital sex that resulted in pregnancy.
When Lilus is talking to her next-door neighbor, the Philosopher, he says this of the Lamb:
“The lamb, the lamb… let me think. Ah yes, the feminist. The free thinker. … Well, life started too early for her.” Lilus herself is neither fully feminine nor fully masculine, but she knows better than to try and stand up for her female rights. She knows she will end up exiled like the Lamb and decides that "she would rather keep quiet. It is better to feel than to know."
Indeed, the Lamb was born into the wrong time period, where women are not allowed to commit the same “sins” as men or hold the same positions. They are meant to be beautiful, vivacious and submissive: “Also, Lilus had heard it said that dummies were the most enchanting women in the world.”
One of my favorite parts of this book is when Lilus is describing her good friend, Chiruelita, who is very naiive and innocent. Chiruelita is the picture perfect idea of a "feminine" lady, of a "delicate" woman. She ends up marrying an artist and obeying him easily, until the one day she decides to think for herself and “with a languid gesture, the eccentric artist wrung her neck!”
If that's not a blatant statement comparing the patriarchy to the silencing of women, then I don't know what is. It is baffling to see how original readers missed all of this subtext.
Eventually, Lilus cannot be contained and is sent to a nunnery where she is completely oppressed, both by the patriarchy and the Catholic religion. The ending is open – it can be read as Lilus searching for signs of rebellion or as Lilus searching for signs of God.
All this in a “children’s” book.
December 29, 2023
Es un pequeño libro de cuentos que remiten a la niñez, la nostalgia de esa niña curiosa que tiene mas preguntas que respuestas...lo escuche en audiolibro, me quedaron ganas de leerlo y ver las ilustraciones de la gran Leonora Carrington🎨 debe valer mucho la pena 🥰😍
September 22, 2012
De mi amada infancia, que estos libros hicieron mejor...
March 1, 2023
3.5 ⭐
Nunca había leído a Poniatowska, y por eso no conocía su estilo ni tenía expectativas. Y no sabía que clasificaban este libro como para niños y por eso no lo leí con dicha perspectiva.
Lo leí como un libro para adultos con una niña de protagonista, y funcionó muy bien. A decir verdad, quien lo clasificó para niños no tenía idea.
A mi me gustó, creo que es un libro muy sencillo, tal vez no muestra el magistral estilo de Elena (el cual desconozco pero sus lectores lo mencionan). Pero me hizo sonreír mucho porque me hace pensar en qué pudieran ser Flashbacks de una Elena que recuerda con gracia y añoranza ciertos momentos vividos en su niñez. No estoy segura de que sea autobiográfico pero funciona como una especie de colección de memorias. Me recuerda a mis propios espasmos en donde me desconecto de la realidad porque las imágenes de mi infancia se reviven, es un escape ingenuo, feliz y que regala tranquilidad y en momentos también es un poco turbio.
Es una buena forma de iniciar con Elena pero no se lo regalen a sus niños, jaja. Tal vez es para adolescentes y adultos 🙂
Nunca había leído a Poniatowska, y por eso no conocía su estilo ni tenía expectativas. Y no sabía que clasificaban este libro como para niños y por eso no lo leí con dicha perspectiva.
Lo leí como un libro para adultos con una niña de protagonista, y funcionó muy bien. A decir verdad, quien lo clasificó para niños no tenía idea.
A mi me gustó, creo que es un libro muy sencillo, tal vez no muestra el magistral estilo de Elena (el cual desconozco pero sus lectores lo mencionan). Pero me hizo sonreír mucho porque me hace pensar en qué pudieran ser Flashbacks de una Elena que recuerda con gracia y añoranza ciertos momentos vividos en su niñez. No estoy segura de que sea autobiográfico pero funciona como una especie de colección de memorias. Me recuerda a mis propios espasmos en donde me desconecto de la realidad porque las imágenes de mi infancia se reviven, es un escape ingenuo, feliz y que regala tranquilidad y en momentos también es un poco turbio.
Es una buena forma de iniciar con Elena pero no se lo regalen a sus niños, jaja. Tal vez es para adolescentes y adultos 🙂
February 16, 2020
Lilus Kikus series are excellent - sort of like ANIMAL FARM in that you can interpret it on two levels and it's good reading on either one. It's chock full of interesting imagery and social commentaries.
The introduction section to this (written by a different author), however, is way too long and wordy for my taste (it's about 1/3 of the book) and spoils all the stories. It's like a high school literature analysis essay -- one of those ones where you have to pick an author and compare 3 of her works -- but with more formal language.
The other (not Lilus Kikus) short stories are hit and miss. I did like some of them, but others, such as "Happiness" was written in a style that just did not work for me. These stories are more absurdist, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD style.
The introduction section to this (written by a different author), however, is way too long and wordy for my taste (it's about 1/3 of the book) and spoils all the stories. It's like a high school literature analysis essay -- one of those ones where you have to pick an author and compare 3 of her works -- but with more formal language.
The other (not Lilus Kikus) short stories are hit and miss. I did like some of them, but others, such as "Happiness" was written in a style that just did not work for me. These stories are more absurdist, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD style.
December 16, 2021
"Lilus sabe cuántos peligros aguardan a quien trata de hablar bien, y prefiere callarse. Es mejor sentir que saber". Con este fragmento de este pequeño libro y creativamente ilustrado, se resume lo que pretende expresar a lo largo de sus líneas, ese temor de la mujer a expresarse libre e inteligentemente en sociedades y ante situaciones machistas. Aunque fue escrito en 1954 aún tiene vigencia muchos hechos e injusticias que se pueden presentar en sociedades estrictas, rígidas, conservadoras y machistas. No lo considero un libro infantil porque muchas de sus frases, sátiras y contextos serían más entendibles para un público más adulto.
May 11, 2025
Realismo Mágico y Elena Poniatowska.
Este libros nos presenta la historia de Lilus, una pequeña la cual nos narra a sus ojos como es la evolución de su propia vida al pasar de la niñez a la adolescencia, el libro esta lleno de imaginación, la autora Elena realmente dejo volar su creatividad aquí, el lenguaje poético de Elena también esta presente en este libro lo cual hace agradable y rápido de leer, el highlight de este libro sin duda es la parte de "El recado".
Este libros nos presenta la historia de Lilus, una pequeña la cual nos narra a sus ojos como es la evolución de su propia vida al pasar de la niñez a la adolescencia, el libro esta lleno de imaginación, la autora Elena realmente dejo volar su creatividad aquí, el lenguaje poético de Elena también esta presente en este libro lo cual hace agradable y rápido de leer, el highlight de este libro sin duda es la parte de "El recado".
June 8, 2018
Este libro llegó a nuestra biblioteca como regalo por el nacimiento de mi hija. Mientras lo leía pensaba en ella todo el tiempo, en que seguramente va a tener un espíritu libre y puro como el de Lilus Kikus. No es una gran historia, pero es simple y está bien escrita, los dibujos de Leonora Carrington no tienen desperdicio y debido a ellos es que le doy tres estrellas al libro.
April 14, 2018
Hubo cuentos que me gustaron mucho, otros no tanto. partes que me llenaron de ternura y otros de desacuerdo y molestia.
A mi gusto tiene mejores libros, pero es una joya que esté ilustrado por la gran Leonora C.
Tal vez en algún otro momento lo vuelva a leer y piense diferente de ahora.
A mi gusto tiene mejores libros, pero es una joya que esté ilustrado por la gran Leonora C.
Tal vez en algún otro momento lo vuelva a leer y piense diferente de ahora.
February 1, 2022
Lilus Kikus lo considero mi primer libro, fue un regalo de cuándo tenía 8 años y es el libro que me acerco a la lectura, me identificaba en todos los sentidos con Lilus Kikus.
Lo recomiendo plenamente para motivar a las niñas al hábito de la lectura.
Lo recomiendo plenamente para motivar a las niñas al hábito de la lectura.
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June 27, 2025I enjoyed the titular novella and really liked the last story in this collection ("You Arrive by Nightfall"). For me, I think my enjoyment of the other stories (and even "Lilus Kikus") would have been greatly enhanced by not reading the introduction first. Oh, well.
May 29, 2017
Poniatowska wrote it in 1954 great short story and way ahead of it's time. Ladies read it
August 29, 2017
3.5 - Loved the title story, the others were good but didn't leave as much of an impression. Will definitely look out for more of this author though.
October 4, 2017
Espectacular el modo de escritura que maneja Elena en este libro, es verdaderamente mágico
January 9, 2020
Lilus Kikus es una niña muy entrometida y divertida que trata de encontrar un sentido al mundo.
July 28, 2020
I would describe it as a lovely and weirdy piece of book.
November 27, 2020
Me parece muy bello saber que las grandes amigas Leonara y Elena trabajaron juntas ❤
November 8, 2022
Good for Covid brain...short short stories. Unusual style, made me focus!
Bonus points: not about American culture.
Bonus points: not about American culture.
January 1, 2025
3.5
La mejor manera de describirlo es que es como un Ana Isabel, una niña decente, pero versión mexicana.
Muy lindo, muy simple.
La mejor manera de describirlo es que es como un Ana Isabel, una niña decente, pero versión mexicana.
Muy lindo, muy simple.
December 10, 2025
An impossibly charming story told from a child’s perspective on adults.
August 31, 2010
This book is essentially a book of short stories, though the first half of the book is a novella about the character in the title: Lilus Kikus. This book, according to the introduction, was first written in Spanish, and in some cases some parts of the story are [sometimes obviously] lost in translation (one occasion being Lilus being called a "witch" instead of a "brat"--very different connotations).
The stories are well written, though I imagine they would be more delicious if I read them in their original tongue. Some of the short stories were slow, and Lilus Kikus itself was also a bit laborious to read, but one story stood out in particular. You Arrive By Nightfall was the last story in the compilation, and a wonderful story for the book to finish with. Poniatowska's sassiness, and flowery writing shine through in this piece, instead of a dull glow that emanate within the other stories.
Perhaps this is a better novel that I think in Spanish, but alas, that is something I will never know. However, I do hope that one day my stories will be beloved enough, as Poniatowska's certainly are, that there will be a call for them to be translated into Spanish--though hopefully with a translator who could do me justice.
The stories are well written, though I imagine they would be more delicious if I read them in their original tongue. Some of the short stories were slow, and Lilus Kikus itself was also a bit laborious to read, but one story stood out in particular. You Arrive By Nightfall was the last story in the compilation, and a wonderful story for the book to finish with. Poniatowska's sassiness, and flowery writing shine through in this piece, instead of a dull glow that emanate within the other stories.
Perhaps this is a better novel that I think in Spanish, but alas, that is something I will never know. However, I do hope that one day my stories will be beloved enough, as Poniatowska's certainly are, that there will be a call for them to be translated into Spanish--though hopefully with a translator who could do me justice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2014
I liked all her spirit, curiosity and originality when she is little. How she sees the world as an interlinked universe that all is alive!!! How beautiful to see the simplicity yet the most important truth.... Feeling is more important that knoweldge, because knowledge is nothing without feeling.
But when religion gets in the way it smothers and finally kills her true spirit, so Lilus Kikus learns to follow signs and live in fear.
Point ...RELIGION = KILLING YOUR TRUE SELF TO BE A SLAVE MOVED BY FEAR, BECAUSE YOU NEVER QUIESTION ANYTHING IN RELIGION OR YOU GO TO HELLL... THERE FOR YOU SURVIVE OUT OF FEAR.
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE RELIGION.
But when religion gets in the way it smothers and finally kills her true spirit, so Lilus Kikus learns to follow signs and live in fear.
Point ...RELIGION = KILLING YOUR TRUE SELF TO BE A SLAVE MOVED BY FEAR, BECAUSE YOU NEVER QUIESTION ANYTHING IN RELIGION OR YOU GO TO HELLL... THERE FOR YOU SURVIVE OUT OF FEAR.
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE RELIGION.
April 20, 2016
Este librito está lleno de imaginación por parte de la autora, nos narra de una forma bastante poética (característica de Elena) el paso de la niñez a la pubertad, las preguntas que se hace una niña y las respuestas poco convencionales que se da, si bien es un libro infantil, puede leerse fácilmente y sin menor prejuicio por individuos de cualquier edad, tiene toques de realismo mágico que consiguen una sonrisa y capítulos especialmente divertidos. Lee la reseña completa aquí: https://thevelvetbooks.wordpress.com/...
November 14, 2016
As my first foray into the writing of Elena Poniatowska I enjoyed each story for the Mexican female author's viewpoint and voice. I was hoping to have a look into a piece of not-so-very foreign literature and I'm glad to have started here. The collection is mostly excellent feminist stories that do not necessarily rely upon a serious storyline to make the point. That being said a few of the stories just didn't suit me so this the reason for the 4 star review.
April 11, 2008
I enjoyed reading Lilus Kikus, knowing that it was one of the first books published in Mexico by a feminist writers.
Lilus is a curious and hilarious character who critiques the adult world through the eyes of gutsy girl.
Lilus is a curious and hilarious character who critiques the adult world through the eyes of gutsy girl.
January 22, 2016
Maravilloso. Pequeñas historias que te transportan al mundo lejano de la niñez, donde todo parece tan grande y al mismo tiempo posible. Narrados en un lenguaje poético lleno música y Sol. Me encantaron todos los relatos, en especial, La tapia (Señor del cuatro).
December 29, 2019
good one
September 24, 2011
my favourite book n.n
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