Cien años de soledad: Edición conmemorativa (The 40th Anniversary Edition)

Product Description

The Real Academia Española celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Garcia Marquez s masterpiece in this beautiful commemorative edition. Prologues by Carlos Fuentes, Alvaro Mutis, Mario Vargas Llosa and other intellectuals. One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. -New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

Maravilloso!.......2007-08-29

Inicia la historia con la boda de Ursula Iguaran y Jose Arcadio Buendia, la busqueda de un pueblo ideal donde vivir, la angustia de la espera de los hijos, angustia debido a la supersticion ya que eran primos y les habian dicho que sus hijos podrian nacer con cola de cerdo!...

Una historia completamente llena de cultura latinoamericana, donde la supersticion, hechiceria, leyendas, herencias, costumbres y etc's no fallan. Esta edicion viene acompañada entre otras cosas de un arbol genealogico que te es de gran ayuda, ya que despues de algunas generaciones de Jose Arcadios y Aurelianos.. pues es sabio recurrir a el.

Siempre he admirado la manera tan descriptiva de Garcia Marquez, pero con este titulo desde la primera persona hasta la ultima, arboles, esquinas y lo que gusten nombrar a todo se le otorga una historia, es un maestro!

Deception.......2007-08-25

I had a deception with this novel and this author. I thought it was first of all more organized in his thoughts, second, the theme was not one that lead to any valuable thought or of value to society, except just an invention of his imagination, which seems very convoluted. I read the one he wrote about the coronel did not have any answer or something like that, and that one I liked. But I thought this was his best novel, and I was far wrong. Gloria

An over-rated Nobel laureate.......2007-07-03

I read Spanish-language books to try to improve my Spanish vocabulary and reading ability. I had already read this author's "Putas tristes", and his autobiography, "Vivir para contarla". In the latter book García mentioned that he had read Romulo Gallegos when he was young. The latter's book, "Dóña Bárbara", which truly IS a classic of Latin American writing. I found García's book to have the same theme ("the struggle between landowners and peasants in L.A.), and even the style, to be essentially the same. Many other Latin authors, such as Isabel Allende, seem to also use the same plagiaristic ploy. Another thing annoying about García is his self-admitted tendency to employ outrageous exagerations with a straight face. In one episode of "Cien años" he describes a man so strong he carries a store counter from a store out into the street, and it too eleven men to get it back in. Come on now!!

One of my favourite books in a wonderful edition.......2007-07-01

I first read Cien años de soledad during my last year of high school, and I have read it several times again since then. Everytime I read it, I remember the words of my literature professor, after he asked us to buy the book: " I envy you all so much, so much - he said- because nothing compares to the feeling of reading Cien años for the first time. I wish I could feel like that again." He was right.

This is a magical book, and this anniversary edition one that deserves a place in the library of all those who love Gabo.

One hundred years of pleasure.......2007-06-13

Esta nueva edicion conmemorativa a cargo de la Real Academia Espanola en conjuncion con la Asociacion de academias de la lengua espanola pone en manos del lector la novela de Garcia Marquez consagrada ya como un clasico de la literatura universal. Aunque esta edicion tiene el merito de compilar una serie de ensayos de escritores de la talla de Carlos Fuentes, Vargas Llosa, Alvaro Mutis, Claudio Guillen, entre otros; una extensa bibliografia y un utilisimo glosario, el lector que se inicia en esta obra deberia complementar su lectura con la insuperable edicion critica de Catedra que trae, ademas, notas a pie de paginas, ausente desgraciadamente en la presente edicion. De todas maneras esta es una edicion muy cuidada que limpia las asperezas, erratas y expresiones dudosas de previas ediciones.

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CVO: Covert Vampiric Operations
Alex Garner , Jeff Mariotte , Mindy Lee , and Gabriel Hernandez
Manufacturer: IDW Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1932382402

Book Description

American intelligence services have a secret weapon - and it has fangs! This volume collects the original graphic novella that introduced CVO - vampire operatives who spy for the United States, dealing with the most dangerous global threats, plus a spine-tingling tale of an incredibly ancient artifact and a disappearing colleague that lead CVO toward an encounter with a deadly trio.

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Wonderfully descriptive, but annoying style
Worhty of 5 stars or more
Finally. Talent!
THE DANGEROUS WEST
Good Stuff -That's all I wanted to say.

Gabriel's Story: A Novel
David Anthony Durham
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385720335
Release Date: 2002-04-30

Amazon.com

With his first novel, Gabriel's Story, David Anthony Durham delivers a fresh take on the American frontier. The settlers aren't white men but emancipated slaves, whose journey into the promised land is driven by the harsh memory of captivity. Unlike the wagon-train pioneers we're used to reading about, Durham's characters are refugees of Reconstruction. Yet they're seduced by the same promises as their white counterparts--promises that anyone can be a landowner, that this land is your land, that it's only a matter of staking your claim.

The protagonist, 15-year-old Gabriel Lynch, wonders why his widowed mother falls for this propaganda. He sulks on the long train ride from New York to Kansas, pining for the humble brownstone apartment they're leaving behind. He dreads their arrival on the prairie and their rendezvous with his new stepfather, Solomon, a man the boy distrusts as virtually all teenage boys distrust their smiling, imperious stepfathers. Upon arriving at Solomon's sod house, Gabriel's contempt only increases: "It was a single room. The walls pushed into and cramped the space, making it feel much smaller on the inside than the shadow had indicated from the outside. It was smoky and moist and earthen all at once, with a smell unpleasant enough to contort Gabriel's face."

The patience required to cultivate the hard, unforgiving prairie isn't something Gabriel possesses, and soon he runs away--joining a gang of mostly white cowboys headed for Texas. Like the heroes in most Wild West novels, Gabriel seeks adventure. What he finds is racism, violence, and eventually murder. Compelling, suspenseful, and meticulously written, Gabriel's Story is an exploration of the idea of the frontier and the meaning of ownership, filtered through the narrator's cynical, over-the-hill teenage perspective. And Gabriel himself, who seems old beyond his years, is a memorable protagonist: a grouchy lost boy, impatient for his life to unfold. --Ellen Williams

Book Description

When Gabriel Lynch moves with his mother and brother from a brownstone in Baltimore to a dirt-floor hovel on a homestead in Kansas, he is not pleased. He does not dislike his new stepfather, a former slave, but he has no desire to submit to a life of drudgery and toil on the untamed prairie. So he joins up with a motley crew headed for Texas only to be sucked into an ever-westward wandering replete with a mindless violence he can neither abet nor avoid–a terrifying trek he penitently fears may never allow for a safe return. David Anthony Durham is a genuine talent bent on devastating originality and Gabriel’s Story is as formidable a debut as we have witnessed.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderfully descriptive, but annoying style.......2005-07-24

Durham evokes the wildness of the Plains and West with superb prose, sometimes nearly poetry in its details. Gabriel is a realistic depiction of an impatient, uncertain teenager. The plot line certainly keeps the reader involved, as we are curious to learn what new horror Marshall and Caleb will unleash on the people around them, as well as whether Gabriel and James will escape. But Durham's decision to present certain portions in italic with no names given to the people in them--even after we have been introduced to those people--struck me as striving too much for some mystical effect. I'm not clear on what this style is supposed to achieve and found it more annoying than effective.

Worhty of 5 stars or more.......2004-12-28

Rarely do I read a book in one sitting, but I felt I had no choice in this one. I wish more books that I picked up held my interest, my imagination, and my heart as well as this one has. The main character, Gabriels, tells us a story of the American West in a unique manner far different than the "typical Western" we know. I highly recommend this book to those who are tired of cliches and formulas. I'm glad I found this little treasure.

Finally. Talent!.......2002-08-06

The characters a full-bodied and mature. The story is heart-breaking and real to the core. One sympathizes with the protagonists and wishes the antagonists straight to hell. Now that is what I call a good novel. Durham has done a fabulous job...

THE DANGEROUS WEST.......2002-06-23

Yes, Kansas was and is a Great Plains state, and anyone who first arrives might say, "I can't believe I'm in Kansas."

Kansas is an acquired taste, and Gabriel Lynch, a youngster frresh from the big eastern city of Baltimore, could not quite discover the tastefulness of farm life. Not many teens today could either. But they should read "Gabriel's Story" anyway.

This coming of age drama by David Anthony Durham has Gabriel run away from his mom and new step-dad to join up with a motley crew of vicious criminals. Gabriel soon learns to cherish a more simple life.

One might say he learned a lesson: Be loyal to your family. They're not as bad as you think.

Larry Rochelle, author of DEATH & DEVOTION: A Palmer Morel Mystery

Good Stuff -That's all I wanted to say........2002-06-13

Good stuff. Don't have anything deep and meaningful to add, but I liked this book and wanted to say so. It pulls you in slowly, so that you might think it's going to be one sort of book and next thing you know you're off on wild ride across the West. Literary and exciting; a western and yet subversive of the genre at the same time. And I thought the twist toward the end was great. Didn't really see it coming, but once sprung it all made sense.

Black Thunder: Gabriel's Revolt: Virginia, 1800

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Black Thunder ....
The sound of Black Thunder
A good book about a bad time
This is an important work of historical fiction.
A beautiful historical novel that should be widely read

Black Thunder: Gabriel's Revolt: Virginia, 1800

Manufacturer: Beacon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807063371

Book Description

"Gabriel Prosser's 1800 slave revolt allowed Bontemps to warn of the rebellion that would come of poverty and racial oppression. This metaphor of revolution is at the same time a highly pertinent representation of black masculinity that will reward students of gender, slavery and the sensibilities of the 1930s." âNell Irvin Painter

Customer Reviews:

Black Thunder ...........2004-11-18

At times Black Thunder moved a bit too slow for my pace- sometimes I got lost between which characters were speaking. Overall it is a great book and probably one of the better fictionalized accounts of a slave revolt. There was one flaw...

This book is my first time hearing that Gabriel Prosser was illiterate, which i did not think was effective. In the Reward Proclamation September 9, 1800 James Monroe, Governor wrote:

"..Gabriel is a Negro of a brown complexion about 6 feet 3 or 4 inches high, a bony face, well made, and very active, has two or three scars on his head, his hair is very short...He can read and write, and perhaps will forge himself a pass, or certificate of his freedom..."

I am confused why Bontemps wrote him as illiterate. It could be the idea of freedom from something outside of him; his desire for freedom comes to his mind naturally. However, I think it took away from the story especially when knowing what little history there is about Gabriel. It makes out Gabriel to be more running on emotion than intellect. From what I know Gabriel was extremely articulate, strategic and intellectual with the revolt. Also, after he read the Declaration of Independence he related freedom to him and black people. I think showing that may have been more powerful.

The sound of Black Thunder.......2003-10-10

The Roar of Black Thunder

"We're going to escape from here". This quote is very typical and appears quite often during this story. The author Arna Bontemps is trying to emphasis that the slaves are determined to escape. There are few main characters, Gabriel the slave leader, is the protagonist. Bundy, the slave who's incident plays a role in the whole novel. And Mr. Thomas who is the slave keeper.

The book is about the slaves being pushed to their limits and beyond, after a fellow slave is murdered. The slaves then decide to rise above and revolt against their leaders.

The setting takes place mainly in the mansion on the plantation and also in the fields, where the slaves work, "Bundy walked through the mansion". The story also takes you to the slave's homes, where plans for escape are planned.

The characters such as Gabriel, Mr. Thomas, and Bundy played main roles in the story. Gabriel is the slave leader who leads the revolt against the slave owners. Mr. Thomas the slave keeper, Bundy, is the slave who is murdered by Mr. Thomas by beating him in a brutal way.

Most of the action takes place in the fields of the plantation; this is where Bundy is killed. Gabriel is portrayed as the savior of the slaves when attempts to lead them into freedom. Mr. Thomas plays the simple role of being the slave keeper. Bundy although is only in the novel for short time, plays a very important role, what happens to him is what causes the revolt.

This book should not be recommended to someone who enjoys a face-paced novel. To some extent the book becomes rather boring. The pacing is incredibly slow; the climax of the story doesn't occur until the end, it gives you a boring time getting to there.

A good book about a bad time.......1999-01-16

I thought the book was insightful and related well the oppression of American slaves in 17th century Virginia. Slavery is a subject not often discussed without the emotion of guilt affixed to it. This book presented the racism of slavery in a de facto way that allowed the reader to understand the feelings of inferiority and the rage. The book used several perspectives to provide a thorough analysis. By removing the issue of racism, it helped me better understand and therefore identify with the disdain of injustice and desire for freedom that drove the protagonists to revolt.

Bontemps also dealt with the mix of Christian faith and superstition held by the book's central figures. This is one aspect with which I identified and it may be overlooked without predisposition. The author specifically addressed this through several one-sided discussions between Gabriel and God and the questions of faith raised by his misfortune. The clash of beliefs over the calamity that ensued raised my awareness of how we mix our faith with popular culture and how this mixture often fails to answer our troubled questions in difficult times.

This is an important work of historical fiction........1998-10-01

This is the best book by Bontemps, a significant author from the Harlem Renaissance period. This book received the most admiration from his peers such as W.E. B. DuBois and Langston Hughes and continues to receive praise from contemporary literary scholars. This story is based on facts of the actual slave rebellion of Gabriel Prosser in Virginia.

A beautiful historical novel that should be widely read.......1998-08-19

This is such a beautiful novel. I am still stunned by the power of it. It is not to be missed. Highly recommend this one.

The Southern Land, Known (Utopianism and Communitarianism)

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This is an intriguing 17th century imaginary voyage novel.

The Southern Land, Known (Utopianism and Communitarianism)
Gabriel De Foigny
Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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This is an intriguing 17th century imaginary voyage novel........1998-08-12

The Frenchman Gabriel De Foigny wrote this imaginary voyage novel set in terra incognita (Australia) in the 1670's, fifty years before the appearance of "Gulliver's Travels". This early lost race/science fiction novel has many attractions. First and perhaps foremost, it is a rousing adventure yarn replete with perils among a strange race of semi-human hermaphrodites; daring escapes; fights with monstrous creatures; and well-realized battle scenes. Second, it is a brilliant philosophical and sociological work which envisions a very strange, proto-communistic culture that is brought intensly to life. De Foigny uses this race of hermaphrodites as a foil to examine 17th century Europe's concepts of sexuality and society. It is amazing that in the early days of the novel, with very few prototypes to turn to, De Foigny would attempt a work that succeeds as an adventure story, a delightful fantasy, a dark dystopia, and an examination of the philosophical and mor! al tenets of the era, but De Foigny's remarkable novel works on these levels and more. Briefly, the book's protagonist, Sadeur, is carried to the shores of terra incognita in the clutches of a huge, predatory, Roc-like bird of prey. He is rescued by a civilized race that vaguely resembles humans. The individuals are eight feet tall, of a reddish hue, are hermaphrodites, and many have a second set of arms. Their social framework is equally unfamiliar, being communal and socialistic. All things are owned in common, there are no personal possessions, and human emotions such as covetousness, competetiveness, and even love are held in contempt. These creatures also have a drug culture, and their own strange sciences, and they have acheived the art of creating living creatures, although these creatures have fatal flaws that allow them to live only for several days. From the beginning Sadeur is loathed for his unisexual nature and because he is suspected to be a member of the ! hated human race, and he only manages to survive through th! e patronage of a high minded and powerful sage. After an exposition of the strange society he finds himself among (this is a common feature of lost race novels, and would be a bit tedious if De Foigny's creation were not so fascinating), and a string of adventures including the incursion of "sea monsters" that turn out to be a convoy of European explorers that are massacred after a savage battle, Sadeur's patron dies and things become dicey for him. The hermaphrodites wage war against a tribe of humans on a neighboring island, and Sadeur is forced to fight against his own kind. His heart is not in it, and after rescuing one of the human women and hiding her, he is caught by several of the hermaphrodites engaging in a sexual dalliance with the woman. The level of disgust the hermaphrodites feel over this discovery can barely be expressed. After killing the woman, they imprison Sadeur and condemn him to a ritualistic death. Sadeur escapes from this predicament by! means of secretly taming one of the huge predatory birds, which carries him out of the country in the same manner in which he entered it. It is hoped that this thumbnail sketch successfully conveys some of the interest of this fascinating work. My review will be worthwhile if helps convince a few more readers to find their way to this obscure and unjustly neglected novel.

Mr. Myombekere and His Wife Bugonoka, Their Son Ntulanalwo and Daughter Bulihwali: THE Story of an Ancient African Community (KIKEREWE NOVEL, TANZANIA)

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Mr. Myombekere and His Wife Bugonoka, Their Son Ntulanalwo and Daughter Bulihwali: THE Story of an Ancient African Community (KIKEREWE NOVEL, TANZANIA)
ANICETI KITEREZA
Manufacturer: DAR ES SALAAM: MKUKI NA NYOTA PUBLISHERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O0Q5H8

Product Description

SCARCE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THIS THICK NOVEL FROM TANZANIA, ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN THE KIKEREWE LANGUAGE.

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Land of the Dead
Chris Ryall , and Gabriel Rodriguez
Manufacturer: IDW Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1933239743

Book Description

Presenting a special adaptation of George Romero's long-awaited zombie movie set years in the future after the end of his Dead trilogy. In Land of the Dead, the walking dead roam an uninhabited wasteland and the living try to lead "normal" lives behind the walls of a fortified city. A new society has been built by a handful of enterprising, ruthless opportunists, who live in the towers of a skyscraper, high above the hard-scrabble existence on the streets below. But outside the city walls, an army of the dead is evolving. Inside, anarchy is on the rise. With the very survival of the city at stake, a group of hardened mercenaries is called into action to protect the living from an army of the dead.

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The Thief of Always
A Light, Imaginative Thriller
.eraweB
A touching fable for the young at heart
The Greatest Ever

Clive Barker's The Thief Of Always
Kris Oprisko , and Gabriel Hernandez
Manufacturer: IDW Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1933239174

Book Description

Master of horror Clive Barker's Thief of Always is a fable appealing to horror and fantasy fans young and old. Now IDW brings you its own lavishly illustrated adaptation of the thrilling tale. Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful round of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied... for a price.

Customer Reviews:

The Thief of Always.......2007-03-30

Once again Clive Barker has taken me on an amazing journey, perfect for adults and children (10+) alike. Definate recommendation.

A Light, Imaginative Thriller.......2007-03-27

Ten-year-old Harvey is bored. He is sitting in his bedroom one February afternoon, watching the rain outside, feeling as bored as he's ever felt. He feels like he might die of boredom. Then, to his surprise, a little person flies through his window. This little man promises Harvey a wonderful vacation where he'll have lots and lots of fun--as long as he doesn't ask any questions. Harvey isn't quite sure about going with the man.

However, a week later, the man shows back up and Harvey decides that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to go with him just for a little while. So Harvey walks with him across town through a high wall that isn't really a wall, into a place of magic. Here, at the Holiday House, everyone gives Harvey everything he's ever wanted. Every day holds all of the seasons--in the morning it's like springtime, in the afternoon it's summer, in the early eveing it's fall and time to go trick-or-treating, and in the later evening it's winter and Christmastime. There are two other children there with Harvey--Wendell and Lulu. Lulu, though, has started to go a little bit crazy, so Harvey and Wendell don't spend much time with her.

Harvey intends to only stay at the Holiday House for a few days, but after a couple of reassuring phone calls to his parents when they tell him they want him to stay, he begins to relax. However, he shouldn't relax too much. There are some strange things going on at the Holiday House that aren't fun and exciting. Will Harvey figure out what is going on in time to escape?

I liked the whole idea of the Holiday House--what a perfect vacation spot for little children! I also liked the characters of Rictus, Jive, Marr and Carna. They embodied all characteristics that would be useful for keeping children there. I thought a couple of things weren't believable, though. Harvey seemed to have an undue attachment to Lulu. He barely even knew her, but he was very concerned about her, more so than most ten-year-olds would be. I also didn't buy Harvey's thievery toward the end of the story. It seemed less possible than the rest of the story.

.eraweB.......2006-12-27

A ten-year-old boy named Harvey, bored with his life, falls to the wiles of a seductively welcoming being named Rictus, and becomes a guest at a seemingly wondrous place called Holiday House. At Holiday House, each fun-filled day contains four seasons: and seasons at their very best. The springtime which comes each morning ushers in blossoming flowers and explosions of greenery; the summers that fill the afternoons are always those rare perfect kind one experiences but a few times in the school-less, cloud-less summertime of youth; the autumns that ripens as evening sets in sees the trees dyed with bright colors, as the air cools and the breeze smells sweetly of the bounty of unseen fields. And then winter takes over the night, cold, crisp, perfect for sleeping-in or sitting beside a crackling fire. It's all too good to be true---which of course it is.

Clive Barker's dark fantasy, part fairy tale and part horror story, is clearly intended as a vehicle for appreciative adults to rekindle some of the lost themes of childhood, when the world was simultaneously magical and threatening. In this the imaginative Liverpudlian nearly succeeds. The one serious flaw in The Thief of Always is the same one I've found in nearly everything Clive Barker has written, and that is...as best I can describe it...his story lacks a soul. I don't know any other way to put it. This registers in the ease with which Barker's characters can later be put out of mind, and the acceptance one experiences when something terrible happens to someone we've just spent the last however-many pages reading about. I know legions of Barker fans won't agree with me there, but I have always sensed that about Clive Barker's works, be it The Books of Blood, The Damnation Game, Weaveword, Cabal, or even here, in what was mostly a charming, dark little story.

The Thief of Always is good, it's just not THAT good. It's like a trip through a shattered looking glass; it's flat in a few spots, it's neither character nor plot-driven, and it rushes past far too fast in places where I found myself wishing we could linger. Where Bradbury or King might have gotten the dark fantasy elements right in a tale like this and rendered The Thief of Always an everlasting classic, Barker is just not up to the task.

A touching fable for the young at heart.......2006-09-10

The Great Grey Beast of February has imprisoned Harvey Swick and the young boy is bored to death. How will he ever survive that dreadfully dull period between New Year and Easter? Contemplating his misery, Harvey discovers that he is not alone in his room. Indeed a somewhat strange and scrawny figure is standing in the corner. The man makes himself known as Mr. Rictus and invites Harvey to the Holiday House. And true, Harvey does not believe his eyes: the house is filled with all the pleasures a boy can want. Delicious food, many friends, tons of toys, every day Christmas. What more do you need? Of course there is a price to be paid, but young Harvey Swick, bored with his life and beguiled by the wonders of the Holiday House, does not stop to consider the consequences. Only when he discovers that he is no longer a guest, but a prisoner does Harvey start to react. But maybe it is already too late...

Clive Barker's first attempt at writing a book for a younger audience does not go by unnoticed. As Clive is known for his very dark and fantastic tales, he indeed uses these talents to draw a magnificent place where many children surely would love to hide. But with the same zeal he deconstructs the dream and craftily let the evil seep into the story. Of course the villains are not as dark and disturbed as in his adult novels, but still he manages to portrait a series of characters that would enjoy taking permanent residence in the dreams of the younger ones.

One critique that might pop up is that the setting of the story is so rich that it begs for more than one episode. After reading the story, so many things are left untold that it leaves you wanting for more. Even the narrative itself is extremely concise with its twenty-six chapters counting on average not more than six pages each. It would probably not have hurt if more details were introduced in order to make the environment even more exciting and colorful. Nevertheless the story is exciting enough to get the stamp of a must-read. And please, do not worry if you think you are too old to read this book. You never are!

The Greatest Ever.......2006-07-28

To find a plot that intrigues so many chilren is on thing. To get an adult to read it over and over again is another. Great book.

Peregrine Pickle (Oxford World's Classics)

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Peregrine Pickle (Oxford World's Classics)
Tobias George Smollett , James Lowry Clifford , and Paul-Gabriel Bouce
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192816632

Juan de la Rosa: Memoirs of the Last Soldier of the Independence Movement (Library of Latin America)

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must read book

Juan de la Rosa: Memoirs of the Last Soldier of the Independence Movement (Library of Latin America)
Nataniel Aguirre
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Long considered a classic in Bolivia, Juan de la Rosa tells the story of a young boy's coming of age during the violent and tumultuous years of Bolivia's struggle for independence. Indeed, in this remarkable novel, Juan's search for his personal identity functions as an allegory of Bolivia's search for its identity as a nation. Set in the early 1800s, this remarkable novel is narrated by one of the last surviving Bolivian rebels, octogenarian Juan de la Rosa. He commits his memories to paper in order to pass on that uniquely personal understanding of the past "with which serious historians never busy themselves." Juan recreates his childhood in the rebellious town of Cochabamba, and with it a large cast of full-bodied, Dickensian characters both heroic and malevolent, from Juan's wise and self-sacrificing tutor, Brother Justo, to the ruthless colonial general Goyeneche. The larger cultural dislocations brought about by Bolivia's political upheaval are echoed in those experienced by Juan, whose mother's untimely death sets off a chain of unpredictable events that propel him into the fiery crucible of the South American Independence Movement. Outraged by Juan's outspokenness against Spanish rule and his awakening political consciousness, his loyalist guardians banish him to the countryside, where he witnesses firsthand the Spaniards' violent repression and rebels' valiant resistance that crystallize both his personal destiny and that of his country. Few novels combine historical scholarship, operatic drama, comic detail, and political fervor so seamlessly. In Sergio Gabriel Waisman's fluid translation, English readers have access to Juan de la Rosa for the very first time.

Customer Reviews:

must read book.......1998-05-27

It is one of the most compelling books for anyone interested in knowing about the independence movement in Latin America. This is a must read book in a great number of eduactional institutions in spanish-speaking America that will help anyone understand and appreciate hispanic culture.

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