tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post361651675768133346..comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Comments on Caravana de recuerdos: In the Time of the ButterfliesRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-51585088567932816872009-06-21T22:58:33.629-04:002009-06-21T22:58:33.629-04:00Claire, how funny that we had such a similar react...Claire, how funny that we had such a similar reaction to different books by the same author! I have a used copy of that other book you mention, but I doubt I'll be able to convince myself to give it a chance until sometime next year. Ironically, I was so put off by "Butterflies" that I postponed reading Mario Vargas Llosa's "The Feast of the Goat" until very recently only because it also concerns the Trujillo dictatorship. What a mistake: the Vargas Llosa novel is excellent! Cheers!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-56522698734092134362009-06-20T23:46:05.100-04:002009-06-20T23:46:05.100-04:00INterestingly, your comment: "presenting type...INterestingly, your comment: "presenting types rather than differentiated characters and artificial rather than convincing dialogue" was exactly what I felt with this author's other book, How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents. I thought this one would be much better, having a more "mature" theme. I guess it wasn't in the subject matter at all, but in the writer. I was really hoping to like that book. Well, I liked it in a way, as I thought there were far more worse books I've read than that, but still not very much.clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14397226316253896335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-35935466629411494332009-02-18T23:20:00.000-05:002009-02-18T23:20:00.000-05:00No worries, Katrina. I'm already a fan of all the...No worries, Katrina. I'm already a fan of all the authors on my challenge list, so I don't expect any other disappointments anytime soon. Cheers!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-40232646090922270572009-02-16T11:09:00.000-05:002009-02-16T11:09:00.000-05:00Sorry to hear that the challenge got off to a bad ...Sorry to hear that the challenge got off to a bad start, hopefully the other books you read for the challenge will be more rewarding.katrinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-22512536073485879692009-02-10T23:40:00.000-05:002009-02-10T23:40:00.000-05:00*Merike: Unfortunately, I liked the concept of the...*Merike: Unfortunately, I liked the concept of the book more than the end result. However, I may be in the minority with that opinion since the book was a bestseller AND a nominee for a National Book Critics Circle Award (kind of a big deal award over here) when it came out. While I'm sorry to hear about your eyesight, I enjoyed hearing about your different reading phases over the years. It sounds like you read a lot of great stuff! I still have "Catedral del mar" waiting for me, too, so we'll have to compare notes on that book when we get around to it. Take care!<BR/><BR/>*Eva: Yeah, I was very disappointed. I'll give Alvarez another try someday b/c I have a copy of her "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents," but I don't see that happening anytime soon now. Win some, lose some, I guess. See ya!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-32862663119928764692009-02-10T16:32:00.000-05:002009-02-10T16:32:00.000-05:00That's too bad! I had this one in my pool of pote...That's too bad! I had this one in my pool of potentials for the Latin American challenge, but now I'll leave it towards the bottom.Evahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06703372903532502944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-60324429645293412012009-02-10T02:45:00.000-05:002009-02-10T02:45:00.000-05:00Hi Richard, I haven't read the book but to me it s...Hi Richard, I haven't read the book but to me it sounds very interesting and four distinct narrators, too. Thanks for reminding me of Penguins. In the seventies I read - at the maternity hospital - Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de soledad. I still think it was the best book ever. I also had a Latin American books period, reading Neruda and Manuel Puig, Jorge Amado, Jorge Luis Borges. Another time I read Jewish writers a lot. The only literature that I have not much frequented is that of Russia, maybe my country's history has got something to do with the dismay. Nowadays poor eyesight prevents me from reading, and lack of concentration, old age. Blogs are more interesting. Catedral del mar is still waiting for me:-( At least the days are growing longer here very fast now - more daylight, so there is hope! Salut!merikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08992802015912281130noreply@blogger.com