Y No Se Lo Trago La Tierra.......

Before reading this book, I skimmed through a couple of pages and I thought that this would be an easy read. The book cover and big font mislead me; the narrative of the story was confusing at certain points because it kept changing from first person to third. I am a little more than half way through the book and the name of the young boy, as well as many other characters, remain unknown! Also, there were pages in between chapters where fragments of conversations took place without stating any name, place or purpose. Although the point of the story was hard to follow, it revealed the harsh realities of agricultural migrant workers in the US after World War Two. The child's description of mistreated campesinos were detailed and his sentiments about religion showed how confused he was himself during his 'lost year'.

I also liked how this book was written very informally. There were numerous slangs in this book such as "pos" and "m'ijo". Also the author frequently mentioned the words "verguenza y coraje" and ended many sentences with "luego, luego". So far the short stories in this book have been pleasing to read but their significance as a whole has yet to be outlined for me.

El Puente de Brooklyn

It has been a while since I've read stories in Spanish so some of the vocabulary and certain phrases of the short stories held me back. Although it took me quite some time to read his short stories, I found them to be a very enjoyable read! Marti's style of writing was very artistic and beautiful. The "El Puente de Brooklyn" was immensely detailed, Marti even included the exact measurements of the bridge. In addition to details of the bridge, Marti incorporated several metaphors, similies and emotions of the people to show us how magnificent this bridge really was and how it connected everyone and everything in the city together.

I had no previous knowledge of the Brooklyn bridge and when I finished reading the I realized the importance and significance of this bridge to the people and especially to Jose Marti. You can see how connected he felt to the bridge and his fascination with the architecture. This bridge, through Marti's writing, showed us that it meant much more than its impressive physical attributes. The bridge was something symbolic that brought all of the people in the city together in awe.

Overall, I am very pleased with his work and that my vocabulary in Spanish has greatly expanded.

And i thought Mrs.Norval was horrible....!

I agree with Jon, Mrs. Norval is just stupid-she is someone who clings onto every word of her beloved. She is so deep in love with Mr.Hackwell that she is willing to throw herself at his feet and follow his unreasonable biddings. She is quite a weak woman. Time to move onto who the REAL villain is....MR.HACKWELL! I actually feel sorry for Mrs.Norval with the way Mr.Hackwell plays with her mind and uses her unconditional love to his advantage. It was even more sickening to learn of his twisted plans to force Lola into marrying him and doing whatever it takes to prevent Julian from marrying her. "The dark demons and hideous monsters, the untamed, ferocious beasts of passions, the poisonous reptiles, and repulsive, crawling things of wicked propensities and sinful desires..." It was creepy how Ruiz de Burton describes in detail his innermost feelings and the extent of his jealousy. "He thought the man could be no other than Julian, and, as the thought flashed on his brain, he instinctively carried his hand to his breast pocket, where a little pistol lay always ready." What a psychopath!!!

This second half of the novel was definitely a much more interesting read because the story really picked up and it felt as if I was watching dramatic television program. Throughout the last half of the novel I awaited anxiously for the sinful ex-priest to receive his well-deserved punishment. However, the final confrontation between Julian and Mr.Hackwell was not as explosive or exciting as i had highly anticipated. I have about 10 pages left to read before i finish the novel and i hope that we have more closure about what happened to Mr.Hackwell and i hope that Julian and Lola finally get that happy ending together!

Who Would Have Thought It?

Ruiz de Burton, the author of Who Would Have Thought It, begins her novel explaining that in a world of good and proper people rogues are useful and necessary, or else they would 'perish of sheer insanity". The story progresses ironically as the real rogues, Mr.Hackwell and Mrs.Norval (to name a few), perceive the most-honourable and kind-hearted Dr. Norval as a "temporary whetstone" due to the lack of rogues in their community of 'proper' people. It is hard to believe that the purest man, in heart and mind, has been stamped as a writer of treason and even harder to believe that the same man once proposed to the conniving Mrs.Norval!!! Although Mrs.Norval is an unbelievably shrewd woman with a huge disregard for poor Lola's feelings, she represents the common attitude towards non-whites. In modern day, Mrs.Norval may seem out of line with her crude words and selfish desires, however, her behavior was considered 'normal' when this book was written by Ruiz Burton and that the sympathetic Dr. Norval is the one whom is out of line during this time, regardless of his endless care and support for others.

Love is a strong force in this novel, inducing hearts to sway towards the good-as well as the bad. Ruiz de Barton describes in great detail the happiness and the love that surges through Dr.Norval's body when Lola embraces him with all her love. Lola has a similar effect on Julian. Julian's severely wounded state was became significantly better upon the arrival of Lola and his love for her only made him healthier. However, in Mrs.Norval's case, her blinded love towards Mr.Hackwell causes her to act most selfishly in order to fulfill her own desires, such as forgetting about the physical state of her wounded son and disregarding her sister's feelings about leaving Mr.Hackwell's side. Although her jealousy is unreasonable and her actions intolerable, her wild emotions make her one of the most interesting characters of the novel.

Although Lola is mistreated by of Mrs.Norval and the rest of the community, she soon captures all the hearts of the purest and kindest people in the novel! I am excited to see how far Lola's influences will extend.

Introducción

Anna-introducción

Hola a todos!

Me llamo Anna y estoy en mi segundo año en UBC. Nací en San Jose, Costa Rica pero crecí aquí en Vancouver. Mi especialización en UBC es el español. Me interesan las lenguas y por eso quiero aprender más lenguas y viajar. Yo quisiera ir a España algun dia y tal vez muchos otros paises. Lo que me gustaria más que nada es jugar el tennis para ponerme en forma. También trato de escuchar música, leer libros y ver peliculas de todos los idiomas. Mis películas favoritas son ‘El laberinto de fauno’, ‘El orfanato’ y ‘El Señor de Los Anillos’. Quiero saber si algunos de ustedes han visto estas películas?

-Anna