From what I've gotten through the book is fairly interesting and the main character Jose Buendia seems like he's a bit gullible and a genius.
The book seems to fly through time incredibly fast which along with the description of there town and its surroundings creates a magical element to the book.
The town is hidden deep in the forest and is almost impenetrable and as they try and travel North they say theres no point in turning back because the vegetation grows back almost before there eyes; this makes the town appear mystical as its hidden from the rest of the world where the people in it are ignorant of the discoveries that have been found such as the earth being round. Only having the Gypsy's as a window to the outside world bringing in trinkets and tales from around the world.
The book appears to progress quite rapidly and just keeps you reading but so far theres really nothing major happening.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Span 365 Reflection so far
Well I'm not sure really how to address this but here it goes.
From the first book Legends of Guatemala we were introduced to the concept of magical realism although this first book seemed more magical with a light splash of realism if any. In contrast Reino de este mundo was a lot more realistic as it comes from Haiti's history but with a little magick in it in the form of shape-shifters (changing from human to other creatures) and the use of voodoo. So far magical realism just seems like regular story telling nothing overly special in my opinion compared to other books I've read in the past and its been a bit of read and forget although Carpentier's book kind of seems to stick to the mind more so than the first book which was for lack of better words boring.
Over all to me magical realism seems like most books trying to add a bit of magick to reality and alter it to be pleasing to the readers.
From the first book Legends of Guatemala we were introduced to the concept of magical realism although this first book seemed more magical with a light splash of realism if any. In contrast Reino de este mundo was a lot more realistic as it comes from Haiti's history but with a little magick in it in the form of shape-shifters (changing from human to other creatures) and the use of voodoo. So far magical realism just seems like regular story telling nothing overly special in my opinion compared to other books I've read in the past and its been a bit of read and forget although Carpentier's book kind of seems to stick to the mind more so than the first book which was for lack of better words boring.
Over all to me magical realism seems like most books trying to add a bit of magick to reality and alter it to be pleasing to the readers.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Span 365 2 Reino de este mundo
Well Reino de este mundo was a pretty good book that kept me reading which most books grow persistently boring but the effective combination of the history, realism and a little bit of magick made it entertaining.
My favorite part about the second half of this book would have to be the irony. They fraught to get rid of the the white people due to slavery but in the end, end up in a more morbid state of slavery where they were treated worse than before; forced to build the empire of there new black king, who's monarchy ended much in the same way as the white slave masters.
The magical realism is quite apparent in this book as it describes the historic revolution of Haiti against slavery and puts it in a magical form which helps mystifies the revolution. All the magick in this book can be explained as over exaggerations of the violent truth in this book.
It was a good and entertaining book which most likely has many other meanings than what I have grasped but thats what the class discussion is for so Im going back to studying biochem.
My favorite part about the second half of this book would have to be the irony. They fraught to get rid of the the white people due to slavery but in the end, end up in a more morbid state of slavery where they were treated worse than before; forced to build the empire of there new black king, who's monarchy ended much in the same way as the white slave masters.
The magical realism is quite apparent in this book as it describes the historic revolution of Haiti against slavery and puts it in a magical form which helps mystifies the revolution. All the magick in this book can be explained as over exaggerations of the violent truth in this book.
It was a good and entertaining book which most likely has many other meanings than what I have grasped but thats what the class discussion is for so Im going back to studying biochem.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Span 365 1 Reino de este mundo
Well for starters this book is way more interesting than the legends of Guatemala and a lot easier to read, coupled with short chapters makes this book a delight to read.
Magical realism is quite evident in this book although it seams to be a lot more realistic than magical. But the element of mysticism and magick, such as the poison or Mackandal's ability to metamorphose into different creatures. On the realism side the book seem like it describes some of the slave history of Haiti and the way life was back then.
Over all I cant really say much about this book it seem s like a standard novel; although the chapters are incredibly small something I must say I love because it makes it easier to read a bit at a time.
There seems to be some either grammar mistakes in the book or it was just a different sentence structure used in older times I cant remember where in the book it was that I read the lines but it just didn't seem right.
I like what I've read so far but hopefully it becomes even more interesting.
Magical realism is quite evident in this book although it seams to be a lot more realistic than magical. But the element of mysticism and magick, such as the poison or Mackandal's ability to metamorphose into different creatures. On the realism side the book seem like it describes some of the slave history of Haiti and the way life was back then.
Over all I cant really say much about this book it seem s like a standard novel; although the chapters are incredibly small something I must say I love because it makes it easier to read a bit at a time.
There seems to be some either grammar mistakes in the book or it was just a different sentence structure used in older times I cant remember where in the book it was that I read the lines but it just didn't seem right.
I like what I've read so far but hopefully it becomes even more interesting.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Span 365 2 Asturias
Lo primero que diría de la segunda parte de Leyendas de Guatemala es que me recuerda de las obras de Shakespeare las cuales solo entiendo la mitad del tiempo. Los diálogos hacen que los cuentos sean difíciles de seguir o leer porque no están en forma de un cuento entonces las encuentro muy aburridos y confusos.
El uso de lenguaje es mas simple que en la primera mitad del libro, pero la segunda mitad siendo en forma de dialogo me dejo confundido había tanto que estaba pasando en los varios cuentos, los varios personajes y eventos que al fin me dejo pensando que ha pasado y que fue el punto de todo esto que he leído.
La primera mitad del libro aunque usaba lenguaje mas complicada y tenia muchas referencias indígenas que no entendía, era mucha mas simple de seguir y las disfrute mas que la segunda mitad cual me dejo rascando la cabeza tratando de descifrar la importancia de lo que leí.
Creo que esta obra siendo de una leyenda tiene que ver con la religión maya y explica la leyenda del dios del sol y de como se pasa de la mañana a la tarde después a la noche y de regreso al día. Pero encuentro todo esto un poco extraño y un poco caótico como Shakespeare. Entiendo que igual que la primera mitad del libro la segunda también es influido por la naturaleza y como toda la cultura de los indígenas era influida por su vista de la naturales. Pero aun estoy completamente confundido de cual es la tema de la segunda mitad.
Hay muchas personificaciones de animales, hay metáforas y visualizaciones que hacen que la segunda mitad sea interesante aunque aun es muy confuso.
El uso de lenguaje es mas simple que en la primera mitad del libro, pero la segunda mitad siendo en forma de dialogo me dejo confundido había tanto que estaba pasando en los varios cuentos, los varios personajes y eventos que al fin me dejo pensando que ha pasado y que fue el punto de todo esto que he leído.
La primera mitad del libro aunque usaba lenguaje mas complicada y tenia muchas referencias indígenas que no entendía, era mucha mas simple de seguir y las disfrute mas que la segunda mitad cual me dejo rascando la cabeza tratando de descifrar la importancia de lo que leí.
Creo que esta obra siendo de una leyenda tiene que ver con la religión maya y explica la leyenda del dios del sol y de como se pasa de la mañana a la tarde después a la noche y de regreso al día. Pero encuentro todo esto un poco extraño y un poco caótico como Shakespeare. Entiendo que igual que la primera mitad del libro la segunda también es influido por la naturaleza y como toda la cultura de los indígenas era influida por su vista de la naturales. Pero aun estoy completamente confundido de cual es la tema de la segunda mitad.
Hay muchas personificaciones de animales, hay metáforas y visualizaciones que hacen que la segunda mitad sea interesante aunque aun es muy confuso.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Span 365 1 Asturias
The first half of the book legends of Guatemala seems to be a compilation of various magical legends which depict Guatemala's past.
The book can be viewed as a work of history or anthropology talking about the various cities and the sacrifices as mentioned in the first tale Guatemala as well as the way the natives were and their types of beliefs in the past. The various legends in this story talk about different beliefs they have in gods, sacrifices and nature and help us visualize what life must have been like in their time.
The book uses a lot of visualization in its depiction of nature and the way the natives lived in Guatemala. Nature seems to be a key component in almost all the tales; the use of so many descriptions and metaphors creates a vision of what the world Asturias is describing in these legends. A world where nature appears to be of the greatest importance and influences both the natives lives and mystical beliefs.
The legend I liked the most would have to be "Leyenda del Volcan" the co-existence with nature and the presence of only 6 people. 3 that could see in water and 3 that could see in the air, half sharing the land above and the other half sharing the land under the water. The depiction of a state of harmony with nature is what I like about this story. Near the end where the volcano ravages the land and water destroying everything is tragic and the flow of magma destroying everything in its path could also be viewed as a symbol of the destruction caused by the conquistadors when they came to Latin America.
The book can be viewed as a work of history or anthropology talking about the various cities and the sacrifices as mentioned in the first tale Guatemala as well as the way the natives were and their types of beliefs in the past. The various legends in this story talk about different beliefs they have in gods, sacrifices and nature and help us visualize what life must have been like in their time.
The book uses a lot of visualization in its depiction of nature and the way the natives lived in Guatemala. Nature seems to be a key component in almost all the tales; the use of so many descriptions and metaphors creates a vision of what the world Asturias is describing in these legends. A world where nature appears to be of the greatest importance and influences both the natives lives and mystical beliefs.
The legend I liked the most would have to be "Leyenda del Volcan" the co-existence with nature and the presence of only 6 people. 3 that could see in water and 3 that could see in the air, half sharing the land above and the other half sharing the land under the water. The depiction of a state of harmony with nature is what I like about this story. Near the end where the volcano ravages the land and water destroying everything is tragic and the flow of magma destroying everything in its path could also be viewed as a symbol of the destruction caused by the conquistadors when they came to Latin America.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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