Overall rather slow moving. Never really cared for the characters. Ending was odd. There were many parts that didn't have any resolution. Did Ignacio murder Blanca intentionally? Is Reina pregnant? (At 48?). Is Dulcita dying of cancer, suffering from STD, pregnant or going thru menopause? Is Isabel crazy now, like her grandmother, Blanca? What was deal with the crazy fish bite on Blancas heel, and bite on isabels hand and the mark on baby raku? Was the fragment of bone that Blanca kept in the pouch her mothers?I enjoyed how the author created the family history and how it also showed the history of the island. I would have liked a bit more hitstorical fiction componet. Ie: Ignacios parents- lector at the cigar factory and musicians. Eugenia Mestre as Matriarch and saint-like figure. Smell/Scent reoccurance Dulcita sharp saffron scent (p38) Sweet Fishy scent (p83) Rain subdued stink of skin to a bearable mixture of vinegar and suede (p101) "malordorous skin" Dulcita in reference to "boyfriend" Bengt "he gives off a sharp tresspassing smell" (p147)Theme: birds- collecting specimens. Killing them. Birds going extinct.Preserving things. Killing things to "understand them" as Ignacio says.Theme: things aren't always what they seem. Reina sees a woman in Cuba and makes the comment "she looked festive from afar but looking closer there is no mistaking her misery" (p97)Blanca tells Reina "you don't know how much of what you see you never see at all" (p98) Eugenia says "in a country of the blind the one eyed men are kings" Ignacio says "I would have gladly chosen blindness over this sorrow" (p262) Theme of immortality and remembrance Reina says "who will remember mami? Papi? Me? We hold only partial knowledge of eachother". (P201) Dulce "I search for somewhere to leave my mark" (p207) In reference to eating a cuban sandwich "made me realize how close we are to forgetting everything- how close we are to not existing at all" (p288)Theme: death Reina in reference to Jose Luis's drowning"Death begins from within (p70) Ignacio "one simply had to kill a creature to understand it" (p150) Blanca says "everywhere this reckless procession toward death" (p186) Blanca kept a series of pet crows. Silvestre: "after a certain point in life, nothing aimless and purely happy can happen again. Perhaps only death. After all, the dead have many advantages over the living. Like being infintely more revered. Theme: magic/spirituality vs science
There is plenty I liked about this book. The pair of sister-protagonists is unforgettable, & the landscapes are sumptuous. The Cuban natural history (which I assume has some basis in fact) is fascinating, as are the glimpses into recent-contemporary Cuban society both on the island & in Miami.The storytelling style always held me at a distance from the characters, so I can't say it is my favorite kind of book, the kind that hooks me at a deep level & makes me laugh & cry with the characters. But I assume that Garcia is going for something different, an exploration of the mystery & otherness of human beings, even within close family relationships.
I can't decide for sure how I feel about this one. The writing drew me into the lives of the family members, and her representation of memory was intriguing. I just hated all of the characters, with the exception of maybe Ignacio. I felt like I SHOULD like Reina, but I couldn't. I hated everything about Blanca, in particular. I get tired of reading stories about "strong" women who are either crazy or completely heartless and cruel. Surely there is some middle ground between this and the "angel on the hearth," where truly awesome women can exist.
—Vilja
Loved this book! I agree with other reviewers in that I don't identify with the main characters, but they're two 60ish year-old Cuban ex-pat women!?!? How many of us do? I thought the story was lush, colorful, poetic and dreamlike. It engaged all of my senses and probably most of my emotions.At times you feel very uncomfortable (refer to Reina/Isabel nursing scene, Constancia/Gonzalo hospital scene) but I also found it to be humorous, sometimes melancholic and very often sentimental. I think som
—Lauren
A well-crafted story of the reunion of two sisters separated from early life by disparate familial loyalties, and later by political paths following the rise of El Comandante in Cuba. There is a wealth of ironies and mystical significance bordering on magical realism, yet the complex personalities are not compromised and remain as strong entities in the reader's imagination. García also provides a complex modern perspective on the Cuban situation, going right to the heart of the issues facing Cuban patriots and Cubans-in-exile in Miami. This novel came to my list from the Seattle Public Library's reading list "Reading Across the Map: Latino Fiction", and from Nancy Pearl's Book Lust category "Cuba Si!".
—Ronald Wise
