The Latino Book Club meets on April 25th at Francesco's Cafe at 3PM.
Some topics of discussion:
Who is "crazier" Celia, Felicia, or Lourdes?
Celia's unsent letters to the "love of her life."
Santeria/ Regla de ocho
---
26th April 2009
Latino Book Club met yesterday. Thanks to Donna, Lizzy, Irene, Cathy, and Olga for coming out. We had a wonderful discussion. We all agreed that Felicia is the "craziest." She burns her first husband Hugo, who gave her syphilis, the second Ernesto died soon after she married him, and Otto was supposedly pushed off the roller coaster by Felicia.
All the characters' life represents an unfulfilled dream or promise: a metaphor for Cuba's situation. The unfulfillment is represented through the failed human relationships.
Celia's love Gustavo goes back to Spain to fight in the Civil War (which was lost by the Republicans: the liberal group), Celia's new hope "El Lider" does not bring the desired change everyone hoped to Batista's Cuba, and finally she loses her family to exile, death or moving away.
Lourdes is raped by the Revolutionary soldiers and she exiles to Brooklyn. She also loses her unborn son.
Javier's wife elopes with another man and takes their daughter, and he returns to Cuba from Czechoslovakia to get lost in Cuba.
Felicia is of course THE representation of unfulfillment. She turns to Santeria to find her future, but she is unable beat her inevitable death.
Moving on to May: There is a change in the book we had chosen earlier. Instead we will be reading the Peruvian American Daniel Alarcon's Lost City Radio. This is set in an unnamed country in Latin America. Please read the e-newsletter.
We will also be reading Lorraine López' The Gifted Gabaldón Sisters in June. It is a good summer read.
We will also meet for the Book Drive meeting on Tuesday 27th April at 3 pm in Leutze Hall 103 at UNCW. I hope you will join us or volunteer to participate in it.
Happy Reading!
Amrita
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)