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
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2 comments:
Toloache will cause someone to love you and do whatever you want.
Much of Dreaming in Cuban is about love. Insane love.
Celia's death:
when I read Celia's death I was reminded of Mercedes Sosa's, (the Argentine singer) "Alfonsina el mar."
You can listen to the song on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CAesBCjk20
Mercedes Sosa wrote this song for Alfonsina Storni, the Argentine poet who committed suicide by walking into the ocean. Before she died she wrote a poem called "Voy a dormir" (I am going to sleep).
You can hear the poem as you read along the words below by following the link:
http://www.palabravirtual.com/index.php?ir=ver_voz1.php&wid=426&p=Alfonsina%20Storni&t=Voy%20a%20dormir&o=Mar%EDa%20Teresa%20Avi%F1a
Dientes de flores, cofia de rocío,
manos de hierbas, tú, nodriza fina,
tenme prestas las sábanas terrosas
y el edredón de musgos escardados.
Voy a dormir, nodriza mía, acuéstame.
Ponme una lámpara a la cabecera,
una constelación, la que te guste,
todas son buenas, bájala un poquito.
Déjame sola: oyes romper los brotes.
Te acuna un pie celeste desde arriba
y un pájaro te traza unos compases
para que olvides. Gracias... Ah, un encargo:
si él llama nuevamente por teléfono
le dices que no insista, que he salido.
...
Well, what I was trying to say is that Celia's walking into the sea, and taking her pearl earrings have the connotations (for me) of getting ready to go to bed and also to give back the pearls (and herself) to the sea, the sea that she has patrolled for so many years for "El Lider," and before that waiting and hoping for Gustavo's return.
Sad but beautiful!
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