Latin Authors

gabo4ever says on Oct 31, 2006, 04:18:

Pedro Juan Gutierrez Title: Trilogia Sucia de La Habana

Its NOT Colombian, NOT for everyone, but im sure Elmo would love it!

"Poverty, sex, and tourists in a third-world country, all serve to heighten the atmosphere in a book that shows the heart of Cuba with a total honesty...It's an intellectual and deeply introspective piece, full of passion and honesty." Time Out

Y por si se atreven: Watsamatamaracuya?

Plato says on Oct 31, 2006, 04:26:

Great thank you! Keep 'em Great! Thank you! Keep 'em coming!

Oh yes, please add a one sentence description of the book and story - thanks! "Trashy" is good!

Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

kat1 (Moderator) says on Oct 31, 2006, 04:43:

la voragine by José Eustasio Rivera. my favourite book of all time


This novel relates the adventures of Arturo Cova and his lover Alicia, as they elope from Bogotá, through the flatlands and tropical jungles of Colombia.

"In this way Rivera is able to describe the magic of these regions, with their rich biodiversity, and the lifestyle of the inhabitants. However, one of the main objectives of the novel is to reveal the appalling conditions under which workers in the rubber factories toil. La Vorágine also introduces the reader to the tremendous hardship of enduring the adverse environment of the rainforest, as the protagonists (Arturo Cova and Alicia) get lost and are unable to be found. As the book says: Se los tragó la selva (literally, "they were swallowed by jungle") This book used all fashioned language and is set in the 1920's or 30


here you can find more reviews about the book it is a very interesting book
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/features/latinamericanwords/colombia/rubber.shtml

engage brain before opening mouth

Plato says on Oct 31, 2006, 06:18:

Kat1, you’re top class. A little feisty, but tops. Thank you very much. That’s exactly what I want. I hope more will come in.

Regards,

Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

Plato says on Oct 31, 2006, 06:21:

Gabo4ever - thanks for the description. I appreciated it very much. You're also top class!

Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

jh816 says on Oct 31, 2006, 06:30:

Gustavo Becquer, Rimas y Leyendas Excellent Spanish poetry and prose. I used to read some of the Rimas with my ex-novia when I was learning spanish and she would melt everytime.
joe.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 31, 2006, 09:05:

Just a couple of picks from my bookshelf:
"La Voragine" (the same book that kat recommended. It's also my number 1 choice)
"La Maria" by Jorge Isaacs. (Love story in the best turn of the century (1900) romantic style. The hacienda El Paraiso where this story takes place is located just outside Palmira, Valle and can be visited.
"Condores no entierran todos los dias" bt Gustavo Alvarez Gardeazabal (the bitter inheritance of the Violencia is still casting a sombre shadow over these towns in the North Of Valle)
"La Bruja" by Germán Castro Caicedo (Coca, politics and superstition in the Colombian political establishment and society in the late Eighties)
"Until Death Do Us Part" bt Ingrid Betancourt (a must for anybody who want to know more about this charismatic woman and her role in the Colombian politics)

Cheers,
Desi


«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

kat1 (Moderator) says on Oct 31, 2006, 09:10:

great selection Desi, i might read La Maria i like that kind of Books.

engage brain before opening mouth

Plato says on Oct 31, 2006, 09:11:

Fantastic Joe and Desi! Thanks!

Keep 'em coming!

Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

Desideria (Moderator) says on Oct 31, 2006, 09:18:

Ufff, the book is called "María", not La Maria. Ot's just everybody calls it La Maria and the park is named La Maria that I made that silly mistake.

Cheers,
Desi

«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Plato says on Oct 31, 2006, 09:23:

I’m currently reading “El último Judio� by Noah Gordon.

Synopsis: The Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century and the persecution of Jews.

Great read so far. Old Castilian Spanish.

http://www.amazon.com/El-ultimo-judio-Noah-Gordon/dp/8466616179


Regards,


Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

Plato says on Nov 2, 2006, 15:52:

TTT
Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

utopiacowboy says on Nov 2, 2006, 19:21:

I'm fond of Laura Esquivel myself. Her books can be very amusing.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

Plato says on Nov 2, 2006, 19:46:

Thanks UC - Plato
Thanks UC - Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)

Dolfi says on Nov 3, 2006, 00:44:

"Lituma en los Andes" and "La Fiesta del Chivo" by Mario Vargas Llosa. Probably more fo him, but these are the two I have read and they are excellent.

All the cuentos of Jorge Luis Borges (Ficciones, El Aleph), difficult to read in Spanish though.

All the crime novels of the spanish author Manuel Vazqez Montalbán, situated in Barcelona. Very good reading.

Everything by Germán Castro Caycedo, best colombian writer these days.

podborski says on Nov 3, 2006, 01:46:

julio cortazar 'Bestiario'

Collection of short stories by famous argentine author (probably 2nd best known after Borges).

Not my kind of stories actually, they are allegories about living in dictatorship. I find them hard to get, since I am just learning spanish. But after my teacher (reading this is my homework) explains the story behind the story they do seem pretty interesting.

I take the book to cafes and every time 1 or 2 local people ask me if I like it, and tell me it is their favourite, so people here have a very high opinion of it.

So then I ask them if they can explain to me what it means when this character says he is 'vomiting little rabbits'?

I also read a short story I liked by Uruguayan author Horacio Quiroga 'A la Deriva'. He'd be worth looking into. Apparently he was a bit eccentric and spent many years living alone deep in the jungle, so he has lots of stories about that experience.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Nov 3, 2006, 02:03:

an excellent Argie writer would be Manuel Puig; "El Beso de la Mujer Araña", "El Pubis Angelical", "La Traicion de Rita Hayworth"

Cheers,
Desi

«Sé que los seres humanos y los peces podrán coexistir en paz». ( George W. Bush, Saginaw 29-09-00)

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Plato says on Nov 3, 2006, 13:11:

TTT Thanks - Keep them coming please!

Plato

The hottest places in hell are reserved for those [liberals] who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.--Dante Alighieri, (1265-1321)