Comments on: The Vortex, by José Eustasio Rivera http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869 "the greatest obloquy i' th' world" William Shakespeare Mon, 13 May 2013 00:20:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 By: obooki http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869&cpage=1#comment-2942 obooki Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:33:14 +0000 http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869#comment-2942 It has its good parts and bad parts - even the factual stuff about Amazonian rubber slavery is interesting - and it's actually a pretty easy read. It has its good parts and bad parts – even the factual stuff about Amazonian rubber slavery is interesting – and it’s actually a pretty easy read.

]]> By: leroyhunter http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869&cpage=1#comment-2941 leroyhunter Tue, 14 Aug 2012 10:28:45 +0000 http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869#comment-2941 Having read your thoughts, I'm not convinced that I need to address my status as an anglophonic ignoramus of Rivera's work. Having read your thoughts, I’m not convinced that I need to address my status as an anglophonic ignoramus of Rivera’s work.

]]> By: obooki http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869&cpage=1#comment-2935 obooki Wed, 08 Aug 2012 08:47:22 +0000 http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869#comment-2935 It's not perhaps a novel I feel I can wholly recommend - it does have the occasional boring passage (which I probably noticed less because I read it relatively quickly) - but there is a lot of good stuff in it too. An article I was reading claimed it also had an unreliable narrator - which, I admit, I didn't much notice (or at least, only insofar as all 1st-person narratives are unreliable); but that would be another thing to look out for. No, I haven't read The Lost Steps. It was on my list for this reading month, but I didn't get round to it. I really like Carpentier though. It’s not perhaps a novel I feel I can wholly recommend – it does have the occasional boring passage (which I probably noticed less because I read it relatively quickly) – but there is a lot of good stuff in it too. An article I was reading claimed it also had an unreliable narrator – which, I admit, I didn’t much notice (or at least, only insofar as all 1st-person narratives are unreliable); but that would be another thing to look out for.

No, I haven’t read The Lost Steps. It was on my list for this reading month, but I didn’t get round to it. I really like Carpentier though.

]]> By: Bettina @ Liburuak http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869&cpage=1#comment-2933 Bettina @ Liburuak Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:37:10 +0000 http://www.mjiles.com/obookispage/?p=1869#comment-2933 I read this at University years ago and while reading, hated it with a passion. I thought it was dreadfully boring, I think it was because of the style. Since then, I have to say it has grown on me. I really like the idea of the book now and I definitely want to re-read it soon just to see how I feel about the it now. Have you read The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier? It's another book about a self-finding journey through the jungle, and it's from the 1950s but has a similar sixties feel to it in that aspect. I read this at University years ago and while reading, hated it with a passion. I thought it was dreadfully boring, I think it was because of the style. Since then, I have to say it has grown on me. I really like the idea of the book now and I definitely want to re-read it soon just to see how I feel about the it now.
Have you read The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier? It’s another book about a self-finding journey through the jungle, and it’s from the 1950s but has a similar sixties feel to it in that aspect.

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