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Cocktail Hour Under The Tree Of Forgetfulness (2011)

by Alexandra Fuller(Favorite Author)

3.79 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1594202990 (ISBN13: 9781594202995)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Penguin Press HC, The

review 1: I actually listened to this book and I did right after I was done with Don't let's go to the dogs tonight. As her first memoir, this one became one of my favorite books before I even finished listening to it. I have listened to it a second time and I'm going to buy the actual book. This book touched me deeply, in so many ways and on different levels. I felt the layers of my own life's memories falling off their hinges, for me to see. I grew up in Latin America, during the civil war and certainly have many traumatic experiences intertwined with everyday experiences, good, bad,etc. Lived in exile with my parents for a few years, relatives were murdered, you know, your run-of-the mill civil war ;). My mother's family was French and Spanish, and my grandmother was raised to ... morebelieve she was better than non European people and my mother disapproved of that and would get upset when she heard her opinions. My grandmother wasn't a bad person at all, she was very giving and loved animals (like the author's mother) but she simply didn't realize that her beliefs were so wrong. I was aware that her opinions (which were only that, she didn't hurt anyone or took advantage of anybody) were not correct but I also accepted her, she was my grandma and I accepted her the way she was. I found Fuller's honesty and refrain from passing judgment or psychoanalyzing his parents, a breath of fresh air. It becomes evident, very soon, that she doesn't share their opinions. But she doesn't explain herself, you have to find out on your own, by reading some interactions between them. She is a skillful writer, her prose is beautiful and unpretentious. I have read her other two books, that in a way could be a sequel to this one and they are wonderful as well. Now, what made this story even more powerful, was that she picked a remarkably good narrator for her book: Blanca Amato. She manages to bring the story to life in such a way that you feel there, all of you... Your memories, emotions, passions and you feel like you are close friends with the author and she's telling you a story you have heard before. If you read and liked this book and haven't listened to it as an audio-book, you are missing out...Make sure you check it out.
review 2: An intimate history of one family and Africa. Centered around Nicola Fuller, the mom, the story first begins slowly as the daughter discusses Mom's lack of mental stability and her need to have her biography written. This part is a little disjointed to me because I couldn't figure out the point of it all. Then all of a sudden the story moves in to a chronological history of the family and their moves through Kenya, London, Rhodesia, the people of Africa, the inequality between its people and the wars. This part was fascinating to me, to hear about the African landscape through the eyes of adventure-seeking Nicola mixed with the reality of her daughters. So many hardships but the family endures, though not always stronger for it all. less

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Reviews (see all)

anooo

A wonderful book about a family in Rhodesia as it becomes Zimbabwe. It is the trials and tribulations as this family tries to save the life they have known in Kenya first and then to adventure in Zimbabwe. Tragic events occur and life goes on. Depression, adoration for a country they love so dearly. The author is their daughter and this feeling is her story if growing up in a land filled with both beauty and tragedy. Really lived the story. Kleenex at band.

petunia

libro

Marvellous.

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