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O Caderno De Maya (2011)

by Isabel Allende(Favorite Author)

3.8 of 5 Votes: 4

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Porto Editora

review 1: I can't put my finger on why, but this book just didn't have the emotional impact that Isabel Allende's books normally do for me. I pick up her books with extremely high expectations, and for the first time ever this one disappointed. It's still an interesting story told from an engaging point of view, but considering the subject matter I expected to have a lot more feelings as I read. I just didn't. Maybe it's because the whole story is written in journal form: Most of the story occurs in retrospect, Maya telling us what she's lived through over the past few years or telling us the stories of her grandparents, so the feelings are diffused by being reported at second or even third hand. For example, we know Maya is going to survive all the dangers she faces because she wou... moreldn't be telling us the story otherwise, so we lose the tension of not knowing. I would have rather Allende took us right to the scenes the way she normally does. Also, I just didn't quite buy Maya's voice. It's too... mature maybe for a 20 year old, even one who's been through everything she has.
review 2: I confess, this is the first Isabel Allende book I have read, though I doubt it will be my last. This was part of my ongoing quest to complete the Richmond Public Library adult summer reading game and was to be my South America entry on the globe. It is a marvelous story across two countries with the US portions of the story spread between Berkeley, Las Vegas and the Oregon mountains. I read this book part in Berkeley and part in Las Vegas so that was interesting enough. But the truly wonderful sense of place comes from the portions of the book set in Chiloé, Chile. This is the story of Maya, a young woman sent to Chile by her grandmother to wait out the trouble she has gotten into in the United States. The rural island setting in Chiloé is magical for Maya and it was for me as a reader as well. There is a strong sense of community, tradition, and sufficiency in the town where she is to live. With almost no contact with the world outside the town, Maya is forced to slow down and fully engage with her surroundings. The island ecology, the weather, the small town politics, and the long-standing family relationships become her universe. All of this is in sharp contrast to the over-full, city lifestyles she led in the US filled with drugs and gangs, prostitution and violence. In her time in Chiloé she is able to reflect on how she came to be in her predicament, and how her heritage and culture can get her out of it. There is a dramatic back story that is revealed throughout the book so it is not all lyrical musings nor is it simply an homage to old ways of life. It is more of an acknowledgement of the ways that old and new, fast and slow, connected and isolated intersect. And it is a lovely coming-of-age story about a young woman who continues to figure out who she is and where she belongs in the world. less

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Reviews (see all)

15Valorie

- يالله .. دفتر مايا ، خفيفة ، عميقة ، سوداوية ، لا تخلو من الأملمزيج عجيب بين عدة تناقضات وحالات تجعلك تُعايشها كلها وانت تقلب صفحاتها بلهفةً أكبر كل مرهأحببتها منذ أول تعريف بنفسها وحتّى آخر ما قالت - وصفها لإدمانها وتعاطيها مُخيف ، وكأنك معها في نفس اللحظة - أجمل فصل وأعمقه والذي جعلني أبكي مِراراً هو حديثها عن جدها بوبو وعلاقتها معه وفقدها له سأعود إليك يا إيزابيل ، سأعودفقد وقعت في غرام حرفك

babyisa

أين كنت عن هذه الكاتبة يالله، أين؟. لن أقول شيء عنها ولن أتحدث عن الرواية، يكفيك فقط أن تعرف بأني أدرت محرك البحث - بعدما أنهيت قراءة هذا الكتاب - على جميع مؤلفاتها وتمكنت من تحميل أكثر من نصفها ولم أهدأ إلا بعد أن تأكدت بأني قد حفظتها في جهازي بصورة آمنة، هذا يعطيك تصور كافي عن ما أحدثه الرواية داخل نفسي وعن قلم المرايا الذي تكتب به السيدة إيزابيل الليندي.

roy

I loved this book, and every character in it!

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