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Lima Nights (2008)

by Marie Arana(Favorite Author)

3.07 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0385342586 (ISBN13: 9780385342582)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

The Dial Press

review 1: Really a very big disappointment. I loved, loved Arana's first novel Cellophane. It was richly written with a complex plot and very well-developed characters. In contrast, her second novel, Lima Nights, was more like a first draft. There wasn't a single character that was complexly rendered. The novel takes place over a span of 20 years, and the two main characters meander about not really knowing how they feel most of the time, but it didn't seem natural. It seemed as though the author wasn't sure what to do with the characters and realized there wasn't much to the plot. The ending was odd and forced. Even the writing was completely bland compared to Arana's vivid and playful writing in Cellophane.
review 2: Arana's style has a journalistic ease. Told ... morein 3rd person mostly from Carlos Bluhm's perspective, but with shorter chapters from Maria's, Lima Nights is the story of two unlikely people falling for each other and the arc of their relationship over a twenty-year period. So many Peruvian themes lace this story: race, gender roles and classism. The roles of brujeria and western twentieth century thinking, as well as many wonderful nuances identify and codify the particularities of Lima life. A haunting character - aside from Maria - is the old man at the beach. So many lovely layers create the depth of this story. Ultimately, however, the profound indulgence of Carlos Bluhm reminds me of any Phillip Roth male protagonist, and that realization leaves me with a heavy sadness for the persistence of self-absorbed angst as a literary theme. less

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