Sunday, March 8, 2009
Blog #2
The setting in Caramelo seems variable. Firstly, Lala travels from the United States to Mexico. Secondly, the book changes time periods from part 1 to part 2. I'm not quite sure what the time period is, but I think it is fairly current since Lala talks about her grandmother being young around the time of the Mexican Revolution. Since the time period switches, I think the thing the reader needs to understand about the time period is which one it is: old or current. The setting impacts Lala greatly. She talks about the change of setting (from the United States to Mexico) as a family tradition. Also, she encompasses the change of setting, being both American and Mexican. I can understand the setting. I think the author's description of characters is more precise than the setting, but the description of characters helps the reader visualize the things going on. For example, when Soledad goes to Aunt Fina's house, the description seems focused of Fina's disorganized and distressed character, but through this I am able to understand the setting. This book would not make sense at all in a different setting! I feel like the main focus of the book is Lala tracing her heritage through her grandmother and connecting to her Mexican roots. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense if she weren't in Mexico.
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I agree that this would not make sense in a different setting. Like you said, she's Mexican, visiting her grandmother who lives there, so she really couldn't be anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of this book being unique to Mexican culture, I think it would be interesting to read a book like this about a similar culture. I'm sure there are other books out there like Caramelo. The book reveals so much about Mexican culture and different generations of Mexican culture. However, I don't think I'd enjoy the book as much unless it were set in another Spanish speaking country, since the Spanish is my favorite part!
ReplyDeleteI like the Spanish part, too. And I'm greatful that she translates a lot of it (I'm not as good at Spanish as you are). I think I could enjoy a similar book about a non-Spanish speaking country, though.
ReplyDeleteI like the Spanish aspect of it too - you can really see how deeply rooted Lala and her family are in their Mexican heritage. I've always like books that integrate culture like Caramelo does. I was afraid that I was going to get this book mixed up with "In the Time of the Butterflies" since they were both so... Spanish!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was scared of mixing them up, too. But I haven't for the most part. The points of view are so different, and so are the writing styles. It's kind of nice to have something so different and yet really similar.
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking about In the Time of Butterflies as I read Caramelo. Caramelo reminds me of the All the Pretty Horses since that book mixes in Spanish too and mixes Mexican culture with American culture. We are reading lots of books with Spanish mixed in this year.
ReplyDeleteWell it's a good thing we all speak Spanish then, isn't it? I was also thinking about the time periods of Caramelo and, like the setting, they are kind of hard to figure out. The book jacket talks about the "dawn of the Roaring Twenties" but I'm not sure how fast time progresses from there - or if it does. The only real clue is that at this point in the book, Lala is still young.
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