Sunday, March 1, 2009
Post 1: Character
I like the way that the main character, Lala, thinks. She is very descriptive and provides unusual anecdotes during the story. It’s interesting to have her narrate the novel because you get to see her opinion of each character. The reader can discover what she thinks of all her cousins and how much she despises the Awful Grandmother. (Interjection: I also find it interesting that she uses epithets for a lot of the characters and that she places “the” in front of their nicknames. Just a side note.) Her thought process is fascinating to follow. She has the attention span and enthusiasm of a child, which she is at this point in the book. She is very observant of everything that is going on around her. And despite being the baby of the Reyes family, she has some very mature thoughts. I like that the book is set up this way, so that the reader starts at the beginning of Lala’s journey and (hopefully) gets to see her progress and mature throughout the book.
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I hadn't thought about your comment of seeing her opinion of the other characters. It's true that if we met the characters in real life, we'd think of them totally different, since we have her biased opinion of them. I hadn't noticed the epithets she uses (like the Iliad/Odyssey). I will look for them as I continue reading.
ReplyDeleteThat's true - she does have a biased opinion of the characters. I think that it would be interesting to get the father's perspective of the Awful Grandmother. First of all, she is his mother. Second of all, he is the only one who she calls "mijo" (Playing favorites?). And last, he does everything that she tells him to (A product of the playing favorites?). I want to know what he thinks of her.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I just realized how long and off topic that was.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be fun to read something from the Awful Grandmother's perspective as well as the Father's. It is unusual that Lala uses epithets instead of names. In a way, it helps keep the characters straight because their nickname describes them (when the nickname doesn't seem so out of the blue!).
ReplyDelete