Blog Post 1
The front cover seems like this book has a lot to do with culture. It looks like one of the Garcia Girls is dancing (assuming it is one of the Garcia girls) or that she has to go to the bathroom. Both covers have a lot of orange and yellow, which makes me assume that this book has a lot of emotion. The summary was very simple and told me what exactly was going to happen. It has multiple lists which makes me believe that Julia Alvarez is somewhat repetitive. The reviews on the back make the book sound like it is inspirational and really makes you ponder life... The family tree is kind of confusing; the dotted line really makes no sense and it just confuses me-- are the Garcia and de la Torre families The Conquistadores or is it just creativity? Also, the "hair-and-nails cousins" doesn't seem to make sense. The first four chapters were actually surprising. According to the common stereotype of hispanic families, I dived into this book thinking that this story would be about the struggles that the Garcia families has living in New York. But from the first five pages or so, I can obviously conclude that the Garcia girls are filthy rich beyond belief! Tia Flor was telling a story about the first time she ran out of gas in a car. About how her cheuffeur was an idiot for not keeping the car filled with gasoline. Also what I find interesting is how Yolanda was considered as the sloppy sister, at least my physical description. This book actually sounds decent, I might actually read the whole thing!
Ryan, you really analyzed the extent of the family tree. I think you did a really good job talking about the members of the family. I also agree with you when you say that this book has a lot to do with culture. I think it will be really interesting to see how this story plays out. Do you think that when the Garcia girls have to assimiliate into American culture they will fully assimiliate and be only American and forget about their whole Hispanic culture? Or do you think that they will only partially assimilate into American society amd still display evidence of their Hispanic heritage? You mentioned in your post that this book makes you "ponder life." I have read that too in other classmates' blogs and I completely agree with you. This story seems like it is going to have a lot to do with cultural aspects of life. Assimilating into a new society brings up questions like: How does it affect the family? How hard is it to actually be a part of a new culture? Will other people accept you? This book seems like it is going to be very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ryan about the family tree. It does not make any sense that they would have "hair and nail cousins". From these beginning chapters it does not even seem like they should be on the family tree. With the little significance in the beginning of the novel, the only thing that I can conclude is that they will be important much later in the story. I also did notice the stero-type being broken about 'poor Hispanics'. But there are currency differences, and maybe what is rich in the Dominican, like the family house, is a tiny apartment in the United States. When they do go into the later chapters, they do talk about how the girls lived in a tight apartment. Big difference in life style!
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