Autor: Luis Alberto Urrea
Originálny názov: The House of Broken Angels
Vydavateľstvo: Lindeni 2020
Séria: -Diel: -
Počet strán: 320
Žáner: contemporary, román
Moje hodnotenie knihy: 1*/5*
Moje hodnotenie obálky: 5*/5*
Anotácia:
„Treba jedine ľúbiť, mija,“ povedal. „Láska je odpoveď. Nič ju nezastaví. Ani hranice. Ani smrť.“
San Diego. Patriarcha rodiny mexických prisťahovalcov v[...]
V San Diegu umierajúci patriarcha mexickej prisťahovaleckej rodiny, Veľký Angel, zvolá celú rodinu najprv na pohreb a potom na svoju veľkú poslednú oslavu narodenín, kde sa odhaľujú spomienky, tajomstvá a konflikty.
Recenzentke však prekážalo chaotické písanie (časté skoky medzi postavami a časmi), nezrozumiteľné alebo nevysvetlené španielske výrazy a povrchne spracované postavy.
Aj tak kniha prináša silné momenty — smutné i vtipné scény, reflexie o živote a smrti a pohľad na rodinné vzťahy, čo vysvetľuje jej popularitu a ocenenia.
Recenzentka ju považuje za skôr slabší priemer, ktorý však osloví mnohých čitateľov.
Román sleduje Veľkého Angela, vodcu rozvetvenej mexickej rodiny prisťahovalcov, ktorý umiera a ktorého blízki sú naňho úplne závislí; po pohrebe matky nasleduje nostalgické narodeninové stretnutie plné spomienok. Recenzentka však mala s príbehom problém — sťažovala sa na četné nepreložené španielske vložky, prehnaný počet postáv a autorovo násilné presadzovanie tém, čo ju často odrádzalo od čítania. Dielo však v druhej tretine prinieslo nádherné a smutné momenty a autorská poznámka príbeh podľa nej potešila. Celkovo hodnotí knihu 2/5.
The definitive Mexican-American immigrant story, a sprawling and deeply felt portrait of a Mexican-American family occasioned by the impending loss of its patriarch, from one of the country's most beloved authors.Prizewinning and bestselling writer Luis Urrea… ...
The definitive Mexican-American immigrant story, a sprawling and deeply felt portrait of a Mexican-American family occasioned by the impending loss of its patriarch, from one of the country's most beloved authors.
Prizewinning and bestselling writer Luis Urrea has written his Mexican coming-to-America story and his masterpiece. Destined to sit alongside other classic immigrant novels, The House of Broken Angels is a sprawling and epic family saga helmed by patriarch Big Angel. The novel gathers together the entire De La Cruz clan, as they meet for the final birthday party Big Angel is throwing for himself, at home in San Diego, as he nears the end of his struggle with cancer and reflects on his long and full life.
But when Big Angel's mother, Mama America, approaching one hundred, dies herself as the party nears, he must plan her funeral as well. There will be two family affairs in one weekend: a farewell double-header. Among the attendants is his half-brother and namesake, Little Angel, who comes face to face with the siblings with whom he shared a father but not, as the weekend proceeds to remind him, a life.
This story of the De La Cruzes is the story of what it means to be a Mexican in America, to have lived two lives across one border. It is a tale of the ravaging power of death to shore up the bits of life you have forgotten, whether by choice or not. Above all, this finely wrought portrait of a deeply complex family and the America they have come to call home is Urrea at his purest and best. Teeming with brilliance and humor, authentic at every turn, The House of Broken Angels cements his reputation as a storyteller of the first rank.
