2: In the Time of the Butterflies
Jun. 19th, 2009 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerJulia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies tells the story of the four Mirabal sisters, who defied the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Trujillo, until he had three of them killed. (This is not a spoiler; you find it out in the first chapter.)
I really wanted to like this book, on account of the title is so cool, but in the end I can't muster any strong feelings for it. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t like it either; it’s really pretty forgettable.
I think the problem is the focus of the book. The book is focused very much on the family life of the Mirabals: the relationship between the sisters and their husbands and all their various relatives. I think this was a poor choice for two reasons.
First, it doesn’t function very well on its own terms. The book is told in the alternating viewpoints of the sisters, three of them in first person and one in third. Unfortunately only two of them, Minerva and Patria, have unique and interesting voices; of the other two, Dedé sounds like Minerva-lite and Maria Teresa simply lacks emotional punch.
This is particularly problematic as Maria Teresa narrates the prison section – the events, horrible as they are, can’t carry all the emotion, but her colorless prose doesn’t give it any aid. (I think she’s written as she is on purpose; she’s supposed to be somewhat shallow; but I think it was a poor choice.)
Because of this lopsidedness, the book loses its emotional center. The web of relationships isn’t strong enough to carry the book, and the politics can’t pick up the slack. All the political things, the organizing and buying guns and plotting revolution, take place off the page; even when the girls go to prison, we don’t see the interrogations, we see their relationships with the other prisoners.
Therefore, it doesn’t make emotional sense to the reader when the Dominicans start looking up to the Mirabal sisters as heroines of anti-Trujillo resistance. What have they done to deserve it? A lot, we’ve been told, but we haven’t seen any of their revolutionary actions so it doesn’t feel real.
In the end, the problem is that the book isn’t sure what it wants to be. A family drama? But it would be wrong to leave out the politics entirely. A political drama? But Alvarez seems to be interested mainly in the relationships. Instead, the book tries to mix the two, and as a result the family drama is half-baked and the politics too thin to make up the difference.
I really wanted to like this book, on account of the title is so cool, but in the end I can't muster any strong feelings for it. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t like it either; it’s really pretty forgettable.
I think the problem is the focus of the book. The book is focused very much on the family life of the Mirabals: the relationship between the sisters and their husbands and all their various relatives. I think this was a poor choice for two reasons.
First, it doesn’t function very well on its own terms. The book is told in the alternating viewpoints of the sisters, three of them in first person and one in third. Unfortunately only two of them, Minerva and Patria, have unique and interesting voices; of the other two, Dedé sounds like Minerva-lite and Maria Teresa simply lacks emotional punch.
This is particularly problematic as Maria Teresa narrates the prison section – the events, horrible as they are, can’t carry all the emotion, but her colorless prose doesn’t give it any aid. (I think she’s written as she is on purpose; she’s supposed to be somewhat shallow; but I think it was a poor choice.)
Because of this lopsidedness, the book loses its emotional center. The web of relationships isn’t strong enough to carry the book, and the politics can’t pick up the slack. All the political things, the organizing and buying guns and plotting revolution, take place off the page; even when the girls go to prison, we don’t see the interrogations, we see their relationships with the other prisoners.
Therefore, it doesn’t make emotional sense to the reader when the Dominicans start looking up to the Mirabal sisters as heroines of anti-Trujillo resistance. What have they done to deserve it? A lot, we’ve been told, but we haven’t seen any of their revolutionary actions so it doesn’t feel real.
In the end, the problem is that the book isn’t sure what it wants to be. A family drama? But it would be wrong to leave out the politics entirely. A political drama? But Alvarez seems to be interested mainly in the relationships. Instead, the book tries to mix the two, and as a result the family drama is half-baked and the politics too thin to make up the difference.
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no subject
Date: 2009-06-21 06:08 pm (UTC)Thanks for the review, I will skip this book. I just bought a different Domenican Republic/Trujillo book 'The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' by Junot Diaz, on the strength of the sections of the book that are posted online. His prose is amazing! The excerpts are the bits concerning Oscar, and contain spoilers for the end of the novel. The missing parts are those narrated by Oscar's mother and sister. The older generation is set in the Domenican Republic and the parts concerning Oscar and Lola are set in New Jersey.
I was a bit confused when I read the online cut of the book, because it seemed complete in itself. Now I wish I hadn't read the ending, but I am looking forward to the female POV's and to getting more Domenican history.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:23 am (UTC)I've heard of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; I'll be interested to see what you make of it.