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MotherF



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W

PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reading Reply with quote

I haven't been around much because of vacation and I've been really busy--reading, and reading about reading, and literature, and it's roll in our lives and education. I've been compling resources related to those topics and I thought you might be interested in one part of those.

Here is a list of 50 Latin American writers, mostly novelists, but some poets, and Latin Americans can't seem to stay away from becoming essayists as well. Smile So many of these are famous for their essays and nonfiction work as well. There are many many more--see this great wikipedial List of Latin American Writers---But these were choosen as 50 writers whose work has the potential to mark your life.



    Alberto Fuguet de Goyeneche
    Alejo Carpentier
    �lvaro Mutis Jaramillo
    Augusto Monterroso Bonilla
    Augusto Roa Bastos
    Bernal D�az de Castillo
    Carlos Cuauht�moc S�nchez
    Carlos Fuentes
    Carlos Monsiv�is Aceves
    Ciro Alegr�a
    Eduardo Galeano
    Elena Poniatowska
    Ernesto Che Guevara
    Ernesto S�bato
    Fernando Vallejo Rend�n
    Fray Bartolom� de las Casas
    Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez
    Gabriela Mistral
    Giannina Braschi
    Gioconda Belli
    Guillermo Cabrera Infante
    Isabel Allende
    Jorge Edwards
    Jorge Franco
    Jorge Luis Borges
    Jos� Donoso
    Jos� Emilio Pacheco Berny
    Jos� Enrique Rod� Pi�eyro
    Jos� Mar�a Arguedas Altamirano
    Juan Carlos Onetti
    Juan Rulfo
    Julio Cortazar
    Laura Esquivel
    Luis Sep�lveda
    Luisa Valenzuela
    Manuel Puig
    Mariana Azuela
    Mario Vargas Llosa
    Mart�n Luis Guzm�n
    Miguel �ngel Asturias
    Octavio Paz
    Pablo Neruda
    Ricardo Piglia
    Roberto Bola�o �valos
    Rosario Castellanos
    Rub�n Dar�o
    Sergio Pitol Demeneghi
    Sor Juana In�s de la Cruz
    Tom�s Eloy Mart�nez
    V�ctor Montoya
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Isla Guapa



Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1520
Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana

PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's quite a list, MotherF! It would be helpful to know when they wrote (at least the century) and what country they're from. Anyway, I'm going to look through the list and see which of these authors I'm at least a little familiar with. Of the ones you've read this summer, which ones did you like the most, or the least?

Thanks for starting this thread.
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geaaronson



Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City

PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 1:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Julio Cortazar is my fav. He works on a subliminal level. If you like surrealism, you most likely like him. Id all the way!
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geaaronson



Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City

PostPosted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 2:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would add Angela Mastretta to the list. Her novels are atrocious but short stories are brilliant.
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MotherF



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W

PostPosted: Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Isla Guapa wrote:
That's quite a list, MotherF! It would be helpful to know when they wrote (at least the century) and what country they're from. Anyway, I'm going to look through the list and see which of these authors I'm at least a little familiar with. Of the ones you've read this summer, which ones did you like the most, or the least?
Thanks for starting this thread.


I haven't forgotten about this Isla--I've just had a busy couple of weeks.
Here are just the Mexicans--since this is a Mexico forum with their births and deaths if they are not still living.

Bernal D�az de Castillo, 1492 � 1585
Carlos Cuauht�moc S�nchez, 4-15-1964
Carlos Fuentes, 11-11-1928 � 5-15-2012
Carlos Monsiv�is Aceves, 5- 4-1938 � 5-19- 2010
Elena Poniatowska, 5-19- 1932
Fray Bartolom� de las Casas, 1474 - 1566
Jos� Emilio Pacheco Berny, 5-30- 1939
Juan Rulfo, 5-16-1917 � 1-7- 1986
Laura Esquivel, 9-30- 1950
Mariano Azuela, 1-1- 1873 � 3- 1- 1952
Mart�n Luis Guzm�n, 10-6-1887 � 12-22- 1976
Octavio Paz, 4-31- 1914 � 4-19- 1998
Rosario Castellanos, 5-25-1925 � 8-7-1974
Sergio Pitol Demeneghi, 3-18-1933
Sor Juana In�s de la Cruz, 11-12-1651 � 4-17-1695

Of these, I've read most of them--some way back when I was in college and others recently. Bernal Diaz de Castillo y Fray Bartolome de las Casas, were technically Spanish, but they wrote about Mexico. Las Casas even returned to Spain and died there. Neither are easy reads in Spanish due to the differences in their writing from modern Spanish. I also read Sor Juana In�s de la Cruz in college, I really enjoyed her work, even more so knowing the obstacles she had to overcome for her work to make it down through history to us.
I've read several Fuentes novels, and have to admit I actually don't really like his work--I find it very depressing.
Elena Poniatowska is best known for her non-fiction work, especially about Tlatelolco and the 1985 earthquake. But I really loved her novel, La piel del cielo and highly recommend that.
Of course Juan Rulfo is most famous for Pedro Paramo and Llano en llamas, both are quite short and I read them for my degree.
I really enjoy Laura Esquivel. I've read Como agua para chocolate, La ley de amor, and La Malinche. They are all good books for "first novel in Spanish" if anyone out there wants to give one a try.
Octavio Paz is also best known for his non-fiction works. El laberinto de la soledad is (or was) sort of the gold standard for understanding Mexico.
I read Rosario Castellanos's The Nine Guardians recently and enjoyed it immensely.
The others are still on my to read list. I have a copy of Carlos Cuauht�moc S�nchez's book Juventude en �xtasis, so I will be reading that soon.

Of course this list is not exhaustive! But I've been compling a list of sort of "must read" books for university students. Books that make you think and may change your perspective on life/the world. It's a concise list of about 300 authors! 50 of which are Latin American.
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BadBeagleBad



Joined: 23 Aug 2010
Posts: 1186
Location: 24.18105,-103.25185

PostPosted: Sat Sep 15, 2012 6:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have read a lot of the same ones you have, MotherF, most notably "Como Agua Para Chocolate", which is one of my favorite books, and Sor Juana, but would like to add one to the list, "68" by Paco Ignacio Taibo, it is also a slim volume and not too difficult a read. Right now I am reading a lengthy book that consists of a series of interviews between Fidel Castro and a Brazilian monk. If you are interested in Liberation Theology, it is very interesting, and reveals some facets of Fidel's personality not seen in his other books. I agree with you about Carlos Fuentes being a depressing read, but somehow that works for me, for the same reason I like Nicolas Sparks, a bittersweet ending lingers longer than one where all the loose ends are tied up by the time you turn the last page. I also quite like Paulo Coelho, especially El Zahir........
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MotherF



Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W

PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 5:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just have to share. I love this story!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19547365
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Isla Guapa



Joined: 19 Apr 2010
Posts: 1520
Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana

PostPosted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MotherF, I haven't forgotten to respond to your very useful posts on my favorite topic - reading! I've been super-busy the last month or so copy-editing a book and have almost finished, so I thought I'd take a break and add my two pesos worth to this discussion. Thanks for separating out the Mexican authors from your original list - it's also useful to have their years of death and birth. Since I was an undergraduate Spanish major and went on to get an MA in the same area, I've read works by all of the authors listed except for Cuauht�moc S�nchez and Pitol Demeneghi, whom I must confess I've never heard of. Are they novelists, poets, essayists?

I've read a lot of Carlos Fuentes' novels, but prefer the earlier works, especially La muerte de Artemio Cruz, which I think draws a realistic, and damning, picture of the way the Mexican Revolution has betrayed itself. From his later books, I recommend El Naranjo, a collection of short stories, dealing with historical themes from La Colonia.

I like Elena Poniatowska's books, especially Hasta no verte, Jes�s m�o, and have recently read Tin�sima, her novelization of the life of Tina Modotti, though in English.

An author not on Mother F's list is Fernando del Paso, and I have a copy of his historical novel, Noticias del Imperio that I hope to read very soon.

Although written in the 1950s, El laberinto de la soledad, Octavio Paz's classic musings on Mexican history and the Mexican national character, still hits the nail right on the head!
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geaaronson



Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City

PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

He`s not Mexican but B. Traven is awesome.
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