Cisneros #2

The first impressions of this book are definetly not what I think about now in relations to this novel. By reading my first blog entry on Cisneros and reminiscing back to what I thought this book was going to be like, I never imagined how blunt certain issues would be adressed. We didnt talk about it much in class, but I cannot believe how the woman in the story gets such sick pleasure from ruining people's lives. I still can't get over this fact, and I'm going to attribute it to my psych major. It's hard to say if the omwna in the story is the same person throughout the entire novel, but if the girl who was raped is the same woman who was hidding little gummy bears in her lover's house to be found by his wife, I would be able to comprehend her character a lot more. Women, and especially chicanas, sometimes feel a loss of control in their lives that can be due to many aspects of the immigrant experience. This includes the language barriers, dignity losses, the fact that all aspects of their lives are brand new, oppression...and the list goes on. It is so hard for these women to make their lives in America when they themselves look down on ther own races. It is so hard to have pride in something that is so often bashed by society and looked down upon.
I know this is somewhat digressing, but I was watching "Bend it like Beckham" this weekend, and the same issues of double standards arose that I'm finding in this book. Why can men be upset about the situations they fnd themselves in (such as not having enough money to support their famalies, not being able to change their situation), but women cannot? Why do women have to turn to men to find the happiness they deserve in life. I am so proud of the woman who hollers as she passes over the creek in that tale about the wife escaping her husband. chicanas need to see that it is alright for a woman to be independent, and that she can make it out there in the real world wihtout a man.
Many times in these stories, the woman has to feel ashamed for being sexual but the man doesnt (why should the woman have to move away when she is pregnant but he man can stay wherever he pleases and continue on with his life sans-baby?)
It is just sad to me that these issues have to be written about in a book for us to be aware of what they are. They should not be a problem, period.
And along that note, north american women are no better than those in this book. We too wait anxiously to find the right man that will suddenly make our lives complete. We too rely on sitcoms to dictate what our relationships should resemble. I am not going to stant here (or rather write here) about how different these women are from us, because they are not. They may be faced with some hardships that we take for granted, but overall: they are just women. Women who live life just like us and should get our empathy from the heart.

Woman Hollering Creek

I have to say I absolutely love this book, and that I'd honestly pick it up and read it in my spare time. I'm glad to finally be reading anoher book in english, and the fact that it's so enjoyable is just a cherry on top of it all. Reading a book from a child's perspective seems to be a theme lately in class, and I'd agree that it is quite effective. Children are naive enough that their views on the word are yet to be tainted by societal norms. This child speaks so frankly about her life, and is so eloquent with spewing out her feelings on even mundane problems (like the red sweater story) that you forget about as you grow up. These stories are written in an almost run-on sentence style, and this helps solidfy the character behind the words: a child doesnt have the time to pause in her excitement or anxiousness to be more coherent. We can all imagine listening to a little girl who is somewhat of a chatterbox. This book reminds me somewhat of a dictionary I once received as a child in which every definition was something a child had said (for example grandma was defined as the fat lady who always gives me money). The child refers to those around her with very frank words: Uncle Fat-face, churches smelling like ears...

Although I did not exactly enjoy Marti's excessive descriptive style, Cisnero's is quite appealing. I am also enjoying the way the most mundane and quotidian affairs are described in the story. It's a completely different style from Rivera's, in which only very tumultuous events are described and the reader gets this heavy feeling in their chests. This book's suffering is of a different scale. I was surprised to hear the story of the man who raped her. It is never outright said, mentioned as an initiation of sorts. I couldnt believe what I was reading, and I wonder how old the girl is. By this time I believe a few years have passed since the first chapter, and so it's hard to think of this girl's future ruined because one person has no soul. However, it is nice to hear about her life so plainly, it reminds me of my childhood and brings good memories. It's not often that one feels this way, and mostly because it's not often one reads a book from this point of view. Its very fresh and raw and I'm very much looking forward to out class discussions to see what the rest of the class has been thinking about it as well.

My thoughts so far...

So I know that we are just supposed to do a blog entry on our thoughts so far in the course, but I've already started reading the next book, and I have to say I'm really excited to start talking about it after our exam next friday. So far, I've enjoyed this course: the spanish debates throw me off sometimes when I cant express my thoughts properly, but I'm really gaining insight on the experiences of the chicanos in America. The books we've read, although I havent enjoyed them all, do complement each other really well on the topics and issues we are discussing. The movie was just the cherry on top I'd have to say. Sometimes it's hard to sit down for a proper amount of time to give the attention a book deserves in order to fully grasp the story. This was different with the movie however, as we were forced to sit there and watch it all in 2 sittings, and that just made all the difference. Im not the kind of person that can read a book in so many fragments, but with the hectic life of university I'm finding I dont have the time to sit for 3 hours to read a book, and am instead reading it in chunks when im on the bus or have a break from classes. This doesnt impact me the way that its meant to, so I appreciate taking the time in class to discuss the more pertinent topics in the novels.

...Y no se lo trago la tierra #2

I have to say, this has been my favourite book so far. Although I'be been finding it hard to express my feelings in spanish in class, the discussions we've been having are the reason why I wanted to take this class in the first place. As I read on and especially by watching the movie in class on friday, I've been getting into the mindset of the characters and the sort of suffering they encounter. I knwo that in my last blog I talked about being an immigrant as well and therefore somewhat understanding the position these people are framed in, I have to say this whole debacle is way more out of my world than I would've though. These immigrants are so inscribed with a label of what they can and can't accomplish that they'll never get out of this catch-22. They are treated like trash, and as if they should be grateful for the opportunities of work the Americans give them. However, what the Americans dont realize is that they should be the ones thanking the Mexicans. I really want to see that documentary mentioned in class about the "day without mexicans", and I believe every American should too. What bothers me the most is that althought this book is supposed to be set int eh past and so is the movie, I dont feel like anythign has really changed. The problems they are encountering are a little outdated and I hope that those problems have already been solved for the immigrants (such as sanitation), but my belief is that they still struggle to this day with issues just as serious as those. In a world where equality and humanity is so stressed as qualities to strive for, I feel like they are only applied to those of the same colour skin as the ones in power. What is the point of equality if ony applied to a small percentage of the population?! I have heard it said that the U.S. spends more money on war than my helping its own people cope with life in their own country of residence. I think it's time for whoever takes the seat of power in the states to really take these issues seriously and to not only improve the lives of the rich and powerful to back him/her in decisions, but to also look at those who have no power or standards of living. In this book, the mexicans are so stuck in a circle of poverty and loss because nobody is willing to help them change that. I wonder in Canada if there is any group that feels the way the americans feel in the states: undernumbered, ignored, unrespected. I for one think we are better off than the states but I'd hate to know that a distinct group of people is suffering like that just because of one unifying theme: the colour of their skin or nationality.