2008 Woodie Awards
Recommended reads for 2004
Ashley Baldon
Issue date: 5/12/04 Section: Opinion
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Summer is here the sun is out and the wind is warm. Now is the time to savor a book on the beach. So sit back, relax, and settle down in the sand with one of these enjoyable reads.
"Rain of Gold," by Victor Villasenor, is a powerful novel of love, war, and familia. It is the true story about Villasenor's own family's journey north to United States away from the death and destruction of their once peaceful land of Mexico. An epic that goes back a hundred years to the Revolution of Mexico it is compelling in its triumphs and despairs. Villasenor's voice is straightforward in its delivery while bursting with emotion.
"The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy is also a novel about love and family and of its strength and weaknesses. It takes place in India during political turmoil. The unique language Roy uses to tell her story is inventive and refreshing, although her metaphors seem obscure at times. Also she jumps back and forth between the different pasts and present, but this unique style has its advantages. As the story unfolds, the reader delights in the honest child-like story telling.
Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" is a classic story about love and survival. Life is hard for Celie, but it gets even harder when she is separated from her two children and then her sister, Nettie. Then Shug Avery, her husband's lover, waltzes into her life and begins to turn Celie's life around. The storytelling style is unique. This story reads like a series of letters. Its emotionally intense and moving.
In "The Joy Luck Club" a novel about mother-daughter relationships, Amy Tan contrasts the lives of four traditional Chinese mothers and their
Americanized daughters. Tan organizes the novel into sixteen parts. Each daughter and mother tells two stories with the exception of the main character, who tells her mother's stories for her. It is fascinating to be able to take part in each side of the story rather than just contemplate what each character may be feeling. Tan's language and style are insightful and inspiring.
"Rain of Gold," by Victor Villasenor, is a powerful novel of love, war, and familia. It is the true story about Villasenor's own family's journey north to United States away from the death and destruction of their once peaceful land of Mexico. An epic that goes back a hundred years to the Revolution of Mexico it is compelling in its triumphs and despairs. Villasenor's voice is straightforward in its delivery while bursting with emotion.
"The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy is also a novel about love and family and of its strength and weaknesses. It takes place in India during political turmoil. The unique language Roy uses to tell her story is inventive and refreshing, although her metaphors seem obscure at times. Also she jumps back and forth between the different pasts and present, but this unique style has its advantages. As the story unfolds, the reader delights in the honest child-like story telling.
Alice Walker's "The Color Purple" is a classic story about love and survival. Life is hard for Celie, but it gets even harder when she is separated from her two children and then her sister, Nettie. Then Shug Avery, her husband's lover, waltzes into her life and begins to turn Celie's life around. The storytelling style is unique. This story reads like a series of letters. Its emotionally intense and moving.
In "The Joy Luck Club" a novel about mother-daughter relationships, Amy Tan contrasts the lives of four traditional Chinese mothers and their
Americanized daughters. Tan organizes the novel into sixteen parts. Each daughter and mother tells two stories with the exception of the main character, who tells her mother's stories for her. It is fascinating to be able to take part in each side of the story rather than just contemplate what each character may be feeling. Tan's language and style are insightful and inspiring.