#89260 - 02/19/10 08:57 PM
March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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March will be here in the blink of an eye, no doubt, so it's time to get started on our next book club selection. We'll be reading Luis Alberto Urrea's The Hummingbird's Daughter. Urrea fictionalizes the life of his great-aunt Teresita, the so-called "Saint of Cabora," known for her healing powers. The New Yorker's mini-review dubbed Teresita "a mestiza Joan of Arc" because she allegedly spurred an Indian uprising against the Spanish-Mexican government at the age of 19.
Urreatackles this inspired-by-a-true-story via an epic, multi-generational exploration of Teresita's origins and of the larger political and religious climate of the time, in which he blends gritty verisimilitude with magical realism. David Hellman, in his review in the San Francisco Chronicle, notes, "Like the patriarch of the form, Gabriel García Márquez, Urrea knows how to mix the magical and the realistic in just the right proportions without making the story seem labored or inane."
Honestly, all I needed to hear was "mestiza Joan of Arc" and I was sold. I'm really looking forward this one. It's LONG, bear that in mind as we head into March.
Discussion begins on March 15. Happy reading!
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#89309 - 03/01/10 09:37 AM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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*bump* Welcome to March! Discussion of The Hummingbird's Daughter begins in two weeks!
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#89338 - 03/08/10 10:21 AM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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*bump* Discussion of The Hummingbird's Daughter begins in one week!
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#89342 - 03/08/10 10:59 PM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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essay
Ching Shih
Registered: 08/18/01
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Uh, yikes!
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#89347 - 03/09/10 03:06 PM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: essay]
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Yep, that's pretty much how I'm feeling. Good thing it's Spring Break 'round these parts...
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#89365 - 03/15/10 08:43 AM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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It's the ides of March, which must mean it's discussion day. I am not finished reading the book yet, but I am loving it so far.
I'm at the part where the whole village is trekking to Cabora. I love that the bees are being kept docile with marijuana smoke. I'm really enjoying Buenaventura and his escapades.
So far, I think my favorite part has been when Teresa went to the big house in search of Huila. I was particularly struck by Loreto's reaction when she realized that Teresa is her husband's bastard child, and how different her reaction was to how this kind of scene usually plays out in books like this. I'm used to seeing scorned wives take their anger at their husband's infidelity out on the totally innocent children, and Loreto doesn't do that at all. She seems sympathetic to Teresa's plight and is quite kind to her.
I'm flying to Louisville, KY tomorrow, which means lots of airport/plane reading time, so here's hoping that I get through a big chunk of the remaining pages. I'll have my laptop with me (and, allegedly, free wi-fi at the hotel), so I'll check in here while I'm away. In the meantime, what are your thoughts about The Hummingbird's Daughter?
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#89406 - 03/27/10 08:11 PM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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essay
Ching Shih
Registered: 08/18/01
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I haven't gotten to it and with this month's schedule, I'm not likely to. Might try later and see what has emerged here by then, though.
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#89595 - 05/19/10 10:05 AM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: essay]
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LaSalleUGirl
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 1580
Loc: Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Has anyone else gotten through The Hummingbird's Daughter? It has definitely earned a place on my permanent shelves. I absolutely loved it. I did finish it on that trip to Kentucky, which involved blowing off conference sessions in order to read (shhh, don't tell anyone!).
I loved Teresita's trip to Texas to learn how to be a healer. (I don't have my copy of the book with me, so I can't remember the exact location or the expert healer's name, but he was one of my favorite characters.)
I loved the alphabetical list of rules regarding what Teresita was and was not allowed to do once she moved into the big house, and especially the references to which rules she either secretly or publicly ignored. Heh.
In retrospect, I think what fascinated me most about the book was Teresita's relationship with Tomas, and Tomas's reluctant willingness to support her increasingly peculiar and eventually dangerous activities. He doesn't have to let her move into the big house -- but he does. He doesn't have to let her minister to people from his porch -- but he does. He especially doesn't have to go to jail with/for her -- but he does.
As someone who has studied religious and political writing by women (albeit from a much earlier time period and primarily in England), I was really intrigued by Teresita's inflammatory articles as published by Aguirre. I'd love to know more about those -- whether she actually wrote them, if she wrote other non-political things.
I was also fascinated by the final scene on the train, and Teresita's perceptive insight into what was intended and how to avert it. I admit to being a little disappointed that the book ended when it did, with no epilogue or anything. I would have liked to know what happened to Teresita in the United States. One of the (journal?) excerpts includes a reference to New York -- did she wind up there? When? How?
There are many, many other things about this book that I loved. I'm looking forward to revisiting it at some point.
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#89599 - 05/19/10 09:42 PM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: LaSalleUGirl]
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essay
Ching Shih
Registered: 08/18/01
Posts: 1507
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Well, you make me want to bump it up the list, anyway.
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#89609 - 05/23/10 01:56 PM
Re: March 2010 Selection: The Hummingbird's Daughter
[Re: essay]
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Kivrin
Ching Shih
Registered: 06/01/00
Posts: 4298
Loc: Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Me too. Sorry that I haven't read it yet...especially as it was one of my suggestions...
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