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Title: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (Plume Contemporary Fiction) by Julia Alvarez ISBN: 0-452-26806-0 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1992 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.94 (109 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: How DID The Garcia Girls Lose Their Accents?
Comment: Disappointment is the last thing that comes to mind when reading How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. This is an excellent novel that writes of four sisters who are ripped from their wealthy upbringing in the Dominican Republic. In 1960, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia are dropped in the middle of New York City (helpless of their parents' decision) only to discover that their lives were going to take a 180 degree turn in the wrong direction. The author writes in a unique style taking the reader from older to younger rather than from youth to adulthood. Their drastic changes in life are written from when 39-year-old Yolanda has moved back to the island continuing back to the days of their youth before the Garcias move to New York. Growing up in America during the '60s and '70s the girls distance themselves from their old, drab island life and try their best to fit in until they are officially Americanized. Although the girls' strict, old-fashioned parents do not approve of some American traditions, they grow to be bold women - sometimes going against their parents' rules.
This book is recommended because no matter what the age of the reader, anyone can relate to something the girls experience, or if not something that happened to the girls, something the parents went through or the cousins, or the aunts and uncles. The author brings it all close to home by expressing how Fifi (Sofia) felt under peer pressure, and how Yoyo (Yolanda) felt in elementary school when she was teased by the boys. The parents experienced the rebellion of the girls and the highs and lows of raising teenage daughters in America. Also, the author explores the other side, like the torture of always having to watch your back because of communists. The author's story is so personal that the Garcias feel like they are a part of the reader's family.
One argument to my recommendation is that it can get a little puzzling sometimes because the Garcia family is so large. The story gets a little off track by explaining which cousin does what and which niece belongs to which uncle and so forth. To understand the book during these points, read it very carefully and almost listen to yourself as you follow the words. That can get a bit agitating sometimes, but the plot is so intriguing that the reader will adapt to find out what happens next. This book was very impressive and really descriptive. It was interesting and I found it hard to put down. I look forward to reading the sequel.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not on par with Amy Tan
Comment: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is an intriguing exploration of cultural and generational conflicts. I read it because I loved "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan. That novel made me feel intrigued by the notion of cultural clashes, and how children and parents deal with such conflicts.
Alvarez was able to create well-rounded characters who were interesting to me as a reader. I was really engrossed in the girl's journey to adjust to the culture shock of living in America. Some of the imagery in the novel was captivating. Alvarez really pulled me in; I could totally picture some of the events in the novel taking place. I also liked the device of starting in the present and working backwards to the girls' childhood. Each of the characters had a unique voice; they were all distinct and true to life.
I do wish that the book were a novel rather than a collection of short stories. I think that some of the characters deserved more "airtime". The book seemed more like a string of vignettes than a real story. As well rounded as the characters were, there were some, such as the mother, that I would like to have known more about. Even the girls could have been developed more. Some of the chapters/stories were a little boring, too.
Overall, if you are interested in how people adapt to new cultures, and the notion of intergenerational conflict, there will likely be something in this novel you will enjoy. It is well written and worth the time it will take to read it, even though it is slow in parts.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beautiful book that transcends differences between people
Comment: I first read one of the short stories in this book, "Daughter of Invention," in an anthology called GROWING UP LATINO. I found the short story so humorous, touching and sensitive I wanted to read the book that it originally came from.
What I admire about Julia Alvarez is her subtlety as a writer. I found myself chuckling to myself throughout the book, as well as learning more about her experience as a Dominicana told through the eyes of the four fictionalized daughters and the parents who raised them in a time of great political unrest. This was during the time of Trujillo, when their father got in trouble politically for attempting to overthrow his dictatorship. Hence, the reason for their exile to the Bronx, and the circular visits taken by the daughters returning from their schools in the U.S. back to the Dominican Republic.
What I admire about this story (or series of short stories) that discuss and illustrate the challenge of assimilation, racism and identity, is that Julia Alvarez's characters are identifiable with anyone who had has to immigrate and assimilate to a new set of social expectations and assume a bicultural/biracial identity. I think specifically of all the different Latinos from all corners who immigrated here, fleeing social and political unrest, and other groups of people of color who came to this country seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
I am also a great fan of Sandra Cisneros, the lively and biting Chicana writer based in Texas. I have to say that to compare Alvarez's work to Cisneros is impossible because the styles are so different. But, in all honesty, I found Alvarez less hard-edged and more accessible. I highly reccomend this novel as an introduction to a wonderful, vibrant and insightful Latina writer. I want to thank Julia Alvarez for sharing the experience of assimilation and adversity with us, her humble readers.
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Title: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez ISBN: 0452274427 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: !Yo! by Julia Alvarez ISBN: 0452279186 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago ISBN: 0679756760 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 September, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Dreaming in Cuban by CRISTINA GARCIA ISBN: 0345381432 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 10 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The House on Mango Street (Vintage Contemporaries) by SANDRA CISNEROS ISBN: 0679734775 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 03 April, 1991 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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