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S'està carregant… The Last Tortilla & Other Storiesde Sergio Troncoso
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. Interesting collection. As with all short story collections there are some I liked more than others. Entertaining all in all. In the introduction to the collection of short stories, Ilan Stavans comments about Troncoso – “He makes art out of ordinariness.” I couldn’t say it better. In the title story, siblings struggle to celebrate a traditional Christmas following the death of their mother, and their father’s remarriage to a woman the children do not like. [i]Angie Luna[/i] tells the story of a college student home for the holidays who falls for an “older” woman who lives across the border in Juarez. In [i]Punching Chickens[/i] a teenage boy recounts his first job. In another story, a chubby boy struggles with teasing by schoolmates and dreams of getting a 10-speed bike. An elderly couple struggle to dispel each other’s demons and fears of impending death in [i]The Abuelita[/i]. My favorite story is probably [i]The Gardener[/i], wherein an elderly widow tricks her equally aged gardener into accepting her invitation to share her home. Troncoso gives us stories of Mexican-American life along the US / Mexico border, but also stories that will speak to all of us. He covers universal themes of love, death, coming-of-age and family life, but also touches on the clash between Mexicans living in America vs those still in Mexico, and the difficulty faced by young Latinos who don’t speak Spanish but don’t feel they fit into the American mainstream either. A couple of these stories were very hard to read because of their difficult subject matter (home invasion, violence among children), a couple left me dissatisfied with what I felt was an abrupt ending. A few of these stories were truly wonderful. The star rating reflects an average across the collection.
"Troncoso is a master storyteller....Readers’ hearts will be touched by episodes of loss, tragedy, and love." "An earthy collection....These stories are richly satisfying." "Each story is an organic whole, full of characters who have lives as complete as the reader’s....Enthusiastically recommended." "Troncoso really shines when he writes about El Paso and the life of Mexican-Americans there. He has the gift for writing from his heart outward into his reader's heart." Pertany a aquestes col·leccions editorials
"She asked me if I liked them. And what could I say? They were wonderful." From the very beginning of Sergio Troncoso's celebrated story "Angie Luna," we know we are in the hands of a gifted storyteller. Born of Mexican immigrants, raised in El Paso, and now living in New York City, Troncoso has a rare knack for celebrating life. Writing in a straightforward, light-handed style reminiscent of Grace Paley and Raymond Carver, he spins charming tales that reflect his experiences in two worlds. Troncoso's El Paso is a normal town where common people who happen to be Mexican eat, sleep, fall in love, and undergo epiphanies just like everyone else. His tales are coming-of-age stories from the Mexican-American border, stories of the working class, stories of those coping with the trials of growing old in a rapidly changing society. He also explores New York with vignettes of life in the big city, capturing its loneliness and danger. Beginning with Troncoso's widely acclaimed story "Angie Luna," the tale of a feverish love affair in which a young man rediscovers his Mexican heritage and learns how much love can hurt, these stories delve into the many dimensions of the human condition. We watch boys playing a game that begins innocently but takes a dangerous turn. We see an old Anglo woman befriending her Mexican gardener because both are lonely. We witness a man terrorized in his New York apartment, taking solace in memories of lost love. Two new stories will be welcomed by Troncoso's readers. "My Life in the City" relates a transplanted Texan's yearning for companionship in New York, while "The Last Tortilla" returns to the Southwest to explore family strains after a mother's death--and the secret behind that death. Each reflects an insight about the human heart that has already established the author's work in literary circles. Troncoso sets aside the polemics about social discomfort sometimes found in contemporary Chicano writing and focuses instead on the moral and intellectual lives of his characters. The twelve stories gathered here form a richly textured tapestry that adds to our understanding of what it is to be human. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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