Specify Books Toward The Lacuna
Original Title: | The Lacuna |
ISBN: | 0060852577 (ISBN13: 9780060852573) |
Edition Language: | English |
Characters: | Leon Trotsky, Harrison William Shepherd, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Violet Brown |
Setting: | Washington, D.C.(United States) San Angel(Mexico) Mexico City (MĂ©xico City),1929(Mexico) …more CoyoacĂ¡n(Mexico) Asheville, North Carolina(United States) …less |
Literary Awards: | Orange Prize for Fiction (2010), PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction Nominee (2010), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee (2011) |
Barbara Kingsolver
Hardcover | Pages: 508 pages Rating: 3.79 | 56894 Users | 7678 Reviews
Details Of Books The Lacuna
Title | : | The Lacuna |
Author | : | Barbara Kingsolver |
Book Format | : | Hardcover |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 508 pages |
Published | : | November 3rd 2009 by Harper |
Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Novels. Literary Fiction. Book Club. Art |
Narrative Concering Books The Lacuna
In her most accomplished novel, Barbara Kingsolver takes us on an epic journey from the Mexico City of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR, and J. Edgar Hoover. The Lacuna is a poignant story of a man pulled between two nations as they invent their modern identities. Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico—from a coastal island jungle to 1930s Mexico City—Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers who put him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. He discovers a passion for Aztec history and meets the exotic, imperious artist Frida Kahlo, who will become his lifelong friend. When he goes to work for Lev Trotsky, an exiled political leader fighting for his life, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution, newspaper headlines and howling gossip, and a risk of terrible violence. Meanwhile, to the north, the United States will soon be caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. There in the land of his birth, Shepherd believes he might remake himself in America's hopeful image and claim a voice of his own. He finds support from an unlikely kindred soul, his stenographer, Mrs. Brown, who will be far more valuable to her employer than he could ever know. Through darkening years, political winds continue to toss him between north and south in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach—the lacuna—between truth and public presumption. With deeply compelling characters, a vivid sense of place, and a clear grasp of how history and public opinion can shape a life, Barbara Kingsolver has created an unforgettable portrait of the artist—and of art itself. The Lacuna is a rich and daring work of literature, establishing its author as one of the most provocative and important of her time.Rating Of Books The Lacuna
Ratings: 3.79 From 56894 Users | 7678 ReviewsAssess Of Books The Lacuna
Yep, Barbara Kingsolver does it again, with a book that almost demands that you keep reading. This is the story of Harrison William Shepherd, the son of a Mexican mother, and an American father. The father is indifferent to the boy, and his mother longs for romance and adventure, so she returns to Mexico with the boy.The book is written as if it is a diary or journal of Harrison's life from his earliest memories. He details his life in Mexico, where through a series of events, he becomes theThe Lacuna was a sweeping and epic work of literary fiction that spans from Mexico to Washington, D.C. to Asheville, North Carolina combining history and fiction and taking place from the 1930's to the 1950's. This is the intricate tale of fictional character Harrison William Shepherd with the background of people like Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, renowned Latin American artists, to Lev Trotsky and the rise of McCarthyism in the United States. There are beautiful literary and artistic
Every night while I was reading this book, I dreamt of its characters. I enjoyed the leisurely first part, but when Kingsolver plunged into the Diego Rivera/Frida Kahlo/Lev Trotsky section, I plunged deeper with her. And by the time the protagonist is writing books, receiving adulation and criticism in his homeland, I was reading the book on at least three levels: 1) paying attention to the protagonist's actions and reactions, 2)reviewing what I know of American history and culture from
Is there anyone who writes with such beauty as Barbara Kingsolver? She has an ability to transform the reader from reading on a dreary porch to Isla Pixol, Mexico of the 1930s to Asheville, North Carolina of the 1940s. To transform someone from a beloved novelist to a scourge to be abhorred overnight. The Lacuna is about Harrison Shepherd, son of a Mexican woman and a US government official, who belonged to both countries, yet not to either of them. He wound up working for Diego Rivera and Frida
I had the privilege of listening to Kingsolver read this aloud as well as reading the print...I love her. Her voice and her style of narration, her perfectly articulated words and sounds all captivated me instantly. Hearing V.B.'s voice as Kingsolver intended it is what made me want to just hug Violet Brown. The characters were so lovable (even though I'd never want to hang out with Harrison or Violet in real life, but Trotsky definitely).I have heard people say that this book had a political
Placed in context with Kingsolver's other books this is essentially worthless. She turns Freida Kahlo into the most magical pixie dream girl ever and gives us a main character so thoroughly desexed and generally grey that one sort of imagines him as a Ken doll, completely generic and non-threating in every possible way. And I KNOW that's sort of the point of the main character, but still, he is pretty much one of the least enjoyable protagonists I've ever read since all you do is spend time with
This book is a powerful exposé of our countrys experiences and eventual recovery from the time of the depression until after World War II, up to and including the McCarthy era. The reminder of the worlds decay and the violent politics of that time made me shudder as I read it. The book traces the life of a fictitious person, Harrison Shepherd, a rather lost soul, born in the United States of an American father, a government worker, and a Mexican mother of rather loose morals. He is shuttled from
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