No comments about English recording: MALINCHE, unabridged, 6 CDs.

No comments about Das zärtliche Alphabet des Don Jubilo. 4 CDs..

5 comments about Swift as Desire: A Novel.

1. I picked this book up because I thoroughly enjoyed Like Water for Chocolate (and the movie) ~~ and while it doesn't compete with her famous novel, this book is a very sweet story.

   A man has a gift to make everyone around him happy ~~ he is able to discern their discontent and find a way to make them feel better. Only one person who he cannot make happy and that is his wife. Lucha is a Mexican girl who has never known want or hunger. Jubilio tries everything in his power to make her happy and succeeded for many years till a tragedy drove them apart.

   The story is told from their daughter's point of view ~~ how a man driven to please his woman loses his woman after all ~~ and the secret yearnings of all of our hearts. This is an exquistely-written novel on the heart and love between a man and a woman.

   And this is also a reflection on a daughter's love for her father ~~ this is a must-read for every daddy's girl. Sometimes you don't realize how blessed you are till something happens. And sometimes it is too late. This is a poignant story and a reminder that life is ever-fleeting.

   Even though it's not written in the same calibar as Like Water for Chocolate, it is still a lovely tome to add to your library or reading list. Sometimes one needs a small novel to remind us of the important things in life.

   10-31-03




2. Laura Esquivel's novel Swift as Desire is enjoyable but not great. The book has lots of love and wimsy but lacks strong characters and plot. The book is completely focused on the love story between Jubilo and Lucha. The story is told from the eyes of Jubilo's daughter LLuvia. She is by the side of her once great father who is now blind and sick with parkensens. She tells the story from a very idealistic point of view. She rarely critises anything her father did. The character of Lluvia is very one-sided, she doesnt evolve or change at all throughout the book. She tells of her fathers birth, how he came out laughing, and was born with the gift of bringing people together and constantly connecting them. He helps relate his myan grandma and spanish mother by speaking to both effectively. This part is very unbelieveable and uses the overdone idea of the mixing of these two cultures too much. The childhood and teen years of jubilo are very typical but when he faces troubles with the love of his life, Lucha, later in their marriage, his multidemensional personality comes to light. However, after he becomes a drunk, he is instantly reinstated in the family. He and his wife remain living together simply for the sake of their daughter(All of a sudden they are amazing parents).
   Esquivel's use of mexican culture and history are sparse and random. She does do a good job of glorifying the culture that she loves and using slight magical realism without making the whole book an alternate reality.
   OVerall, the book was a fast and easy read. It showed insight into the author's life but not much else. I enjoyed it as a fun read with interesting and believable characters but it was definitely missing the elements to a great literary piece



3. Swift As Desire is the story of an intense love relationship between Don Jubilo and Lucha. Jubilo is born with a very special talent in which he is able to hear what people are thinking and feeling. This special talent bases the entire story. Jubilo finds the woman of his dreams, Lucha, when he is 15 and she is 13. They fall in love immediately and eventually marry. They suffer through many hardships mainly because Lucha cannot live with their lack of money since she is so used to living amongst wealth. Jubilo feels that money is never at all important in finding happiness. Jubilo uses his special talent to become a telegraph operator. While trying to help a friend out, Jubilo cheated someone out by using his talent in a bet. He won, and since he used his talent in a bad way, he lost his special ways. This is hard for him, but he makes it through. He and his wife are very much in love and nothing else matters when they are with eachother, which is what makes their relationship so strong.
   Lucha's boss begins to put a burden in their relationship. Jubilo feels very uncomfortable with how he treats Lucha and how he admires her. Eventually Don Pedro (Lucha's Boss) causes some problems.
   Throughout the novel, Laura Esquivel switches back and forth between Jubilo's daughter's perspective in the present and back to Jubilo's life in the past. The entire time, the author leaves readers wondering what tragic event happened in Jubilo and Lucha's life that caused them to split up in the future.
   Towards the beginnning of this book, I wasn't very interested because all Laura Esquivel talked about was the lovey relationship between Jubilo and Lucha. In the middle I really started to like the book. I loved how there was a huge mystery about what tragic event changed everything in their lives. Laura Esquivel keeps the writing very interesting and keeps readers on the edges of their seats, wanting to read more.
   This novel is very similar to Like Water For Chocolate because both stories contain aspects of magical realism. They have a good amount of history on Mexican culture which I thought was very interesting.
   Also, in Swift As Desire, the author shows her liking of philosophy and nature through Don Jubilo's character. He is very philosophical and every chapter starts out with how he currently feels and what nature aspects are forming his feelings.
   Swift As Desire is an excellent book that everyone should read. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate in an 8.



4. This review refers to the Unabridged audio cassette edition of "Swift As Desire" by Laura Esquivel...
   
   So... after reading "Like Water For Chocolate", also by Ms. Esquivel, and reading some of the other reviews here, I didn't figure that this was going to be anywhere near as great as LWFC had been. But the truth is, I loved this charming,sentimental,sometimes witty, sometimes sad, emotional story. I could not wait to get to it every day. If my phone or doorbell rang, I paused it right where it was, so as not to miss a second of the wonderful reading given by Ellizabeth Pena.I wanted more when it ended and left me with a lump in my throat
   
   Jubilo, was a special human being. He had a way with words. He worked as an all important telegraph operator, long before E-mail was available. He kept people, loved ones, and businesses abreast of all situations. He seemed to have a magical way of being in tuned with the earth's messages even apart from the telegraph. He was a lover of life. Of the gifts nature provided, and the gifts he was able to give back to his wife, his family and the world.It is his story from boyhood to his dieing day, that Ms. Esquivel delights us with. How this very special man, now blind, made communication an art,hearing things as imperceptible as the movement of a grain of sand,how he loved so deeply, and how he played the hand life dealt him, whether it be great triumphs, or huge losses.
   
   Ms Esquivel gives us magical moments with real characters, and a good taste of Mexican and Mayan traditons and heritage.The story of family,the feeling of "Not knowing what you really have, until it is gone", will take you by surprise, and linger deliciously. Elizabeth Pena's("Lone Star") reading is not only delightfully enthusiastic, but lends a great deal of authenticity to the read. She manages to find the distinguishable traits in each, to bring them to life. To feel their joys and pain.
   
   This edition is an unabridged reading. It has some very descriptive scenes of love making, so it is probably not one you will want to play on your stereo with children about. There are 4 two-sided cassettes, with a total running time of about 6 hours.A tray with a slot for each tape, keeps them in order(may be helpful to vision impaired readers). The sound quality is very good. Sometimes, the reviews for all editions of a book are lumped together, so if it is this audio edition that you are interested in the ISBN is 0375419780. Below the picture of the couple kissing on the cover art, there is a green band that says..Read By Elizabeth Pena - Unabridged.
   
   It is a story dedicated to the Author's own father, and after the read, you may feel the need to call your's or at least leave you with thoughts of the special gifts he gave to you.
   Enjoy....Laurie



5. 
   Having reread `Like Water for Chocolate' after approximately 10 years, I got curious as to what else Laura Esquivel had written and came up with this. WOW!
   This is very different to `Like Water for Chocolate', and although this story is much simpler (essentially a love story about the lives of an ordinary couple) it is just as powerful and touching - if not more so.
   Definitely recommended.

5 comments about Like Water for Chocolate.

1. Chocolate in the tummy, title or story improves the experience.
   This book is on my stack of all time favorites-some of the dramatic images will amuse you and stay with you-for years.



2. "Like Water for Chocolate" was a romantic food novel that I was required to read for my college English class. The book was very realistic at times but would have certain elements playfully exaggerated with a fantasy twist. It was unique how the Laura Esquivel incorporated recipes to go with chapters of the book. This novel was written beautifully and will leave you in a half fantasy world of love surrounded in a deep aura of Spanish foods. It truly transports you to another world. Recommended for the romantic. :)



3. Get ready to be engulfed in the mouth-watering aroma of delicious Mexican dishes and a tale of romance, mystique, and an all-consuming passion. Laura Esquivel's beautiful novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is a combination of simple prose and the charm of magic realism that makes it a delightful and fascinating read.
   The novel encompasses the life of Tita de la Garza, the third daughter of Elena, from her unusual birth to the spectacular event of her death. Intertwining with Tita's story are monthly recipes that are served during the course of her life and have had significant impacts on Tita and the people around her. The dominance of food throughout the novel is further embellished by Esquivel's use of magical realism. Taking a role itself, the appearance of food or the ingredients that are used to prepare food instigate a myriad of events in the story. Tita's birth is explained as being triggered by her cries within Elena's womb due to chopped onion, and the dishes that Tita prepares carry a magical power that could induce tears or passion once consumed, such as the "Chabela Wedding Cake" and "Quail in Rose Petal Sauce."
   Thwarted of the chance to marry her only love, Pedro Muzquiz, Tita transfers her emotions into food and allows her cooking to express the concealed feelings she has for him. Just as strong as her passion is for food, Tita's and Pedro's ardor for each other surpasses all boundaries of time and familial obligations. The fierce passion of their love is so powerful that it magically ignites them at the final climactic moment of their joining, causing a great fire and ultimately concluding Tita's life.
   Overall, Like Water for Chocolate is a sumptuous and sensual tale that will evoke a sense of longing in the reader's heart and appetite.



4. If you enjoyed Allende's The House of the Spirits, then this is the right book for you! Much like Allende's novel, Like Water for Chocolate combines the ordinary and the supernatural in the portrayal of two young, Latino lovers living in the midst of civil war. However, Esquivel's work remains unique though her use of food in not only emphasizing her pride in the Mexican culture, but also in expressing the strong conflicting emotions that are deep within the hearts of the characters. Through the use of magical realism and the motif of food, Esquivel depicts a love story that explores the classic theme of what happens to a dream deterred.
   Every chapter of the novel begins with a recipe, which serves to accentuate how the life of a traditional Mexican family is centered on the kitchen. Thus it is no surprise that the main character is no other than the youngest daughter and head chef, Tita, who is characterized as a talented young girl whose spirit is constantly broken by her mother's incessant upbraiding. Tita's lifelong pain is symbolized through the motif of onions, which appear throughout the novel during times of deep sorrow and heavy weeping. Esquivel's use of food as a motif is further evidenced by Tita's culinary masterpieces--such as the rose dish that causes its consumers to be afflicted with erotic obsession. Overall, Esquivel's originality is derived from her ability to mix the elements of cooking, erotica, and the magical realism in creating a novel that demonstrates the consequences of emotional repression. I personally recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a love story chock-full of Hispanic culture, garnished with elements of the supernatural.



5. A delightful little book, Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate is almost a modern-day fairy tale. Told in monthly installments, the novel is simultaneously story and cookbook, filled with both recipes and home remedies and as well as the story of Tita, our heroine, who was born, raised and taught in the kitchen, and who has the amazing ability to cook her emotions into her marvelous recipes. Tita's story is one of longing, love and the need to be her own person; to escape the tyrannical presence of her mother and create her own life with the man she loves. It's a relatively fast read, but enjoyable all the same.

5 comments about Malinche.

1. This lyrical novel permits you to see the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes in a new light. The story is told by Mallinali, a native slave woman trained by her grandmother in ancient wisdom. Through her eyes you understand why Cortes was believed to be the returned god Quetzalcoatl, coming to end Aztec domination and cruelty, especially human sacrifices. Nicknamed Malinche, Mallinali became Cortes' translator and mistress. Entering her inner dialogue, we experience her doubts once she comes to know Cortes, as well as her ambitions to better her lot in life. The story plumbs the riches of this unusual woman's spirituality and philosophy, while highlighting the world-shattering changes made by the conquistadors in the life of the indiginous peoples of Mexico



2. Let me start this review by saying that I really wanted to like this book. I first read "Like Water For Chocolate" about 10 years ago, and agree with many that the book is a modern-day literary masterpiece. I sought out and bought "The Law of Love" when it was published, and came away from it rather disappointed... Somehow, Esquivel's socially insightful and cohesive prose in "Like Water For Chocolate" - arguably on a par with Jane Austen or Daphne du Maurier in capturing romantic sentiment without seeming treacly - had, in "The Law of Love", devolved into an adolescent pastiche of the worst that the sci-fi and romance genres have to offer.
   
   To me, though, a 'three strikes and you're out' rule seems like a fair approach to an author. As such, I purchased "Malinche", hoping that Esquivel could still measure up to Isabel Allende and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, other authors whose works were firmly and powerfully grounded in the magical realism that Esquivel employed so well in "Like Water For Chocolate". But I couldn't even finish "Malinche". It was so mind-blowingly awful that I found myself getting angry. It confirmed something that I didn't want to believe - the artistry of "Like Water For Chocolate" was a complete fluke, and never again would Esquivel produce a comparable novel.
   
   Save yourself the money, but most importantly, save yourself the heartbreaking disappointment - Esquivel really is a one-trick pony, and sadly, she should find herself a new career.



3. Like many reviewers here, I admired and enjoyed "Like Water for Chocolate" and was intrigued by the concept of this book; therefore I was unpleasantly surprised to find myself slogging through one of the worst novels I have ever read. By the end, I was actually angry and felt ripped off by the publisher, who should never have put this thing in print!
   
   Vague, self-contradictory, confusing, and generally inarticulate, "Malinche" reads like an early draft that needs to go through many, many revisions to be publishable. I'm afraid the translater can't be blamed for all that's wrong with this mess.



4. I was very impressed with Lucia Mendez' reading of Malinche. The author, Laura Esquivel did a good job, but of course Malinche does not come close to "Like Water for Chocolate." However, Esquivel brings life into the ancient story of La Malinche. Nevertheless, Esquivel and Mendez make a great team. Mendez is a wonderful actress. Congrats to both. Yes, I recommend this audio-book because to listen to La Mendez is a treat and such great entertainment.
   Marian.



5. Pienso que no es lo mismo leer el libro a que te lo cuenten.... Las narraciones son claras, pero pasar 5 horas sentado escuchando una historia, no es agradable.
   
   Mejor comprense el libro!