Specify Of Books Doña Bárbara
| Title | : | Doña Bárbara |
| Author | : | Rómulo Gallegos |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 474 pages |
| Published | : | January 2005 by Cátedra (first published August 11th 1929) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. European Literature. Spanish Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literature. Latin American Literature. Romance. Cultural. Latin American |
Rómulo Gallegos
Paperback | Pages: 474 pages Rating: 3.8 | 3525 Users | 223 Reviews
Commentary Toward Books Doña Bárbara
This review is bilingual. First you can find the English version and at the end of that one, you will find the Spanish version. This is my favorite Latin American book!!! Maybe since I am from Costa Rica, I should pick as my favorite Latin American book, something from my own country. This book is by an author from Venezuela. And indeed I like a lot of books written by authors from my country. However, to choose a single book for my "Favorites" virtual shelf, when it's down to pick just one book in Spanish, I have to choose this book Doña Barbara. Also, it's the only book that I had to read in high school as homework that appears in the "Favorites" virtual shelf that as I commented in other review of books in that shelf, I decided to limit that shelf to only 10 books. To denote how important are really these books to me. From all the books that I had to read in school and high school, definitely this one is my favorite of those. This novel tells the story of a woman, a "man-eater" woman, whose name is Barbara and everybody calls her "Doña Barbara", "doña" means like "mrs". But that title here denotes also the respect and fear that everybody, specially the men, have for her. And her first name "Barbara", is a real name used by many women but in Spanish also means "wild" and this is crutial in the story, since she lives in the deep of the jungle around the Arauca River. She is a landlady, powerful, rich and ruthless. When she was young, she was raped by pirates, also losing her first love, so she became bitter and hating to all men. The other main character in this story is "Santos Luzardo" whose name is another word game, like with Doña Barbara, only a little more tricky, "Santos" means "saint" and "Luzardo" means like "light", and so he is like the saint light of civilization and progress that it's entering to the wilderness of the jungle. The shock when those powerful characters meet is the very heart of the story. And don't worry if you think that I spoiled you the book, all that it's only the introduction of the main characters. The story is just beginning. Since this a really popular novel from Latin America, I am sure that it's available in English too, but I felt important to explain you the names of the main characters since its symbolic importance can be lost in translation. --0-- ¡¡¡Este es mi libro Latinoamericano favorito!!! Puede ser dado que soy de Costa Rica, que yo debería haber elegido como mi libro Latinoamericano favorito, alguno de mi propio país. Este libro es por un autor de Venezuela. Y en efecto, me gustan muchos libros escritos por autores de mi país. Sin embargo, para elegir un solo libro para mi estante virtual de "Favoritos", cuando se trata de elegir solo uno en Español. Yo tengo que elegir este libro Doña Barbara. También, es el único libro que tuve que leer en el colegio como tarea que aparece en mi estante virtual de "Favoritos" que como ya comenté en otras críticas de libros de ese estante, yo decidí limitar ese estante a solo 10 libros. Para denotar cuan importantes son realmente esos libros para mí. De todos los libros que tuve que leer en la escuela y el colegio, definitivamente este es mi favorito. Esta novela cuenta la historia de una mujer, una mujer "come-hombres", cuyo nombre es Bárbara y todos le llaman "Doña Bárbara", "doña" es como señora. Pero este título aquí denota también el respeto y miedo que todos, especialmente los hombres, tienen por ella. Y su primer nombre "Bárbara", es un verdadero nombre usado por muchas mujeres pero en Español también significa "salvaje" y esto es crucial en la historia, dado que ella vive en lo profundo de la jungla alrededor del Río del Arauca. Ella es una terrateniente, poderosa, rica y despiadada. Cuando ella era joven, fué violada por piratas, también perdiendo a su primer amor, así que ella se amargó odiando a todos los hombres. El otro personaje principal en esta historia es "Santos Luzardo" cuyo nombre es otro juego de palabras, como con Doña Bárbara, solo que un poco más triquiñuelo, "Santos" significa "santo" y "Luzardo" significa algo como "luz", y así el es como la santa luz de la civilización y el progreso que entra en la barbarie de la jungla. El impacto cuando estos poderosos personajes se encuentran es el corazón mismo de la historia. Y no se preocupen si creen que les arruiné el libro. Todo esto es solo la introducción de los personajes principales. La historia está apenas comenzando. Dado que esta es una novel realmente popular en Latin America, estoy seguro que deben haber versiones en Inglés también, pero siento importante explicarles los nombres de los personajes principales cuya importancia simbólica puede perderse en la traducción.Describe Books To Doña Bárbara
| Original Title: | Doña Bárbara |
| ISBN: | 8437615399 (ISBN13: 9788437615394) |
| Edition Language: | Spanish |
Rating Of Books Doña Bárbara
Ratings: 3.8 From 3525 Users | 223 ReviewsDiscuss Of Books Doña Bárbara
Perhaps the greatest testimony to Rómulo Gallegos is the very rich literary prize named after him in honor of his work and influence. The prize has been awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, Roberto Bolaño and other masterful authors whose powerful books are said to be the cornerstones of magical realism and South American literature.Sadly, we seldom hear Gallegos' 1929 novel "Doña Barbara" mentioned in the same company as the well-known books that have received the GallegosA product of its time, when it was thought that both nature and women needed the strong hand of a civilized man to rule them. That part hasn't aged well. But the descriptions of the Venezuelan plains, the rain forest jungles, and the easy corruption of humanity's better instincts were quite good.
I predict this will not win the NPR contest for America's favorite novel. I can't imagine how it even made the top 100. As a glimpse into the lives of the Venezuelan cowboys of long ago, it's interesting, but the people are frustratingly inaccessible, and it hasn't even been available in translation for that long. We've been watching Yellowstone, the Kevin Costner tv series about trying to keep a family ranch together in the face of developers, native tribes, feuding children, and estate taxes.
Don't fence me in. This is about taming the flaming will of a woman, and whether ranching is best done with the brutality and cunning of the open range, or with laws and fences and civilized ideas. I learned brutal and interesting things from many a lavish description. For example, if you say you are bushed, you are making a gelding reference! You might mean youre tired, but youll also be implying a certain gendered powerlessness. A gelded bull not only lays in the bush all day, hes made lazy
I wonder how this novel was adapted for television because the book seems to be more about Santo Luzardo than Dona Barbara. Indeed, Barbara barely appears in the first third of the book. The prose is okay and the characters are pretty flat (the Plains show more personality), but the ending wins the book an extra star.
A novel about the hard and wild life in the farms of Venezuela in the early 1900's when corruption ran rampantly and $ and guns were the law. I read it in Spanish and, although Spanish is my first language, it was difficult to understand due to the great amount of idiomatic expressions pertaining only to the people of Venezuela and specifically to the people from the farms.
Could not engage with this book at all (yet, nevertheless, still needed to physically turn every page and slightly skim in order to say that I actually "read" it... couldn't just stop in the middle!). The characters and character names were difficult to follow, the plot didn't grab my attention, and I could not become invested in the characters or storyline at all. Perhaps, as some reviews say, reading the original in Spanish is more lyrical and engaging, but from this version, I could not see
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