The Book of Embraces (Norton Paperback)

by Eduardo Galeano

Book Overview

Eduardo Galeano is one of the most brilliant and passionate literary voices from Latin America today. His newest work employs a style similar to Memory of Fire This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393308553
• Release Date: April 1992
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Leelo!!

Son pequen~as historias tan simples, tan profundas... Me facina la manera en que Galeano escribe. Creo que ya he leido varias historias mas de 5 veces... Se los recomiendo a todos... ABRAZOS!!!

Summer Reading Review

The fact that Eduardo Galeano's The Book of Embraces defies conventional categorization is indicative of its sometimes fragmented and always unpredictable content. Its combination of short texts with seemingly unrelated and shocking illustrations was a welcome break from traditional forms. My sister, who read Galeano in high school, recommended this book one night when I asked her to suggest something different for my new book club. Unfortunately, I immediately disregarded her suggestion and did not pick up this book until a year after our initial conversation. Galeano has been criticized for his lack of organization and rambling style, yet the "random" musings is literature in its purest form. The author demonstrates his ability to passionately write in several styles and on varied topics while still maintaining a common uniting thread. A majority of the short texts come back to military dictatorship throughout Latin America and particularly within the author's homeland, Uruguay. All of the stories reflect the disconnected reality of people away from their country of birth. Galeano's exile forced him to confront a lifestyle completely different from what he had previously experienced. Galeano's writings are therefore permeated by a sort of nostalgia for Latin America before political forces altered it beyond recognition. Another uniting feature of the book is the inclusion of sections entitled "The Walls Speak." The fleeting nature of graffiti mirrors the book's impulsive origins. Galeano writes what he feels on whatever is on his mind, much like the authors whose mysterious scrawls he has accumulated. Some poignant phrases include: "'Everybody makes promises and nobody keeps them. Vote for nobody.'" And "Here we sit, watching them kill our dream.'" Other topics throughout the book include consumerism, extreme poverty, faith in God, and immigrant life. Galeano frequently uses social commentary to espouse his views on everything from homogenization in "Television/3" to morality in "The System/2." "Television/3" explores the effects of Americanization on Hispanic culture: "We eat imported emotions as if they were canned sausages while the young children of television, trained to watch life instead of making it, shrug their shoulders." "The System/2" discusses duality as a cultural practice: "Double language, double accounting, double morality: one morality for speech, another morality for action. The morality for action is called realism. The law of reality is the law of power." Unfortunately, my school curriculum does not offer any works by Latin American authors; even 100 Years of Solitude is left out. In addition, there are few history classes that give any South American history. Knowledge of the extreme conditions during different military dictatorships is necessary at a school with a large population of South American immigrants. Therefore, reading The Book of Embraces gave me an opportunity to experience literature that is a testament t

Abracitos de sabiduria

Los Abrazos no es solamente un libro; es obra de arte. Dentro de sus paginas, Galeano nos ha compuesto una sinfonia de voces entregadas en historias breves, fabulas, poemas, suen~os y dibujos. El conjunto logra transmitir lo maravilloso, misterioso, ironico y horroroso de la condicion humana, jamas sin perder su enfoque en la situacion particular de America Latina. Este es un texto al que visito con frecuencia para re-encender mi coraje, profundizar mis raices y refrescar mi alma.

Full of magic, humor, and passion

"The Book of Embraces" is a marvelous text by Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano. The book has been translated into English by Cedric Belfrage, with Mark Schafer. This book is one of those texts that transcends genre. It consists of more than 150 short texts (most less than a page long) interspersed with Galeano's quirky, collage-like illustrations.These short texts seem at times like essays, short stories, prose poems, or autobiographical fragments. By blending them together with his frequently whimsical graphics, Galeano creates his own unique form of literature.Galeano writes about many topics. His short pieces take us all over Latin America--to Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, and other countries--as well as to other parts of the world. He frequently reflects on life under dictatorships and mindless bureaucracies. And other Latin American writers frequently pop up: Claribel Alegria, Julio Cortazar, Mario Benedetti, and others.Some of these short pieces are playfully humorous, others scathingly satirical, others gently compassionate, others hauntingly metaphysical. But throughout Galeano seems to maintain his faith in the human spirit: "When it is genuine, when it is born of the need to speak, no one can stop the human voice" (from "Celebration of the Human Voice 2"). "The Book of Embraces" is a book that you may want to embrace.

Imprescindível

Este é definitivamente o livro que toda e qualquer pessoa deveria ter na sua estante de casa. Para grandes e pequenos. Um livro que fala da vida de uma forma deslumbrante.