Declare Books Concering 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 (México City),1929(Mexico) …more Coyoacán(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
Particularize About 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 |
Relation During 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 About Books The Lacuna
Ratings: 3.79 From 56894 Users | 7678 ReviewsWrite-Up About Books The Lacuna
The Lacuna is really two books. One, the latter, is quite engaging, with a well-written historical perspective, emotional content, a bit of action. The other is an overlong back story, very light on involvement, written as if the author was watching the events and characters from behind a cloud. Considering that the stable of characters includes Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, it takes some effort to make them dull. Barbara Kingsolver - image from OfficeOnline.comThe Lacuna is Kingsolvers attemptThis one is so close to being 5 stars. It's got the scope and ambition of The Poisonwood Bible, but with the butterfly touch of her breezier novels. Ranging from the 1930s Mexico of Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and (exiled) Lev Trotsky to the 1950s America of J. Edgar Hoover, this book uses an epic backdrop to tell the story of one solitary, forgotten man. The dozen or so different formats (including journals, book reviews, letters, newspaper articles, and transcripts) are deftly handled and
The Lacuna is really two books. One, the latter, is quite engaging, with a well-written historical perspective, emotional content, a bit of action. The other is an overlong back story, very light on involvement, written as if the author was watching the events and characters from behind a cloud. Considering that the stable of characters includes Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, it takes some effort to make them dull. Barbara Kingsolver - image from OfficeOnline.comThe Lacuna is Kingsolvers attempt
I really liked the first part (roughly half) of this book about a boy (Harrison)who is being raised by a mother who eeks out an existence by sponging off the men she manages to ensnare. The setting is 1930's Mexico. Mexican artists Diego Rivera and his wife Frida Kahlo are an integral part of the story, as is Lev Trotsky (leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and Rivera's friend and houseguest). The second half of the book completely switches gears. The setting is Asheville NC where Harrison is
The only disappointing thing about this book was that I finished it, and have no new Kingsolver books to look forward to. As always, her writing is exquisite. I found myself re-reading parts just to savor her use of language.The Lacuna is a novel based on real events in history--the Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo and the period in the 1930's when Trotsky was exiled in Mexico. I learned a lot while enjoying a good story, not really sure where it was heading--but oh! does it come
This is a great read that satisfies on several levels. A key pleasure is Kingsolver's prose, which shines as we would expect from her track record of essays and novels about rural folks in Appalachia and the Southwest. It also satisfies as a coming of age tale of a half-Mexican, half-American boy, Harrison Shepherd, raised by his mother on an island near Vera Cruz and later transferred to the care of his father, who dumps him in a boarding school in Washington, DC. Shepherd seeks solace from his
The Lacuna begins in the dark days of revolutionary Russia and ends up in the McCarthy witch hunts of the early fifties. Post war America was not a nice place to live. The paranoia about Communism that engulfed the country and lead to miserable lives for lots of ordinary people accused either of being a Communist or guilty of unAmerican activities. Either way you couldnt win . The main character Harrison Shepherd worked as a cook and typist for Trotsky while living in exile in Mexico. When he
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