In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Alvarez's novel is a fitting end for February's edition of the 2012 Reading Project. A wonderful author that is writing at the height of her craft. Butterflies is fiction, but reads like pure fact. It is hard not to imagine the Mirabal sisters any other way. That's the beauty of wonderfully written fiction. It leaves the reader with something. The world is slightly changed because of it.
Before I get too ahead of myself, I should really do a small plot breakdown of the book. Alvarez is writing from the perspective of the four Mirabal sisters. The book is broken into sections that clearly defines each sister, and is markedly different from one another. Where Alverez comes into her own is how she switches from one sister to the next. Each section can stand alone as its own book. Each section is rushing to the same doom. Penning a tragedy is full of perils. Penning a tragedy of female political dissidents can become overwrought and difficult to swallow. Alverez deftly misses all the traps and brings a sense of humanity and humor to the sisters that are so easily hero worshiped.
Butterflies is a must read. It will stand the test of time in any library. It opens the door to wanting to know more and more about the Dominican Republic. I want to discover more authors from that region. I want to read poetry and prose from their artists. I'm so glad I decided to focus on this subject, because I've really found an area of literature that I absolutely love.
Moving on, I have picked up Troop 142 by Mike Dawson. As many longtime readers will remember (yes, all four of you) I set aside February as Graphic Novel Month. I will have fewer novels than last year, but I think I chose wisely.
Another housekeeping note, the books for March and April for the 2012 reading project.
March's theme is children of war. The selections are: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Between Shades of Gray.
April's theme is books I've been accused of reading but haven't. The selections are: Rules for Radicals and The Feminine Mystique.
Alvarez's novel is a fitting end for February's edition of the 2012 Reading Project. A wonderful author that is writing at the height of her craft. Butterflies is fiction, but reads like pure fact. It is hard not to imagine the Mirabal sisters any other way. That's the beauty of wonderfully written fiction. It leaves the reader with something. The world is slightly changed because of it.
Before I get too ahead of myself, I should really do a small plot breakdown of the book. Alvarez is writing from the perspective of the four Mirabal sisters. The book is broken into sections that clearly defines each sister, and is markedly different from one another. Where Alverez comes into her own is how she switches from one sister to the next. Each section can stand alone as its own book. Each section is rushing to the same doom. Penning a tragedy is full of perils. Penning a tragedy of female political dissidents can become overwrought and difficult to swallow. Alverez deftly misses all the traps and brings a sense of humanity and humor to the sisters that are so easily hero worshiped.
Butterflies is a must read. It will stand the test of time in any library. It opens the door to wanting to know more and more about the Dominican Republic. I want to discover more authors from that region. I want to read poetry and prose from their artists. I'm so glad I decided to focus on this subject, because I've really found an area of literature that I absolutely love.
Moving on, I have picked up Troop 142 by Mike Dawson. As many longtime readers will remember (yes, all four of you) I set aside February as Graphic Novel Month. I will have fewer novels than last year, but I think I chose wisely.
Another housekeeping note, the books for March and April for the 2012 reading project.
March's theme is children of war. The selections are: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and Between Shades of Gray.
April's theme is books I've been accused of reading but haven't. The selections are: Rules for Radicals and The Feminine Mystique.
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