The Country of the Pointed Firs Review

It seemed perfect to finish Sarah Orne Jewett's Country of the Pointed Firs at the same time as Dreaming in Cuban, because very little happens in either book, especially in this book. Nothing happens, Jewett spends the entire book talking about what happens in a small Maine seaport. It was a very relaxing book to read before bed, but it was very dissatisfying to finish, because there was no real conclusion. I felt the book could have kept going on forever, there was no real climax. Also, Williams' wedding at the end seemed very tacked on. It was very frustrating to meet all these interesting characters but have them go nowhere; we just met them for one conversation.

Dreaming in Cuban Interpretations

Most reviews of Dreaming in Cuban agree with my own ideas. The book was neat in that Cristina Garcia mixes letters and narration together and goes back and forth in time. One reviewer particularly disliked this format but everyone else thought it was fabulous and innovative.

Solitude

Solitude, Celia realizes now, exists for us not to remember but to forget.

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Exercise

Lourdes rides her new Sears exercise bicycle until sparks fly from the wheels. She tacks up a full color road map of the United States in her bedroom and charts her mileage daily with a green felt marker.

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Imagination

"Imagination, like memory, can transform lies to truths," Felicia whispers in her son's ear. Nobody else teaches him that.

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Families

Luz says that families are essentially political and that he'll have to choose sides.

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia

Tides

May 11, 1945

Gustavo,

The familiar is insistent and deadly. I study the waves and keep time on my wicker swing. If I was born to live on an island, then I'm grateful for one thing that the tides rearrange the borders. At least I have the illusion of change, of possibility. To be locked within boundaries plotted by priests and politicians would be the only thing more intolerable.

Don't you see how they're carving up the world, Gustavo? How they're stealing our geography? Our fates? The arbitrary is no longer in our hands. To survive is an act of hope.

Celia

Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia