The end of Woman Hollering Creek

I know this is a few days late, but I just finished the book today I thought it better to write about it when I had finished it in entirety. I must say that I agree with Jon on enjoying the first half more. I was very impressed with several of the earlier stories including "Salvador Late or Early," "One Holy Night," and "Woman Hollering Creek." All of these stories were written beautifully and poetically and had a certain truth or 'from the heart' quality that resonated very well with me. They were written powerfully but did not seem in any way over the top. Some of the latter stories however did seem a bit over the top, namely "Eyes of Zapata." I will give her credit for the interesting premise to write a story on. Everyone who knows anything about Mexico or Mexican history has that image of Zapata as an iconic figure somehow engrained in their mind. Most people have a sense of Zapata as a heroic and revolutionary man who fought for the rights of the poor and disenfranchised in Mexico. However, I think Cisneros was trying to comment on the fact that for the most part, it is males who dominate people's notion of history and females are largely left out of this narrative. For this reason, she was giving voice to the female side of the story and perhaps suggesting that females did not have the agency in those times to leave such a mark on history as their male counterparts. What I found problematic about this story however was the language and style of writing. It really felt over the top and I could almost not take it seriously. There seemed to be an element of shock value, and also one of self pity that made it hard for me to identify with the story or the character from whose voice the story was told.

I found the story, "Never Marry a Mexican," to be both shocking and contradictory to many of the characters in the rest of the work. This women seemed to be representative of all of the qualities that the other characters lacked. She strongly pitted herself against the institution of marriage and never wanted to fall into the category of being dependent upon a man. Although she seemed somewhat empowered in this sense, she still seemed to be one of the most miserable characters in the book. She still managed to be deeply hurt by the man she fell in love with and in response, did hurtful things to others. Perhaps Cisneros is pointing out the double edged sword that comes along with love; on one hand, to let yourself become dependent and weak can lead to complete loss of power and heart ache, but letting yourself be deeply unattached can also lead one to the same point.

In the defense of the second half of the book, I really enjoyed the last story, "Bien Pretty." I thought this story exemplified well the concept of authenticity or not quite fitting in fully to either the Latin or American cultural category. Flavio was portrayed as the 'authentic' Mexican who spoke Spanish as a native language and represented all things that were truly Mexican. Lupe on the other hand seemed to somehow be straddling the border between both cultural categories of identity. She was not as Mexican as the Mexicans and not as American as the Americans. It seemed to be in light of this, she almost compensated for this by commodifying what she felt was the Mexican image. There are many lists of things in this story, "(8) Oaxacan black pottery pieces, signed Diego Rivera monotype, upright piano, star-shaped piñata, (5) strings of chile lights...."(139). It felt to me as if in order to make up for this feeling of lack of 'authentic' Mexican identity, she surrounded herself in things that seemed representative of this identity.

All in all, I was very impressed with this book.

Woman Hollering Creek

This is by far my favorite book we have read so far. I find Cisnero's writing style to be captivating and poetic. The way in which she describes situations and emotions artfully and metaphorically is very powerful and speaks to the heart. I am having a hard time putting this one down! I really enjoy how she not only gives voice to the many characters and perspectives represented in the book, but she actually seems to become these characters themselves. There is a tragic quality to her writing, but it this same quality that resonates very deeply in the Chicano and female experience as I understand it. Her writing style inspires me to want to write more!

In My Friend Lucy Who Smells Like Corn, Cisneros embodies the voice of a sassy eleven-year-old girl, and these stories hilariously and insightfully detain the trials and triumphs of what it is like to see the world from her perspective. At first, I was slightly thrown off by the colloquial style, and it briefly felt like she was trying too hard, but once I got into the swing of things, I really came to enjoy seeing the world from these eyes. Even in the absurdity of the stories she tells, there is a certain truth and familiarity that is evoked in regards to me as my eleven-year-old self. I loved the way in which she described Salvador in Salvador Late or Early. "Salvador with eyes the color of caterpillar, Salvador of the crooked hair and crooked teeth. Salvador whose name the teacher cannot remember, is a boy who is no one's friend, runs along somewhere in that vague direction where homes are the color of bad weather...".

There are also beautiful description in the following story One Holey Night. I really enjoy the subtlety of how she writes. She does not flat out say things that happen or the way people feel about said situations, but she probes at them in the form of metaphors. "Then abuelita made me tell her the real story of how the cart had disappeared, all of which I told this time, except for that one night, which I would have to tell anyway, weeks later, I prayed for the moon of my cycle to come back, but it would not."

All in all, I am very impressed with this book. So far, this class has probably had the best selection of literature of any lit class I've taken at UBC, and all of the books add different layers and dimensions to my overall understanding of the Chicano experience. I enjoy the artistry and the subtle layering of perspectives that seem to exists very strong in many of these

Re-Cap

So far, I have been very impressed with this class. Issues surrounding Chicanos and Latinos in the United States is something that is dear to my heart as I grew up in California and have lived and worked amongst many recent migrants from south of the border, and my Mom is an ESL teacher and advocate for immagrant rights. I have been impressed with the readings and also with Jon's refreshing non-pretentious teaching style and the insights of many students in the class.
I have found the readings interesting yet challenging. The first book provided interesting historical commentary about issues that have existed for a very long time and still continue to exist to this day. The readings in Spanish have been challenging for me as they are my first real attempts to read real literature in Spanish. Reading them has helped me expand my vocabulary and general Spanish skills as a whole, though I do not understand them as deeply as I would in English. Then again, there is always room for improvement.
I have already begun Women Hollering Creed and am thourghouly impressed with Cisnero's poetic writing style. She has a way of becoming the diverse characters she displays in her prose and writes artistically and beautifully. So far, this is my favorite!