Santa Evita

by Tomas Eloy Martinez | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0679768149 Global Overview for this book
Registered by irishajo of Teachey, North Carolina USA on 10/20/2004
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9 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by irishajo from Teachey, North Carolina USA on Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Amazon.com

Among the great corpses of our age are Lenin, Mao Zedong and Stalin. Mao, at least, is still on view for the masses to see, some two decades after his demise. But no corpse engendered as much intrigue as that of Eva Peron. Elevated to near sainthood in Argentina after her death in 1952, her perfectly preserved corpse was seized by the Argentine Army following the ouster of her husband in 1955. By then, her corpse was the equivalent of a sacred relic, and while army officials wanted to keep it out of the hands of Peronists, they were loath to destroy the corpse for fear of the wrath that might follow. Tomas Eloy Martinez has reassembled the story of the corpse of Eve Peron in Santa Evita, and in the process, produced a riveting, rich book that not only tells the tale of one of the more bizarre sagas in the history of South American politics, but that also gets to the heart of the age-old human impulse to create myths and tell stories.

Journal Entry 2 by irishajo from Teachey, North Carolina USA on Thursday, February 3, 2005
This is a bookray. Here is the shipping order (tentative):

dodau - UK (Anywhere)
Caro1 - UK (Anywhere)
AnOtterChaos - US (US Pref)
Lpree - US (Anywhere)
Lorelei03 - US (Anywhere)

UPDATE 11/19/05 - This bookray is successfully completed. Thanks to all the participants!

Journal Entry 3 by dodau from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire United Kingdom on Thursday, August 4, 2005
Recieved this today but having forgotten in the meantime that I had joined this, I got another copy just recently on relay. Sending onto Caro1

Journal Entry 4 by Caro1 from Newark On Trent, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Tomás Eloy Martínez
Arrived safely this morning. Looking forward to reading it after another two ring books. Thanks for posting dodau.

Journal Entry 5 by Caro1 from Newark On Trent, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom on Thursday, September 1, 2005
Tomás Eloy Martínez has taken the story of what happened to Evita's body after her death and used it as the basis for Santa Evita. Written in documentary style it is very easy to forget that this is actually a work of fiction, albeit one based on painstaking research. I found the presence of Martínez as the unnamed narrator particularly effective. An absorbing and disturbing novel. Thanks for sharing irishajo.

Journal Entry 6 by AnOtterChaos from West Lawn, Pennsylvania USA on Sunday, September 11, 2005
Just in time! I just finished my last bookring. I sat down to turn on the computer & register it, and already I can't stop reading it. Thanks!

Journal Entry 7 by AnOtterChaos from West Lawn, Pennsylvania USA on Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Strange book. Strange, strange, strange. How much is true? How much is fiction? Is it a novel that reads like nonfiction? Or nonfiction in novelized form? After awhile, I had to just stop asking & sit back and enjoy the bizarre ride. Ready to move on!

Journal Entry 8 by AnOtterChaos from West Lawn, Pennsylvania USA on Thursday, September 22, 2005
Mailing out tomorrow to Lpree! Enjoy!

Journal Entry 9 by Lpree from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
This arrived in today's mail, along with two other bookrings. When it rains, it pours... Anyway, I've got some ahead of this, but will read it as soon as I can. I'm really anxious to read this! It sounds like a really interesting story!

Journal Entry 10 by Lpree from Omaha, Nebraska USA on Tuesday, October 25, 2005
I've tried several times to read this in the last week or so and I just can't get into it. The style really bothers me, and I'm not entirely sure why. The first few chapters read like a forward to the novel instead of the novel itself. I keep reading about him writing the novel and wonder where that novel is. I get that this is the novel, but I just don't like this fiction that reads like nonfiction style of writing. I'm disappointed because I am really interested in Eva Peron and was looking forward to this book. Oh well...

I'll try to get this mailed out this weekend.

Thanks for the chance to check this out!

Journal Entry 11 by Lorelei03 from Queens, New York USA on Thursday, November 10, 2005
rcvd and started reading right away - will write more when I'm "back" from Venezuela!

11/19 update
Well, I've finished the book - and I enjoyed it, I think I really liked the concept more than the actual writing - I found the style less than engaging at times. But many scenes were very evocative and I'm glad I had teh chance to read it - thanks irishjo!

Journal Entry 12 by wingperryfranwing from Elk Grove, California USA on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Received today in a book relay from Lorelei03. Thanks! This one looks interesting.

Tried reading this but couldn't get in the right mood. Will make available and pass on.

Edit 11/15/20: I read another copy of this. Here are my thoughts:

This was really a very strange novel about not so much the life of Evita Peron but about her corpse after she died and what happened to it. For me, this was really hard to get through. Although this is a novel and fictional, it is hard to tell what is really true and what is not. The author injects himself into the novel and describes various interviews he had with key figures in the story so it makes it seem as this is more biographical than fiction. His writing style made it very tedious and I had a hard time finishing this.

Interwoven into the story are vignettes about Evita who was an actress who rose out of poverty and became both heroine and saint to the Argentine people. After her death, she is embalmed so that her body was preserved indefinitely. But there were also some copies of the body made using wax and vinyl which made it difficult for anyone to really identify the true body. The embalmed corpse ends up going back and forth across the ocean and in and out of the possession of the Peronists who wanted to preserve her legacy. But the representatives of the military junta that drove Juan Peron into exile want to demonstrate her mortality and corruptibility. The novel has some somewhat interesting characters including the Colonel who is tasked with finding and burying the body, Eva's hairdresser who tells first-hand experiences of Eva and her fixations, and the celebrated embalmer who tried to preserve her corpse.

Although this was a somewhat interesting take on Evita's story, as I've said, the style of the novel kept me wanting it to end. I found it to be overlong and really a chore to get through. But it did make me want to find out more about the Perons and the Argentinian government of the 40s and 50s. I may have to watch the musical "Evita"! The rioting in the streets by the poor and the fascist leanings of the men in power did remind me somewhat of America's current leadership and situation. We need to learn from the past!

Journal Entry 13 by wingperryfranwing at General Literature VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, May 5, 2013

Released 10 yrs ago (5/6/2013 UTC) at General Literature VBB, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this one on to bookstogive - a selection from her Literature VBB. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 14 by wingbookstogivewing at Springville, Tennessee USA on Friday, May 10, 2013
I selected this great sounding book from the General Lit VBB, thanks for offering it and the quick shipping! I will hopefully get to it shortly and then I will pass it on.

Journal Entry 15 by wingbookstogivewing at Springville, Tennessee USA on Friday, June 6, 2014
This is one of the weirdest/strange books I have ever read! Eva Peron was the much loved wife of the Dictator of Argentina and when she died her embalmed body was fought over and became a bizarre relic that took more than 20 years for her to be properly buried.

Journal Entry 16 by wingbookstogivewing at Alexandria, Virginia USA on Monday, June 23, 2014

Released 9 yrs ago (6/23/2014 UTC) at Alexandria, Virginia USA

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Journal Entry 17 by authorauthor at Alexandria, Virginia USA on Thursday, June 26, 2014
I received this one in a box of books from BOOKSTOGIVE, to place in my Little Free Library. Thank you!

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