Our House in the Last World
Registered by Supertalya on 10/30/2009
4 journalers for this copy...
The debut novel by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, reissued in a new trade paperback format and design. Bearing all the hallmarks of Hijuelos's later work—exuberance, passion, honesty, and humor—this debut novel was heralded on its publication twenty years ago as "virtuoso writing...a novel of great warmth and tenderness" (New York Times Book Review). Filled with the sights and sounds of Cuba's Oriente province and New York City, the music and films of the fifties, lusty fantasies and the toughest of life's realities, it is the unforgettable story of Hector Santinio, the American-born son of Cuban immigrants, who is haunted by tales of "home" (a Cuba he has never seen) and by the excesses and then the death of his loving father. This edition includes a new autobiographical introduction by the author, reflecting on how he came to write Our House in the Last World, and a new afterword in which he comments on the story.
When I read this novel I imagined my own great-grandparents emigration (emigration because PRicans are US citizens) to New York City from their native Puerto Rico. I have heard stories like the one in the novel before they all returned to the island. I am sure most of you have read his other novels. :-)
Journal Entry 2 by Supertalya at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Thursday, December 3, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (12/3/2009 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
ENJOY!
ENJOY!
Arrived safely in the land of Oz! Thank you, Supertayla.
I was keen to read this one as I'd enjoyed 'Mambo Kings' so much. It's easy to see Hijuelos's emerging talent in this, his first novel. I found it a bit hard to relate to the characters - I don't think it's necessarily that I'm not of Latin extraction - more like being frustrated with the rubbish women put up with from their men in the middle of the last century!
Thanks for sharing this one with my Supertalya - I'll make sure it continues its travels.
Thanks for sharing this one with my Supertalya - I'll make sure it continues its travels.
Journal Entry 5 by lmn60 at Henry and the Fox in Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia on Saturday, October 27, 2018
Released 5 yrs ago (10/27/2018 UTC) at Henry and the Fox in Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To the finder of this book:
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!) And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, lmn60, as your referring member. Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!) And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, lmn60, as your referring member. Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
Caught at recent Meetup, on TBR pile
The Santinios came from Cuba to New York in the 1940’s, and this novel is about cultural identity told through the eyes of Hector the younger son. I found it difficult to like these characters, as none of them were really likeable. I sympathised with the brothers as their father was unreliable and not always there for them as he drinks and gambles and often disappears, and their mother tried her best but she struggles to cope with her new life in New York and does not always have money for their needs.
Journal Entry 8 by KKslibrary at Henry and the Fox in Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia on Sunday, May 26, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (5/26/2019 UTC) at Henry and the Fox in Melbourne CBD, Victoria Australia
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
To be released at meetup
Picked it up at my first meetup. Looks interesting...we'll see!