Escenas Norteamericanas

En El Puente de Brooklyn, Marti obviamente tiene mucha admiracion para esta gran ciudad. Sus descripciones estan llenas con detalles y factos sobre el puente. Parece que alguien encontraba esta ciudad, con su technologia y gente de todos raices, ser magnifico en todos aspetos. Es interesante que Marti compara el puente a monumentos como el Acropolis, que en mi opinion, no es la comparacion mas apropriada, porque el Acropolis fue construido antes del tiempo de Jesus y no tuvo la intencion de viajo mas facil. Pero yo pienso que el punto que marti esta haciendo es que New York es como un nuevo nacimiento de civilizacion. Marti probablemente no ha visto una ciudad donde diversidad esta a cada esquina, donde los edificios aparece como los dios han construido. Refierre a partes especificas con gran fascinacion:
Mas, como anclaron en la tierra esos magicos cables?
En mi opinion, este articulo concierna mas con la ciencia del puente sino que la alma o emocion.

Coney Island, en la otra mano, es un texto que funciona mas como literatura o poesia que el previo sobre el puente. Sin embargo, yo preferia leer algo con menos vocabulario y muchas mas morismos, por ejemblo una traduccion de The Babysitters Club o El Diablo Lleva Prada. Es dificul concluir si Marti esta en realidad impresionante con todos aspetos de New York, porque no creo que el estado de New York es tan perfecto como el descrube. Con oraciones como "que absoluta ausencia de toda tristeza o pobreza posibles!" es dificil saber si es cinico o no. Quizas esta observando que New York puede ocultar la pobreza. O quizas no tengo la capacidad comprender sus ensayos en su totalidad...

Part 2 of Who would have thought it

Although not a "can't put it down novel" I began to adore the conniving bigots that are Hackwell, Hammerhard and Mrs. Norval after 120 pages, and actually began to dislike the perfect characters of Lola and Julian.  I say this because I feel that none of these open-minded and exceptional people are confronted with any sort of moral dilemma or question of honor, Ruiz de Barton constantly and sometimes not plausibly uses them to evoke sympathy from the reader.  While I felt it at the beginning, it began to run a tad dry after around 250 pages of them being screwed around by either the government or non-Catholic chivalrous ministers turned war heroes. 

That being said, however, Ruiz de Barton is certainly a writer of verbose style and eloquence, which some of the class interpreted as being tedious, when in fact she is a writer of talent not just in the context of someone whose second language is English but in general as well.  An example would be when discussing one of the more subversive characters, Mrs. Norval, on page 136:

"So let us be charitable with her---although she was never known to be so towards anyone---and learn not to pitch our voices so high as she did at the beginning of her song, for we may also find how to difficult to is to maintain such diapason."

I found myself questioning my own ignorance as I read her use of words such as "pusillaminity", "maelstrom" and "opprobrium" without any arrogance as I spent the majority of the book compiling a vocabulary list.  

I have to question my previous self for saying last week the book is not a feminist novel, when clearly the lack of women's rights and imposed weaknesses permeate much of the prose and internal soliloquies.  What surprises me is how Burton allows Hackwell's character to maintain such intellectual power over even the most cunning of female characters (Lola).  Although preying on her young age and naivety, I felt that his intentions should have been questioned more, as he is so conspicuously shrewd and deceitful from the beginning of the novel.  Even someone as manipulative as Mrs. Norval was blind to his narcissistic ways because of his charm, while we as the readers must sit back without feeling much suspense anticipating his next sneaky move.  

Ruiz de Burton, as much as she should be credited for her insight on the struggles of women in her time, does not seem to extend her sympathy towards blacks, as even Julian on page 241 says: "I should have my freedom.  If the negroes have it, why shouldn't I?"  It's a tad insensitive, considering the book's major theme is about prejudice.   Then again, it's dialogue, not narrative, and only so much can be inferred. 

Who would have thought it?

Although during the first 2 pages I thought a more appropriate title would be "Who would have bought it?" I'm actually quite intrigued with it now, and am quite fond of the Dr. Norval, though I question his choice in marrying such a shrewd woman. I do find it so far that the male characters seem to be far less vicious and prejudiced than the females, yet at the same time find myself sympathizing with all the female characters in their unwanted social roles. Who knew that marriage could be worse than is today? I didn't realize that book was so antiquated, until they mentioned the year directly I believed it to be more recent, because the dialogue isn't as far removed from modern speech as I would usually associate 19th century literature to be.

So far the bigotry of some characters in the novel is so profane it's difficult for me to imagine, however, I love the fact that there exists characters that do in face set themselves apart through genuine concern and proverbial mindset. Reading below I see that some don't appreciate the descriptive manner of writing in which she uses and mentioning the historical background, but I see it as a strength rather than a weakness, as the book may lose it's context should that not be included. Her storytelling stays consistent in regards to both its literary quality and its obvious historical accuracy, as it was written so quickly after such events would have transpired. I enjoy also how there are references to better explain the context of the writing. Despite the morbidity of social injustice the book conveys, I still enjoy the humour we see is evident as the neighbours gossip about each other and use mockery I think is ahead of its time.

HOLA

Hola a todos, mi nombre es Daniel, un estudiante de español a la universidad mas bella en todo el mundo, en el opinion de mi ex-novia. Chevere. Dejenme explicar un poco de yo. Me gusta animales y musica, especialmente la combinacion de ambos. Mi tio se llama Roy, es un mechanico, y este año yo quiero tocar en una banda.