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Cargando... The Hotel Alleluia (2000)por Lucinda Roy
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From the critically acclaimed author of Lady Moses, a powerful new novel of sisterhood and racial identity set against the violence of revolution-torn Africa.The Hotel Alleluia is the story of two half-sisters, separated in childhood and raised continents apart. Joan, grows up in North Carolina, while Ursuline is adopted by nuns in West Africa. Joan's quest to find Ursuline following their mother's death sets off a whirlwind of events in Africa as the sisters join forces with Gordon Delacroix, Joan's former lover, and Jeremy Scott, a troubled English writer. The days they spend together in the violence and bloodshed of a disintegrating nation change all four of them forever. Compelling and unforgettable, The Hotel Alleluia proves again that Lucinda Roy is one of the most original and lyrical voices in African American fiction. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Clasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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I almost put the book down and quit in the middle of the first chapter, the first few pages, I couldn’t make much sense of it. But once the actual story started from more-or-less the beginning it varied between a good story to a very excellent narrative.
I can’t say that I liked any of the characters either. Well, you have to like Prince and Mohammed IV, but all the other main characters were supremely flawed individuals... or maybe just way too human.
It is a complex story, maybe too complex, but Africa is a complex place, its cultures and histories are unique and quite unlike those on any other continent. I believe this book did a good job of illustrating the lives of a number of different cultures in one West African country, and how they intersect while still maintaining their main differences. Also how you can love a place even if it doesn’t love you back.
One line towards the end really resonated with me:
“Selling third-world news to first-world readers was tough....”
That kind of sums up the entire story: how wars and genocides can occur with regularity and the powers to prevent or stop them are not willing to do so. They just keep happening in far-flung places that virtually no one has ever heard of, and the extent of what happens is never truly known. In the end, few care and most of everyone prefers to forget - if they were even aware - as soon as possible. Sad but true.
Since this book was published in 2000, the US and Liberia have had presidents whose sole qualifications have been celebrity. In the former a Reality TV star and fake billionaire and the latter a former professional football / soccer player. Post WWII, the United States’ main export has been its western style culture. And in the past several decades, most of that has been celebrity... theater... the shiny trinkets of old. Substance is not required. The real world, well, that’s not nearly as much fun. On the back of all of that, The Hotel Alleluia reads all too true... and it’s depressing as all hell. ( )