leavingsealevel's review against another edition
4.0
Yes.
I fell in love with history the second I got out of high school and realized how much of history is a story of people struggling against oppression and injustice. Struggling for democracy and equality. Struggling to make a better world...those born oppressed and those born oppressor, together.
Colonialism is as much the story of those who fought back as the story of those who "won." America* is as much the story of its Indigenous nations as the story of its first undocumented** immigrants. As much the story of Palmares as conquistadores. I wish I could give you some concrete examples of all this or quotes or something, from the book, but I left my copy with my dad the other day.***
Genesis is a beautiful book of history-as-story. This isn't something to pick up without a certain grounding in the more mundane facts of Latin American history: being familiar with the characters and settings in Galeano's stories is key. I'd probably recommend starting with [b:Open Veins of Latin America|187149|Open Veins of Latin America|Eduardo Hughes Galeano|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537545s/187149.jpg|771351] if you want to read Galeano's work, rather than with Memory of Fire. However, having read this I will certainly be reading the rest of the trilogy at some point.
*You know I usually mean the continent, right?
**In which I find that I cannot bring myself to say "illegal," even ironically.
***Who semi-despises the Latin American left, but he'll come around one of these days.
I fell in love with history the second I got out of high school and realized how much of history is a story of people struggling against oppression and injustice. Struggling for democracy and equality. Struggling to make a better world...those born oppressed and those born oppressor, together.
Colonialism is as much the story of those who fought back as the story of those who "won." America* is as much the story of its Indigenous nations as the story of its first undocumented** immigrants. As much the story of Palmares as conquistadores. I wish I could give you some concrete examples of all this or quotes or something, from the book, but I left my copy with my dad the other day.***
Genesis is a beautiful book of history-as-story. This isn't something to pick up without a certain grounding in the more mundane facts of Latin American history: being familiar with the characters and settings in Galeano's stories is key. I'd probably recommend starting with [b:Open Veins of Latin America|187149|Open Veins of Latin America|Eduardo Hughes Galeano|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172537545s/187149.jpg|771351] if you want to read Galeano's work, rather than with Memory of Fire. However, having read this I will certainly be reading the rest of the trilogy at some point.
*You know I usually mean the continent, right?
**In which I find that I cannot bring myself to say "illegal," even ironically.
***Who semi-despises the Latin American left, but he'll come around one of these days.
lovebliss's review against another edition
5.0
A história de gente que serviu, e serve sempre, de carne para canhão, de braços para as minas, de acendalha para os apetites imperialistas.
Foi triste conhecer um pouco mais do destino de Palmares, para dar um exemplo das múltiplas histórias tristes, de gente como todos nós, mas feliz porque ser humano é ser também resistência, compaixão e luta.
Foi triste conhecer um pouco mais do destino de Palmares, para dar um exemplo das múltiplas histórias tristes, de gente como todos nós, mas feliz porque ser humano é ser também resistência, compaixão e luta.
yeller's review against another edition
5.0
This is on my "for school" shelf, but really, we only had to read the first 65 pages for school. I continued because it is such a fabulous book, and I don't regret it, even if it did take me all semester. It was well worth the time it took to get through it, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
It reads almost like a book of poems, or at least that's how I read it. It's like a mosaic of small snapshots that, put together, tell a horror story. It's like reading a scrapbook through pictures. It's absolutely fantastic, and it's really hard to classify exactly what it is. Even the author says that in the introduction. But, in my opinion, it tells the story of the Americas perfectly. Galeano's language is creative and poetic, telling even the most horrific of stories in a way that's absolutely beautiful. Often, I found myself so wonderstruck by his wording I had to stop for a second to soak it in.
If you ask me, this is rather a balanced and honest portrayal of what happened, a perspective the almost never gets told, and it's truly told beautifully.
I'm not sure if the reader is supposed to be able to follow the stories of individual people. I did to an extent, but I couldn't really follow them easily because of the fragmented way it was written. This didn't bother me at all. For me, it served to show how widespread and unanimous the oppression was. It was as if there was so much of it, you couldn't pin it down to any specific person. Honestly, there is nothing I can criticize about this book and I absolutely cannot wait to read the next two.
It reads almost like a book of poems, or at least that's how I read it. It's like a mosaic of small snapshots that, put together, tell a horror story. It's like reading a scrapbook through pictures. It's absolutely fantastic, and it's really hard to classify exactly what it is. Even the author says that in the introduction. But, in my opinion, it tells the story of the Americas perfectly. Galeano's language is creative and poetic, telling even the most horrific of stories in a way that's absolutely beautiful. Often, I found myself so wonderstruck by his wording I had to stop for a second to soak it in.
If you ask me, this is rather a balanced and honest portrayal of what happened, a perspective the almost never gets told, and it's truly told beautifully.
I'm not sure if the reader is supposed to be able to follow the stories of individual people. I did to an extent, but I couldn't really follow them easily because of the fragmented way it was written. This didn't bother me at all. For me, it served to show how widespread and unanimous the oppression was. It was as if there was so much of it, you couldn't pin it down to any specific person. Honestly, there is nothing I can criticize about this book and I absolutely cannot wait to read the next two.
jonvarner's review against another edition
5.0
The history of the New World (mainly Latin America) from creation myths to 1700, told through personal vignettes. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written. The endless cruelty of conquest and subjugation can get difficult to endure at times, but the storytelling is never less than fascinating.
kingkong's review against another edition
5.0
its really cool how you can see the world changing through these short chapters