iago-go's Updates en-US Thu, 01 May 2025 03:28:20 -0700 60 iago-go's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1055292187 Thu, 01 May 2025 03:28:20 -0700 <![CDATA[ iago-go is 38% done with Homegoing ]]> Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi iago-go is 38% done with <a href="/book/show/27071490-homegoing">Homegoing</a>. ]]> Review7514572593 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:07:50 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go added 'Hija de la fortuna']]> /review/show/7514572593 Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende iago-go gave 4 stars to Hija de la fortuna (Trilogía involuntaria, #1) by Isabel Allende
bookshelves: 1840s, chile, chilean, usa, china, 1850s, 1860s
This book takes you from the remoteness of Chile in the mid 19th century all the way to the busy streets of Canton and rural China all the way to the gold rush in a wild California. The scope of the characters and the plot is huge, but the stories that they tell are small and personal.
I especially like how the two key characters start off from radically different point of views regarding their own existence. Eliza sees the start of her life as a moment she was found in a soap box whereas Tao Chi'en sees his life as a continuation of the lives of his ancestors. These different values make for a very interesting conflict between them and how they ultimately end up making concessions about their original beliefs.

Another theme that keeps cropping up in the book is the pursuit of the imaginary and obsession with it. There are people that flee their home towns in order to become rich by mining gold in California and there are people who lose everything because they have a love interest in their mind who they thing will be the answer to all their problems. Fortune comes and goes, you rise and you fall, you realise that what you wanted isn't actually what you wanted.

I read the book in Spanish and the writing is absolutely beautiful. I find that there is a special Melody and lyricism to the writing that sends me off straight to the chilly hills of Valparaíso, to the unforgiving dry desert of California.

Some people have described this book as magical realism but I profoundly disagree with this description, sure, there are some supernatural elements but that does not make it magical, as all of them from part of the religion and spiritual beliefs of the person experiencing them. You wouldn't consider books in which character believes they have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary as magical, so this one shouldn't be classified as such either just because the beliefs are from the indigenous people of South America or Taoism in China. ]]> ReadStatus9370295040 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:07:33 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go is currently reading 'Homegoing']]> /review/show/7531216798 Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi iago-go is currently reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
]]> Review7514572593 Wed, 30 Apr 2025 09:07:10 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go added 'Hija de la fortuna']]> /review/show/7514572593 Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende iago-go gave 4 stars to Hija de la fortuna (Trilogía involuntaria, #1) by Isabel Allende
bookshelves: 1840s, chile, chilean, usa, china, 1850s, 1860s
This book takes you from the remoteness of Chile in the mid 19th century all the way to the busy streets of Canton and rural China all the way to the gold rush in a wild California. The scope of the characters and the plot is huge, but the stories that they tell are small and personal.
I especially like how the two key characters start off from radically different point of views regarding their own existence. Eliza sees the start of her life as a moment she was found in a soap box whereas Tao Chi'en sees his life as a continuation of the lives of his ancestors. These different values make for a very interesting conflict between them and how they ultimately end up making concessions about their original beliefs.

Another theme that keeps cropping up in the book is the pursuit of the imaginary and obsession with it. There are people that flee their home towns in order to become rich by mining gold in California and there are people who lose everything because they have a love interest in their mind who they thing will be the answer to all their problems. Fortune comes and goes, you rise and you fall, you realise that what you wanted isn't actually what you wanted.

I read the book in Spanish and the writing is absolutely beautiful. I find that there is a special Melody and lyricism to the writing that sends me off straight to the chilly hills of Valparaíso, to the unforgiving dry desert of California.

Some people have described this book as magical realism but I profoundly disagree with this description, sure, there are some supernatural elements but that does not make it magical, as all of them from part of the religion and spiritual beliefs of the person experiencing them. You wouldn't consider books in which character believes they have seen the apparition of the Virgin Mary as magical, so this one shouldn't be classified as such either just because the beliefs are from the indigenous people of South America or Taoism in China. ]]> Rating850925492 Fri, 25 Apr 2025 01:13:08 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go liked a review]]> /
iago-go liked Alison's review of The Song of Achilles:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
"3.5 rounded up
Another love story that failed to melt my ice-cold heart, but I still love that this book exists.
That being said, I liked Achilles way more in Hades!"
]]> UserStatus1051336192 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 02:43:23 -0700 <![CDATA[ iago-go is 63% done with Hija de la fortuna ]]> Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende iago-go is 63% done with <a href="/book/show/29538718-hija-de-la-fortuna">Hija de la fortuna</a>. ]]> Review5901180613 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 02:42:45 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go added 'The Henna Artist']]> /review/show/5901180613 The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi iago-go gave 4 stars to The Henna Artist (The Jaipur Trilogy, #1) by Alka Joshi
bookshelves: 1950s, india, indian
The fact that the book has a section with recipes and DIY ideas at the end actually touched me deeply, and made me reflect deeply on an internal conversation that I have had about the book since its start.

At the beginning I felt like the exoticizing descriptions of Indian daily life were quite intense, and I felt a little bit weirded out. Is this Indian author orientalizing her culture to make it more intriguing for a foreign audience? Well, yes, probably, and that's probably one of the reasons why this book is so popular outside India, while I doubt it is interesting at all to most Indians. But at the same time, I feel like Alka Joshi is really attempting to get the world to think of India as more than the chaos and wealth disparity that is shown on global media in the present day. She really want you to fall in love with India, its culture, its food and its history. And that kind of made me check myself and my preconceptions about the relationship between writer and audience.

I've recently seen so many reels about over the top cliches in US books such as describing Latin Americans as having skins the colour of coffee and sugar. Or their walk being compared to salsa dance. It's cringe yeah, but why? Was I being cringe by reading this book where the scents and colors are described in a profoundly Indian way? Is it "bad literature" to write for people outside your culture? Now I'm thinking, no. Perhaps if I were more familiar with Indian culture the descriptions and writing would make me roll my eyes and sigh at every turn of the page, but instead, it made me want to learn more. It's such a large country with such a long history and I know next-to-nothing about it. There is no reward for sitting through a book where most of the cultural references go over my head such as when I read "Dust" by Owuor Yvonne Adhiambo. So why not start with something more approachable and compelling?

Anyway I've babbled enough, but the story is gripping. There are high stakes from the very beginning of the rags-to-riches storyline. There is betrayal, misunderstandings, manipulation, unfairness. It's so nerve-wracking to be made aware of the delicate relationships between people of different castes and how this disparity puts such a large group of people at the mercy of a select few. The fear of losing it all by being in the wrong place at the wrong time is present throughout the entire book, and it had me on edge until the very end.
]]> ReadStatus9346271902 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 02:42:32 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go is currently reading 'Hija de la fortuna']]> /review/show/7514572593 Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende iago-go is currently reading Hija de la fortuna by Isabel Allende
]]> Review5901180613 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 02:20:17 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go added 'The Henna Artist']]> /review/show/5901180613 The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi iago-go gave 4 stars to The Henna Artist (The Jaipur Trilogy, #1) by Alka Joshi
bookshelves: 1950s, india, indian
The fact that the book has a section with recipes and DIY ideas at the end actually touched me deeply, and made me reflect deeply on an internal conversation that I have had about the book since its start.

At the beginning I felt like the exoticizing descriptions of Indian daily life were quite intense, and I felt a little bit weirded out. Is this Indian author orientalizing her culture to make it more intriguing for a foreign audience? Well, yes, probably, and that's probably one of the reasons why this book is so popular outside India, while I doubt it is interesting at all to most Indians. But at the same time, I feel like Alka Joshi is really attempting to get the world to think of India as more than the chaos and wealth disparity that is shown on global media in the present day. She really want you to fall in love with India, its culture, its food and its history. And that kind of made me check myself and my preconceptions about the relationship between writer and audience.

I've recently seen so many reels about over the top cliches in US books such as describing Latin Americans as having skins the colour of coffee and sugar. Or their walk being compared to salsa dance. It's cringe yeah, but why? Was I being cringe by reading this book where the scents and colors are described in a profoundly Indian way? Is it "bad literature" to write for people outside your culture? Now I'm thinking, no. Perhaps if I were more familiar with Indian culture the descriptions and writing would make me roll my eyes and sigh at every turn of the page, but instead, it made me want to learn more. It's such a large country with such a long history and I know next-to-nothing about it. There is no reward for sitting through a book where most of the cultural references go over my head such as when I read "Dust" by Owuor Yvonne Adhiambo. So why not start with something more approachable and compelling?

Anyway I've babbled enough, but the story is gripping. There are high stakes from the very beginning of the rags-to-riches storyline. There is betrayal, misunderstandings, manipulation, unfairness. It's so nerve-wracking to be made aware of the delicate relationships between people of different castes and how this disparity puts such a large group of people at the mercy of a select few. The fear of losing it all by being in the wrong place at the wrong time is present throughout the entire book, and it had me on edge until the very end.
]]> ReadStatus9308397438 Mon, 14 Apr 2025 10:48:20 -0700 <![CDATA[iago-go wants to read 'Grief Is the Thing with Feathers']]> /review/show/7488251527 Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter iago-go wants to read Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter
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