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I just read Like Water for Chocolate for the first time, and loved it. I have been wanting to read it for, what, fifteen years or something.
However, as I read it, I was struck by its resemblance to one of my all time favorite novels by Jorge Amado, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands(which is Brazilian)
Is it just a coincidence? Is this a theme in Latino literature, to have a woman who is a magical cook be in love with two men, one with passion, one with friendship?
If anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them. I know that there is a magical element to many Latino novels, but this just seems so close.
posted
I haven't read the other book, but I agree that Like Water for Chocolate is wonderful and clings to the brain.
I'll never forget the wedding guests slipping all over the place. Or forgive the mother for creating that situation.
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Yes, the mother was surely a treat. I also thought it was rude of the mother to return from the dead that way just to give her daughter even more crap.
I am not even sure if Dona Flor is in print in the US. I was lucky to rent a house from a Knopf editor-publisher, and he let me have all his books. If you can get your hands on it, I think you would love it.
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Oh no. Don't tempt me. I'm on a forced hiatus from my own bad habit (www.half.com) right now. The only thing saving me is I recently had my credit card replaced, so the information under my username is wrong and I'm much too lazy to correct it. I can't hear of new books. Can't...can't...
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Oh, this definitely sounds like something I'll be looking up. I adore Esquivel's book, which I read in one sitting last summer under a mango tree in Mexico. The cooking motif was the most beautiful thing I've ever read, And it's funny that so much Latin American literature takes off of Marquéz, but it doesn't get trite. I could read a thousand different re-writings of Cien Años de Soledad and never get sick of it.
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posted
When we read and watched Like Water for Chocolate, we were living in the Florida Keys. Luckily for us, we had a friend who was a Mexican immigrant, so we asked her about the whole story line.
I haven't read Dona Flor, so I can't speak authoritatively, but our friend said that one duaghter being expected to stay home and be the caretaker for the aging parent was right on the mark. To be a wonderful cook would be part of the maturing process. As such, I would expect that the story line would pop up as a common thread.
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Jorge Amado published Dona Flor in 1966, the same year as One Hundred Years of Solitude. Another novel of his I read was The Violent Land, published in 1942.
I checked, you can still get it in English on Amazon.
Another Brazilian novel I read was called "My Sweet-Orange Tree." It was written by Jose Mauro De Vasconcelos, about a brilliant, abused, and loved little boy.(pretty autobiographical) It is, from my point of view as a teacher, a story of a boy with ADHD before it was called anything but "The devil in you." I am a crier when I read, but this was up there with Old Yeller(sorry, I am sick of italics) and Gates of Fire. I sat alone in our house one day about eighteen years ago and read it. It is one of the most beautiful stories I have ever heard. My mother in law lost it when I loaned it to her. I have not replaced it, hoping it will still show up.
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Re: Like Water for Chocolate . . . does anybody know: Is the thing with the matrimonial sheet (married couple only having intercourse through a hole in a sheet) a real Mexican custom? I wasn't able to find anything about it on the Internet.
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anybody got any documentation on the matrimonial sheet with a hole in it? Anyone? Google masters?
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Ist nice to see that someone over here knows and likes some brazilian literature. Jorge Amado sure is one of the greatest authors we had on XX century. Try to read "Gabriela, Cravo e Canela" (Don't know the englisth title) or "Capitães da Areia", both from Jorge Amado. I'm sure you will like it.
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I don't have any documentation, but we certainly spoke about the sheet when we read the book in my high school Spanish class and I don't think it was a specifically Mexican thing. I think it may have been more of a Victorian era custom. But even that's open to supposition.
The other thing I can tell you is that in my office, we have a piece from Guatemala I believe, that is certainly much smaller than a bed sheet (it's maybe 3'x4', probably smaller) that has an oddly shaped hole in the middle of it. I can't walk past that piece without thinking about the bridal sheet from Como agua para chocolate.
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Eduardo, Did you read both Dona Flor and Like Water for Chocolate? Did you find the themes very similar?
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To tell you the truth, I don't think the themes are very similar. Dona Flor is an amazing cooker, but in truth the book's main point is that it is possible for someone to be in love with two people at the same time (you know, Dona Flor has a strong phisical desire for Vadinho and a strong intelectual admiration for her second husband). Well...it is only IMHO, of course, but that's it :-) But I can see how you could relate both books to each other. Keep the following in mind, though: Jorge Amado is from Bahia. It is a brazilian State widely known for its misticism (most of Bahia's population follow african rites as Umbanda or Candomblé - and are good Catholic at the same time, hehehe) the quality of its food and the beauty and sass of its women. Dona Flor was created as the quintessential "Baiana" (woman from Bahia).
Well...I did talk too much. Bye.
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Yes, I've read it when I was younger. It originated a very sucessful soap opera over here, do you know? Although some people consider it too tearful and a little quaint, I enjoyed it very much. Well...I don't know if I would like it all the same if I read it today, though. The main character's name is Zezinho or Zequinha?
I remember I had a literature teacher at the University who abhorred the book. I don't remember why.
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I really do not remember if it is a good writting or not, but as being very sad...oh, yeah...I can remember that.
I also remember being a little child and sitting in the living room by my grandmother 's side (god bless her soul) watching the soap opera. My granny loved it. He...memories are funny :-)
Well...anyway, if you need any more tips about brazilian or portuguese literature, feel free to ask, ok?
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Well, Eduardo, a list would be great. However, I guess it is also a translation issue. Whoever translated Amado did a beautiful job. So, if you know of any good ones, please let us know.
I think the reason the two novels seemed so similar is just the theme of romantic love versus a steady, mature love. In both novels, the women had to choose at some point, and although Dona Flor did have both, she had to have ghostly love in secret.
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I just made chipotles in adobo sauce, inspired by Like Water for Chocolate. I am in AGONY, as I stupidly touched my face after seeding the jalapenos. OUCH! Luckily, I don't have my contacts in. Taking them out would have been agony. No amount of soap takes off the burn.
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