Caribbean Books

Excellent story, I began to read it on friday and by sunday I had already finished. Characters were geniously managed. There's comedy, drama, tragedy and much more. Being a Puerto Rican living in the U.S I can really see how life on the island can be. Great Work, Im buying more of the author books. Love it.

Me encantó esta novela. No sé mucho de estilos literarios, pero encontré el texto casi hipnotizante. Me han dicho que está escrito de una manera que se puede cantar al ritmo de un bolero. Es casi como haber visto una película - puedo imaginar los personajes y las escenas del libro como si los hubiera visto, en vez de visualizado al leer.

Mayra Santos Febrés es un talento inmenso. Personalmente me encantan las novelas por poetas - espero que nos de muchas más.

The intense sincerity of this gripping story has clarity so profound that as a reader I found myself living every detail. Remarkable! Pick up Sofi's Load, and sit at the edge of your seat, because it will vigorously suck you in. It's real--dauntingly real.

Daniel Sabin
CEO / Founder of Pure Leaders Incorporated
International Motivational / Inspirational Speaker
Student - Metaphysicist - Philosopher
Musician - Poet - Author

Sofi's Load is a moving and powerful text. It is the author's first novel, and the second book which I have read from her so far, the first being Poetry In Haiti, a must read for anyone interested in Haitian culture crafted in the hands of a literary genius.

Once again I find myself enraptured by Ms. Simon's mastery of language and her superb craftmanship. She imbues her text with such emotion and artistic sensability, that as a reader you cannot help but be moved by the power of her words.

The novel itself is an inspirational text, filled with endurance and courage against much cruelty and hardship. Sofi's story is not only a personal memoir, but a symbolic metaphor of Haiti and its women-admidst all adversity and persecution the courage and the tenacity to persevere still remains strong.

Sofi's Load is a beautifully written novel, one that I'm sure will become a literary classic. I anxiously await for Ms. Simon's forthcoming work.

First of all, Rubén Darío's poetry is so immensely important and contemporary in its relevancy that I cannot believe this is the first quality translation of it!

Originally published in Spain in 1905, "Cantos de vida y esperanza" is one of the most important collections of Darío's poetry. He is widely considered the father of the modernistic movement.

For me to review his poetry would be folly- I believe everyone takes what they bring to the poem with them. I can tell you that his poetry has such an honesty in it that I cannot but help be moved by his plight... his plight as a human being :) something we all share, which is why his poems are great and immortal.
One of his most famous poems is "Canción de otoño en primavera"/Song of autumn in springtime. While I do not feel at liberty to reproduce the translation included in the book, I will give you a small sample of the poetry itself in case you are new to his writings or curious.

Juventud, divino tesoro
ya te vas para no volver
Cuando quiero llorar, no lloro...
y a veces lloro sin querer...

Youth, divine treasure
you have gone, never to return
When I want to cry, I cannot...
and sometimes I cry without wanting to...

Much of his poetry is very personal and moving. I love the pictures he can create with words, like in his poem "Canto de esperanza" Song of hope:
"Un gran vuelo de cuervos macha el azul celeste." A great flight of ravens stains the blue celestial sky. "Verdugos de ideales afligieron la tierra,/en un pozo de sombra la humanidad se encierra" Executioners of ideals afflict the earth/in a well of shadow humanity is encircled.
That is a very small sample of the wonderful poetry in this book.
(reminder, these are my lame translations-- not the ones from the book- the ones in the book are much better.)

This brings me to the book itself. This is *such* a quality edition. Not only does it have the poems in English and Spanish, their original language, but the editors have taken care to make sure they are the correct versions as well. The translators thankfully went for meaning, not rhyming. I detest translations where they try to keep the rhyming scheme. This RARELY works, and usually destroys not only the original author's meaning, but also makes the poem laughable in the target language.
The preface in this edition is wonderful as well- it includes many facts about Darío & his work, life and writings. Included also is a kind of glossary for the reader. Darío often uses references to classical literature and mythology that can leave the average reader scratching their head. Luckily this glossary answers all questions along those lines.

I was introduced to this book by my Spanish Literature professor, Dr. Albert Acereda who translated this collection of poetry along with Will Derusha. That said, mine is not a biased review- if I don't like something, I will not take the time to write a review on it. (unless it's so bad it actually pisses me off!)

You couldn't want for a better edition of this book- the poetry is timeless and the translations are flawless.

in a carefully wrought and politically situated language of poesis that will not go away any day soon. This is a beautiful book carefully edited and annotated, well designed by Duke UP in English/Spanish interface-- a book that shows "nuestra America" is not in the hands of the rough riders and empire makers then or now, must reading for a poetics of poscoloniality situated in Nicaragua, Paris, Rome, and NYC...meaning the worlding world of poesis and vision coming out of the future in the 'afterlife' of real poetry. Abrazos and thanks...

Songs of Silence is a remarkable vehicle through which one can visit any community and every community - anywhere in the world. These stories are iconoclastic in their characterization and at the same time universal in their appeal. I am sure that every reader can find a point of reference in a least one character or situation which either rekindles a memory or provokes a new perspective.

Set in the beautiful island of Jamaica, this book is a welcome addition to the Caribbean biography genre. Forbes has the ability to use a variety of tones and voices that capture the spirit of the community. The story is the journey of growing up in a rural environment in a large family among amusing, familiar neighbours who have strange incidents in their lives revealed.

Marlene's narrative is an echo of our own childhood experiences, and also a window through which people from other parts of the world can view events that shape part of our Caribbean world. There is mystery surrounding the neighbour hit by loneliness and hard times, the house crumbling about her in a yard overgrown with weeds. We too used the "big bed" as a trampoline with siblings, ignoring the empty threats of a loving father, or waited at the gate, long into the evening for a parent to return from work, or felt the burden of a school friend's poverty.

At the end of the book, we have traveled home once more, and can still hear the quiet words of wisdom from Ma.

The title of my review says it all--this is an essential collection for anyone serious about sound art/theory/poetry or avant-garde music. The CD is a very nice bonus, full of unbelievable rarities as well.

By focusing on "earplay" in texts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and other modern writers, this collection's twelve essays investigates the relationship between acoustical technologies and 20th-century experimental poetics. The accompanying CD offers soundtracks of early radio sounds, poetry readings, Dada cabaret performances, jazzoetry, audio-poems and contemporary Caribbean DJ dub poetry.

I bought this cookbook when it first came out, and have been using it for years. It's my favorite cookbook -makes reliably delicious dishes. The key lime pie and stewed chicken are two recipes which are fabulous!

If you can get your hands on this cookbook buy it I was lucky enough to find it in the used section. I had seen it when we were in the Caribbean & found some great recipes in it.Very well done.

I have read and reread the first story so many times...the life of a desolate little boy's life...so finely detailed so heart rending, so spatial. As a Jamaican woman and an architect, I used this story in my thesis for the representation of a Jamaican life in a Jamaican landscape. If you want to know about my people, this is a beautiful glimpse into the way we talk about ourselves to each other.

I studied this book for literature when I was in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it. Each story focuses on the lives of children from different economical and social backgrounds in Jamaica, each one experiencing a different form of conflict as they face a critical stage of their development. Most of the stories are written in Jamaican dialect which is rich and colorful allowing the reader a great insight into rural Jamaica and the way of life that is unique to the scenes of the stories.

What if God were the world, the stars, lust, sex, trees, rivers, water, salt, and crystal? What if the world were the poet's fecund Mexican lover? To Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and Nobel laureate, God, the totality, is all of this, and more. To Paz, the reality of daily life is - on the descriptive surface - quite surreal, very vibratory, illusory and refelective. Things sparkle and song is everywhere. To even comment on this vibrational reality is a stop-start, humbling obsession for the poet. This poem is a much needed break for those too bored with European views of reality. This book opens doors to Mexican poetry and to Paz' great career as a poet and essayist. Be prepared to be changed.

Michael James Hawk
http://www.sculpture.org/portfolio/sculptorPage.php?sculptor_id=1001229

Paz ha creado una joya de incalculable valor. Con toda la plasticidad que un genio puede brindarle a un texto, San Octavio recorre en Piedra de Sol todos los grandes temas de la poesía y con ello, del hombre. Es tan natural el desempeño de sus letras que es necesario hacer un esfuerzo para asimilar que nos han llevado de un confín a otro, de la magia a la realidad, de la mujer a la soledad, del río al dolor. Gracias a la serenidad del texto la forma (son 584 endecasílabos) no se percibe en la lectura: así emergen los gigantes.

Vanderbilt educated historian, Vincent K. Hubbard, lives on Nevis, a tiny island in the leeward islands of the Caribbean sea. This small book has a treasure-trove of information about this island's life and history. Much happened here. One incident on this island eventually led to Britain's abolition of slavery which was accomplished there several decades in advance before in America. Value of goods generated there surpassed that of all of the 13 continental colonies combined in the 1700's. There are many more gems of information besides these to be found throughout the book. Hubbard uncovers all aspects of this island's life starting from prehistory when the island was inhabited only by lizards and seldom visited by Indians to when europeans came seeking greater fortunes and fought tooth and nail to keep it.

The following excerpt is my mother's favorite about a pirate " who chased down a warship camouflaged as a merchantman...When he came alongside the disguised vessel, he hailed, "Do you surrender?" At that, the warship's gun ports flew open and her cannon were run out. Undaunted, the witty privateer responded, "If you won't surrender, then I will!"

I read this book when I came to Nevis in 2001, in search of geneaological information about Hamiltons, but, once on the island, well, there were so many other things to explore. There are only four very short paragraphs about Alexander Hamilton's life in this book. The Nevis local government meets in the house he was born in and I believe the U.S. state department helps maintain the site.

The importance of this island in world history is summarized in a statement Hubbard provides from another book entitled War and Trade in the West Indies found on the title page of his book: " to ignore the west indies is to get a lopsided and unhistorical view of the mercantilist empire of the eighteenth century."

I loved this book.

This edition is a major updating in comparison to the previous edition. The previous edition brought the history of Nevis to 1900, whereas this edition brings the history up to the new millennium, i.e. 2000.

In updating this history the author added a new chapter. Also, in completing the updating he made some additions to the next to last chapter.

A few of the additions to the next to last chapter are: the hospital controversy, the sugar riot of 1936, the Secession of Anguilla, the Christena disaster, and an excellent summary about the current political hot topic of the upcoming possible vote for secession from St. Kitts.

The author is will qualified to write this history. He has lived on Nevis since 1986. In reviewing his educatiional background, he obtained a BA in political science and history at Vanderbilt University. He then earned a JD from the University's School of Law. Since living on Nevis, he has been the Past President of the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society and has served many years as the society's Historian. His vocation is the Director of the Morning Star Holdings, Inc. This vocation has obviously helped him develop much experience and knowledge of the ins and outs of the off shore financial industry. He's made presentations to historical societies throughtout the Caribbean and in the U.S.

The book has an extensive bibliography, an excellent index, and even a glossary of naval terms. The book is evenly balanced with illustrations, maps, and pictures. The book is definitely not another dry history tome but is written in a very readable and entertaining style with lots of first hand antidotes. this means it's hard for the reader to put it down once he/she has started reading it. Anyone from teenager on up will find the book very educational and shoulddevelopa better appreciation ofa lot of history that has occurred there relating to the U.S., U.K. and Europe that has gone unnoticed.

Submitted by Guy Coffee, Librarian Emeritus
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

I was hoping there would be several sequels. Truly disappointing that there are none, but this is a must-read for those addicted to travel writing.

The storyline is hilarious- Ms Longmore's adventures from Jamaica to Trinidad reveal to all, the true culture and tradition in the Caribbean. She portrays a vivid collage of colurful scenes that form the heritage and day to day life in the islands. It is a wonderful book to relive or to enter the magnificence under a warm tropical sun.