Caramelo

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Summary: Ms. Cisneros ensnares the reader with her warm, wry humor
Review: CARAMELO, the gorgeous new novel by Sandra Cisneros, begins with a portrait taken on a summer trip to Acapulco, one of those spontaneous group shots offered by photographers who comb the beach to record memories, real or manufactured. All of the members of the Reyes family are there...all except for Lala, the youngest, forgotten a few yards away as she happily makes sandcastles. And so Lala spends the rest of the book painting a portrait of her own.

It's impossible not to love an author who names her characters "the Awful Grandmother," "Aunty Light-Skin" and "Uncle Old." Cisneros's warm, wry humor has been on display since THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET, and in her latest blended book (equal parts American and Mexican influence), she ensnares us again. This is Lala's story, first and foremost, but it's also the story of so many other things --- of growing up in two cultures, of growing up in general, of family life and daily upheaval, of class and racial strife. The Reyes family travels south to Mexico City each summer to spend time with Inocencio's parents, his heavy-handed mother and henpecked father. Thirteen running, screaming kids caught between the Chicago culture of their daily lives and the Mexican roots of their parents. Three daughters-in-law left to stew in their own juices when mama's around. One hundred reasons why, we soon learn, everything is not OK.

We watch things unfold through Lala's eyes, even the things she was not there to witness. She is an always-precocious narrator. Of Aunty Light-Skin's secretarial job, for example, we're told that she wears beautiful cocktail dresses and high heels, and is picked up each day by her big-shot boss. Lala overhears her mother and aunts' ridicule, but does not spell out the details. Readers can draw their own conclusions about Aunty's "profession." Our narrator admits her unreliability --- she remembers things that didn't happen, forgets some that did, and puts others into a different context. Of a disagreement with her mother, she pictures a dusky confrontation. But Lala knows it took place during the day.

Lala also guides us through history. She tells the Grandmother's story, how she became "Awful," before she became proud. She tells of her grandfather's great lost love, who was most certainly not her grandmother. She fills holes with her own romantic notions, adding details and drama where before there were none (in an amusing twist, the Awful Grandmother plays the interrupting listener, questioning Lala's every interpretation and insisting that her granddaughter play up the love story). Through Cisneros's beautiful prose, the Awful Grandmother becomes vulnerable: "It was dizzying to decide one's fate, because, to tell the truth, she'd never made any decision regarding her own life, but rather had floated and whirled about like a dry leaf in a swirl of foamy water."

When the Reyeses move from Chicago to San Antonio in Lala's 14th year, her life only becomes more complicated. So much the better for the reader. Cisneros's footnotes, explaining Mexican cultural references and character background, alone are worth the read. Lala endures the usual miserable adolescence, and Cisneros captures her petulant voice right down to the apostrophes: "The two guys in suits think we've stolen something. I mean, how do you like that? 'Cause we're teenagers, 'cause we're brown, 'cause we're not rich enough, right?"

Cisneros has said she began CARAMELO as a short story, but it kept growing. The semi-autobiographical work offers a lesson in Mexican history as well as in how to tell "healthy lies" --- the ones that don't hurt anyone. The significance of the title surfaces many times over. It's the color of the rebozo left to Lala when her grandmother dies; the skin of the servant girl who gives Lala a later-in-life epiphany; the mixed heritage of a Mexican-American family that remembers "a country I am homesick for, that doesn't exist anymore, that never existed." This fictional work of nonfiction turns out to be mainly fiction after all. Lala tells too many healthy lies to make it otherwise.

It's impossible not to compare Cisneros's multigenerational tale to THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS or ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, but unlike Isabel Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cisneros's magic comes from actual realism. Each word is a brushstroke. Lala's story is one of construction, and truth, and consequence, but ultimately one of memory. As her grandfather is once told, "Remembering is the hand of god. I remember you, therefore I make you immortal." Just try not to remember Lala Reyes and her colorful family history. Cisneros has painted quite a picture.

--- Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald

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Summary: Beautiful, occasionally syrupy narrative
Review: Caramelo is a multi-generational tale of the Keyes family as related by Lala or Celaya, the "favorite child of a favorite child". Lala weaves together stories about her family's past, and tries in the process, to find a place for herself in the picture. There is Awful Grandmother, who we know, really was a sweet, tortured Soledad as a child. Then there is Uncle Fat-Face, Aunty Light-Skin amongst others, all of whom have wonderful stories to tell. Caramelo starts off with a family vacation the Reyes family is taking to Mexico. Long ago, the Reyes brothers moved to Chicago from Mexico to try their fortunes in the upholstery business. This "vacation" is more of a religious duty than anything else. Lala complains, "All year the apartment looks like a store. A year's worth of collecting merchandise for the trip South." The trip this time, ends with a hint at a family secret which is revealed only much later in the book.

Cisneros traces Lela's family's past systematically through most of its members and ultimately arrives upon Lala's own search for an identity in a new "home". Cisneros's language is beautiful and earthy, and there is a fair amount of Spanish thrown in.

Like most "emigrants caught between here and there", Lala is an expert spectator when she visits Mexico: "Toc, says the light switch in this country, at home it says click. Honk, say the cars at home, here they say tan-tan-tan." I find that Lala wears rosy glasses when she views Mexico. Of course, this is only to be expected, as Lala explains, "Every year I cross the border, it's the same-my mind forgets. But my body always remembers." The slight detraction that emerges though is that very often Lala tends to overly romanticize the past. Her characters are loud, earthy, wonderful, caring, human beings but sometimes that can be too much of a good thing.

In a footnote (one of many) in the book, Cisneros argues that a Mexican soap opera or telenovela is not really bad storytelling-"it is a story that has tried to emulate Mexican life." The telenovela, Cisneros explains, is storytelling at its best, since "it has the power of a true Scheherazade-it keeps you coming back for more." I would then apply the same definiton to Caramelo. The narrative might be a bit syrupy, but you will come back for more.

The Caramelo in the novel's title refers to the intricate caramel-colored, striped rebozo (silk shawl) that Lala has claimed for her own from her grandmother. This particular rebozo, like most others, has intricate knotted fringes, but there is a part that is left unfinished. As we read the novel, we realize how very much like the Caramelo rebozo, the Reyes family is-a family with lives strongly interconnected, yet with a bit of unfinished fringe at the end.

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Summary: Mango Street:: The Epic
Review: Once upon a time there was a little girl who was sent to the Iowa Writers Workshop. They taught her and everyone else there regardless of their life experiences, the cultural backgrounds, their politics (if indeed they had any, believing, as they were, that someone could teach them to be poets, to be novelists, to tell a story worth remembering) about concrete details. "It's all about the details!" They were told in workshop. All fine and well for this little Mexican American girl so far away from home, which was actually about a five hour drive from Chicago where she was born and raised. "Find your voice!" They were drilled. "Find what's special about you!" So whether you are a WASP male from Iowa or a paraplegic Cambodian gay Buddhist you all sound the same, obsessed with lists and believing your are so special because you have found your "voice". The novel which was not a novel as much as a compressive collection of "Mexicanidad" and which the author did not know what to do with so she threw them into footnotes longer than then the vignette length chapters is nothing more than the extension--hundreds of pages of it--of her celebrated triumph which once earned her the kind of reputation a good Iowa Writing Workshop grad dreams for herself.

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Summary: Spectacular, Spectacular
Review: Sandra Cineros has outdone herself. After waiting for this novel I have to say I was not disappointed at all. Her words kept me wanting to read page after page until there were no pages left to read. Her book reveals a story about a girl that seems like a spanish soap opera with ups and downs,tragedies, heart break, reconciliation, hate, love, laughter, and tears. Even though this book was read as an assignment I feel as though it was destiny for me to read. I am now even more interseted in poems by Sandra Cisneros. I have read House on Mango Street but after reading Caramelo I am a huge fan of Sandra Cisneros and can really relate to her stories and poems. Cisneros has a gift and is able to share that gift to the world by her words that create this wonderful story that anyone can enjoy.

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Summary: Caramelo
Review: I absolutely love Sandra Cisnero's writing, and Caramelo is no exception. Caramelo was such a wonderful story because it portrayed truth about Mexican culture and the things that a Mexican family goes through and experiences throughout life. One of the main issues I found very prominent was the idea that the characters made choices out of need and not out of want, which had a definite impact on the rest of their life. I also felt that there was the feeling that men and women were not connecting to the point where they could completly love eachother, there was not one character who did have a successful relationship with their partner. I think that this concept stems directly from the idea that because of the limitations, these characters made decisions that were convenient, like marrying because of pregnancy and not out of love. However, overall I would have to say that I loved this book and the fluttery language that it's filled with. Cisnero's is such a descriptive writer and her use of words makes the story imaginative and delightful.

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Summary: Caramelo
Review: In Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros does an amazing job to describe the typical Mexican family. She shows our family values, our culture, and the essence of who the Mexican people are. She makes a trip down memory lane and at the same time emphasizes the meaning of love. Cisneros shows all this through the eyes of Celaya "lala", who is the main character of the book.
The story begins when Lalas family takes the yearly trip to Mexico, and gathers for the family reunion. All throughout the ride she constantly reminds what we
Mexicans do on our trips with our families to Mexico. We sing songs and bug our parents till they freak out. Through Celaya, the reader acquires much of the Latino culture. Whether it's the food, the games that we play, or the music that we listen too. Caramelo deals with the dysfunction and history of her family, whom of which represents almost every Latino family.
There is an awful grandmother who is always constantly bothering Lalas mother, Zoila, and her father, Inocencio, never says anything to discourage his mother from doing so. The book makes a fascinating turn that gives the reader much emotion and forces them to continue on reading with the story. The family is in Mexico and are on their way back to the grandmothers home from Acapulco. The mother and father get engaged in a harsh argument in which Zoila storms out of the car. Inocencio rushes out and its running chase of trying to catch up to his wife. When they finally come to a rest, a decision is going to have to be made by Inocencio. Zoila and the awful grandmother, Soledad, force him to choose between them. Just as the answer is about to be dished out, the book makes a turn that creates many emotions for the reader, it starts from the very beginning of the Reyes family history and would eventually have to lead up to the argument between Zoila and Inocencio. This angers and fascinates the reader, we learn all the important facts of the Reyes family, but we want to know a certain secret that sparked the argument amongst the parents of Lala.
In describing the Reyes family, we hear about the many love stories that the family has encountered. Every single story has much similarity amongst the others. Cisneros portrays love as equivalent to misery. Every relationship that is describes has a form of agony and pain with it. With everything new that the reader finds in regards to the Reyes family, the reader notices and feels some sort of sympathy for the awful grandmother. We understand why she is the way she is. She had a strenuous life, and lives by the telenovelas that she reads.
Caramelo has the essence the typical Latino family, but also has the theme of love as a connection. This book makes the reader feel the pain and love that the characters experience. We see how history repeats itself. The characters love a person, but once they have them, the person whom they love cheats on them or leaves them. That happens to all the mothers or fathers of the Reyes family. The reader connects the meaning of love for Cisneros. That with love, misery is not to far away.
We learn so much of the Latino culture, and our desire to know of a particular secrete that sparked the argument, lead up to a very dramatic ending. Caramelo is such an incredible book to read, once your read up page seventeen, you will not want to put that book down. It makes a trip down to history lane for the Reyes family, and sparks many themes of love and deception all along the way. It has a conclusion that will move the reader. All these qualities make Caramelo an excellent reed.

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Summary: Caramelo
Review: This book is filled with family stories and history, complete with folkloric themes and songs. It made me remember my childhood and how my family used to and still does take family trips, especially driving from Chicago down to Mexico. Those are trips that bring back nostalgic memories to most Mexican Americans.

Cisneros pictures her family's life as a fotonovela, with drama, happiness, tragedies, and more. This book is based on her and her family's real life circumstances filled in with, as she says, "healthy lies."

I love Cisneros' writing because she brings you into the story, as if you are a part of the characters' living environment. The details are very explicit. An example of this is the apartments her family and uncles live in. Bits and pieces purchased at the flea market cover the walls. Furniture so big, that limits the space to walk in the rooms.

Being born in Chicago does not take away the satisfaction of her mixed background, Spanish and Mexican. She expresses the era and culture in each place, writing some history about the Original Maxwell Street flea market. Also with reference to the unique hand made rebozos and the Spanish conquering Mexico.

She is her father's favorite, his reina, and his cielo. Being the only daughter and the youngest after six brothers that only tease and bother her, she grows up looking like a big boy but keeps that little girl inside of her. I grew up with my younger brother fighting all the time and can relate with Lala. I felt sorry for her because her appearance of a boy was another thing to criticize her about. She listens and sees how everyone in her family fight, cries, laugh, and go crazy. I think that she endures by seeing how everyone in her family live with daily situations and how they act upon them.

If you want to read and learn about culture and history, love, issues that pertain to relatives, all of this with humor then you must read this book. I love the fact that coming from three nations they relate with each other no matter the circumstances. It shows the true significance of family.

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Summary: A Great Book
Review: In Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros weaves an exceptionally intricate portrait of family life from the viewpoint the young Mexican-American girl Celaya "Lala" Reyes in stories told to her by her Awful Grandmother. From this fresh perspective, the story of the Reyes family hailing from Mexico City as well as Chicago becomes a journey that the reader embarks on along with Lala and her family. Cisneros' talent truly shines in this novel as she creates a chronology of Mexican-American heritage through the histories of the members of the Reyes family.
The interesting idea that comes from Caramelo is how alike the Reyes' are to all families. There are passionate fights, misunderstandings, lies, secrets, love and pain. As I read the novel, I felt as if I were there in the red station wagon alongside Lala and her brothers on the sweltering journey from Chicago to Mexico for yet another visit to the Grandparents' house on Destiny Street. Many readers will be able to compare and contrast their own stories of family relationships to the Reyes' through Cisneros' uncanny gift for description. With this gift, Cisneros creates a world in which all readers can relate to the events that unfold in the stories in Caramelo.
Formal Mexican heritage and modern American realism collide when the Awful Grandmother conveys her telenovela-like stories to Lala. The granddaughter takes the narration in stride as she translates the epic for all of us from her own perspective. From her humble beginnings in losing her mother at an early age to entering into a one-sided marriage, the tale of why the Awful Grandmother has earned her moniker tumbles out on a backdrop of historic Mexican culture. And it is not just the story of the grandmother that we become privy to: the stories of many other family members come into prominence as well, showing that the experiences of one member of an extended family directly affect the experiences of all.
Sandra Cisneros peppers the novel with historical footnotes that prove the extensive research that she put into her effort. This makes the reader feel as though Cisneros truly cares about making the experiences of the Reyes family as real and tangible as possible. She succeeds in the fact that Caramelo comes across as a historical reference as well as a dramatic tale. In reading Caramelo, I was made aware of how events of my own life are firmly cemented in my mind by their correlations to historical moments. Cisneros brings this reality to her readers as they experience the stories that reside in the novel.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interesting family and feels as though no one can relate. Cisneros not only makes you feel as though there are others out there who understand, but that family drama is a universal reality. Reading Caramelo is like stumbling across and reading a historic diary. You will become immersed in the rich history and secret lives of a family that will seem very much like your own.

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Summary: Worth Reading a Thousand Times
Review: Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros was such an outstanding book. It's worht reading many times. Being myself Mexican American I can truly say this book made me feel even more proud of my culture. The Reyes family was the typical Mexican family that takes a trip back home (Mexico) to visit the family. I don't think that there is a single Mexican family that has never done that. Lala, the narrator of the story, tells a story that seems more of a Mexican soap opera or as we say, a telenovela. Cisneros was so good at describing the places that it seems you were right there with the Reyes family. At the end, I felt as if i had traveled to Mexico City, I could smell what they smell and see what they saw. This book takes you places without having to leave your home. To be truly honest, I had to read this book as an assigment for my literature class and I wasn't thrilled to do so because in my opinion it looked like a nightmare to read. Guess what, after the first few pages, I was glued to the book and kept reading without stopping. Let me tell you something. This book is hilarious. You are reading it and suddenly you notice that what's happening in Lala's family happens to each and everyone of us.
There is a part in the story where the mother in law is fighting with her daugther in law. Saying insults to each other, just like the typical Mexican family. What really amaized me was the history behind this book. For instance, if you are not Mexican after reading Caramelo you are going to be able to understand a little better our culture, traditions, the everyday life of a Mexican family. Somehow this book tells history in a way that anybody can swallow;it is not boring! Caramelo has everything lies, love stories, tragedies, tears, heartbreaks, everything is packed in this book. After reading finishing Caramelo i was not a bit disappointed and neither will you.

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Summary: Mexican Pride
Review: Sandra Cisneros has once again out done herself with Caramelo. Her words kept me wanting to read page after page until there was no more pages to read. After reading her first novel The House on Mango Street," I thought to myself that this has to be her best work. Obviously, I was wrong. It seems as though each book is better then the last. This book has to be one of the greatest books ever written. Personally one of the greatest books I have ever read. I have always been proud to say I am a Mexican and this book did an excellent job in strengthening my pride. And for that I thank her. She is definitely an inspiration to all women.
The Caramelo in the book title refers to the caramel-colored stripped rebozo that Lala has claimed for her own. This rebozo has knotted fringes, but part is left unfinished. While reading this novel, you can see how many similarities are between the rebozo and the Reyes family. The family lives are strongly interconnected, yet with a bit of unfinished fringe at the end. Caramelo is a multi-generational tale of the Reyes family. Caramelo is written by Sandra Cisneros, but is told by Lala with the help of her grandmother and her own imagination. Lala is the favorite child of a favorite child. Lala weaves together stories about her family's past, and tries in the process, to find a place for herself within her family. The story starts with a family vacation the family Reyes is taking to Mexico. However, the trip ends with a hint at a family secret that is revealed much later in the book. Caramelo reveals a story about a girl that has or lives a life similar to that of a Spanish soap opera. Both having ups and downs, tragedies, heartbreak, reconciliation, hate, love, laughter and tears.
Caramelo is full of Mexican stories and legends. This book is not like any other that flows in a chronological order. The author wrote this book in a way that keeps you coming back for more. The story bounces back and forth which most readers might dislike and find confusing. Personally, I enjoyed it. The entire time it kept me at the edge of my seat. It made me want to turn the page to see what will happen next. Another thing that I enjoyed about the way this book is written is the way it has Spanish references. For example, some Spanish words are used to add sizzle to the stories. Cisneros has a gift and is able to share that gift to the world by her words that create this wonderful story that anyone can enjoy. To sum it up I really enjoyed Caramelo and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading cultural stories. I gave this book 5 stars because I was glued to it. I laughed and went back to it several times and reread it because I was so touched at times.