Hacienda, The

Rating:
Summary: Astonishing: transports you right to the Hacienda itself
Review: A smooth, rich mixture of magical surrealism and Andean earthiness. Not one for the psychologists - so go pick yourself something from psychology. This one is definitely for St Aubin de Teran fans who have travelled with her on the slow train to Milan and love her relaxed dreaminess and tolerance of extraordinary people and places. This transports you right to the Hacienda with its harsh beauty. Would have liked to know la gente a little better but love the weave of sumptuous and simple language. Was enthralled by my stay on the hacienda!

Rating:
Summary: A flawed vision
Review: An account of personal growth and survival set against the background of the people of the Venezuelan Andes. Poor editing and the author's failure to learn or understand the history and the spirit of the people she encounters makes this a work of mostly fiction. The inconsistencies glare through the narrative. What brings a 17 year-old english girl to marry a foreigner twice her age and to scurry to the Venezuelan countryside, where she leaves a precarious and dehumanized existence? One can not fail to express admiration for the survival part of the story; but the book is a source of constant irritation, as one bears the naivete and ignorance of this courageous girl. She has failed to understand La Gente she so much celebrates, neither has she learned anything about Venezuelan societies (upper or lower) or Venezuelan history. Neither is she upfront about herself, so her left leaning political persuasion (which is probably quite extreme) has to be inferred. The same for the relationship with her husband, and for that matter, even the paternity of her child. Read this book as an account of a courageous journey of survival and self-discovery, set in the background of a fictional place loosely based on the geography and the people of Venezuela and of the Venezuelan Andes.

Rating:
Summary: Emotionally-distant author
Review: For a memoir, the author is very removed from the experiences she writes about. She conveys little if any emotion about what must have been a very lonely and often frightening existance (especially given her age) in a strange land with a mad and eventually abusive husband, a young child who was often extremely sick and with the responsibilites of running a hacienda. Although her writing is beautiful at times, the author never really connected with me.

Rating:
Summary: Ashley
Review: I absolutely fell in love with this book, despite the fact the reasons behind Teran's actions were sometimes hidden...so why did she marry this guy anyway? As a young woman, I was inspired by her strength, tenacity, kindness, and creativity. Not only did she strive to make daily life on the hacienda better for herself and Iseult, but also for the workers, their children, and of course her beloved pets. A few incorrect historical facts may be the result of bad editing, but they do not detract from the true heart and spirit of this charming, magical novel.

Rating:
Summary: A superficial story with big holes in every part.
Review: I bought this book because I love personal stories and adventures. The author spends so much time on meaningless and small observations we never get to know her whacked-out husband, he seems a mere shadow. Although she was in an exotic locale, her experience seemed boring and I struggled through the book just so I could get my money's worth.

Rating:
Summary: My neighbour's memoir
Review: I do live a very few hours away from where the action of this book takes place. Since I read it I have not checked the place out but found some people that actually corroborated part of the story. This is why I reluctantly give it 5 stars. In spite of a certain inconsistency through the book, a few misplaced left leanings comment, a hard to believe naivete, the books stands firm as a good representation of Venezuelan rural mores, and a heartfelt memoir. Now, I do not want this to mean that Lisa Saint Aubin de Teran is an accurate reporter. She tries her best and only God knows how difficult it is to understand Venezuelan society. However she is very successful at conveying the spirit that moves things there, for good or bad. She is at her best when she shows how in spite of every hardship that falls on her, the country slowly gets into her and she cannot help but love it. I can relate with that, she is not making it up. And last but not least, in light of recent political turmoil in Venezuela, I can recommend this book highly: it will explain why a phenomenon like Chaves came upon Venezuela better than any long political analysis you might find around. Although Ms Saint Aubin kept her patrician acquired Teran she was unto something when she describes the "absentee landlord" mores of Venezuelan old elite families. Her comments on them are rather damming. But the reader needs not to worry, this is still a very strong personal memoir, that can also serve as a political memento.

Rating:
Summary: My neighbour's memoir
Review: I do live a very few hours away from where the action of this book takes place. Since I read it I have not checked the place out but found some people that actually corroborated part of the story. This is why I reluctantly give it 5 stars. In spite of a certain inconsistency through the book, a few misplaced left leanings comment, a hard to believe naivete, the books stands firm as a good representation of Venezuelan rural mores, and a heartfelt memoir. Now, I do not want this to mean that Lisa Saint Aubin de Teran is an accurate reporter. She tries her best and only God knows how difficult it is to understand Venezuelan society. However she is very successful at conveying the spirit that moves things there, for good or bad. She is at her best when she shows how in spite of every hardship that falls on her, the country slowly gets into her and she cannot help but love it. I can relate with that, she is not making it up. And last but not least, in light of recent political turmoil in Venezuela, I can recommend this book highly: it will explain why a phenomenon like Chaves came upon Venezuela better than any long political analysis you might find around. Although Ms Saint Aubin kept her patrician acquired Teran she was unto something when she describes the "absentee landlord" mores of Venezuelan old elite families. Her comments on them are rather damming. But the reader needs not to worry, this is still a very strong personal memoir, that can also serve as a political memento.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing But Ultimately Disappointing
Review: I enjoyed this book while recognizing its quite obvious flaws in development. Teran takes an unimaginable scenario of a young girl completely isolated from the world in an unknown and, to her, backward cultural and shows her transformation into a strong and independent woman from the lonely ineffectual child she was. Yet gaping holes seemed apparent in the narrative. The impenetrable character of Jaime is never fully developed. The fact that he is a shadowy figure in the book as he appeared in her life, you never fully realize the terror and frustration she must have experienced at his hands. It would be a more complex and ultimately more rewarding book if the narrative did not hide the ugliness of this relationship (or rather describe superficially) the same way the character of Lisa did in her letters to her mother. The parentage of the child Iseult is never explored either but for one paragraph early in the book. While there may have been reasons for Teran to hide the truth of paternity from her community she hides it from herself too - a strange and articifical literary conceit. Nevertheless the book is full of vivid characters and a nice narrative framework of the letters to her mother glossing over the loneliness and pain of her young adulthood. I was engrossed and throroughly enjoyed Teran's journey through a metaphoric and literal foreign land. If you like stories of personal growth and change you'll enjoy her prose.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I loved this book. This true story is moving, intense, and a wonderful portrait of the coming of age of a young woman. I believe that men will also enjoy this book. The portraits of each individual in the book are well-drawn and the story is exciting.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: I loved this book. This true story is moving, intense, and a wonderful portrait of the coming of age of a young woman. I believe that men will also enjoy this book. The portraits of each individual in the book are well-drawn and the story is exciting.