Rating: Summary: An immensely enjoyable read. Review: I must confess I picked up this book hoping to fulfill my romanticization of the Gypsies. Fonesca's book, with its exoticism and poetic imagery allows that, while providing insight on the Roma's history, culture and current status in Eastern Europe. It was an immensely enjoyable read.
Rating: Summary: Marvellously well-written and researched Review: Ms. Fonseca has done a masterful job of researching and explaining the dynamics and the texture of the life of the Romani in the context of the changing Eastern European realities. She blends dispassionate objectivity with warmth and fondness to provide a warm, vibrant picture of the pain and joy of the long journey of the Gypsies. This book will set a standard for ethnography works intended for the general public.
Rating: Summary: ANOTHER FOOLISH ATTEMPT. Review: ONCE AGAIN NON-GYPSIES HAVE MISUNDERSTOOD US. SHE MISUNDERSTANDS THAT WE HAVE SEPERATE DIALECTS AND POINTS OUT THINGS ABOUT IT SHE DONT KNOW. THE RACISM SHE POINTS OUT, SHE DOES A GOOD JOB BUT THE CULTURE PART IS MISUNDERSTOOD. SHE DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE CONTAMINATION LAWS VERY WELL. SHE SAIS THINGS ABOUT PEOPLE SHE DOES NOT KNOW. SHE POINTS OUT CERTAIN GYPSY ACTIVIST AS EVIL SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE DISAGREES WITH THEIR VEIWS. WE BELIEVE THAT WE MUST TELL OUR OWN HISTORY AND RUN OUR OWN WY LIFE TO BE UNDERSTOOD. IT IS VERY UNFAIR TO US WHEN WRITERS USE OBSERVATION OVER OUR EXPERIENCE TO FALSLY EXPLAIN OUR CULTURE. I FEEL IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SOMETHING YOU SHOULD NOT GUESS AN EXPLANATION.
Rating: Summary: adequate detail, given the authors cultural biases Review: Isabel Fonseca does a fairly adequate job of chronicling the lives of some roma in the former Eastern Block. However, she also makes a few blanket generalizations which are not fair, about a culture which has been struggling to fight such 'stereotyping', and other forms of ignorance for over 1000 years. her prose is good, easy read.
Rating: Summary: One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read Review: I can't think of another non-fiction book that was worth staying up really late on a work night to finish reading -- but Bury Me Standing certainly earned that honor. Isabel Fonseca knows how to tell a gripping story that is full of sights and sounds and smells, making it read like a novel. She doesn't pull back on the realities of life as a "Roma" -- not a whiff of romanticism here, yet the book will make you feel for a people you may never even meet. The scholarship is deftly woven in with stories about real people that reflects the author's own rich experiences while researching the book. Much of the book takes place in this decade, too, making the plight of Europe's largest minority all the more timely a topic. You'll find out what the title means at the very end -- and it was well worth the wait
Rating: Summary: Eye-widening insights on every page Review: Having seen this book on someone's list somewhere, I bought it on impulse, mostly because I knew next to nothing about Gypsies, their history or their culture. All I had to start with were a few folktales from a collection I read a long time ago, and a vague recollection of having once read something in a book about the Holocaust.In many ways, this book is astonishing; not because it shocks (when it does do so, it is when pointing out the repeated persecution of Gypsies since their exodus from India), but because it provides insights into a culture perceived by outsiders as mysterious and secretive. For instance, I did not know before reading this book that Gypsies have a rich oral tradition, or why they have always had trouble staying settled in any one place, or how they regard their past, or what their hopes are for the future. The jacket blurb describes them as "the least understood people on earth," and Fonseca both illustrates how this misunderstanding is expressed, and enlightens us with as much of an insider's view as any gadje is ever likely to get
Rating: Summary: Exemplary Review: Beyond informative, it's the journey. _Bury Me Standing_ could easily be a text (on until now, a subject with limited information), yet reads like a better novel. Most knowledgeable, Fonseca has keen situation awareness. It's one of the best studies I've read on any topic. She doesn't waste words and writes exceptionally well. Such a priviledged insight, and Fonseca takes us there without our concern to lice. Shallow are those that don't develop a great deal of admiration for this extraordinary individual after reading this exemplary examination
Rating: Summary: A non-fiction book with all the drawing power of a novel. Review: I knew little about Gypsies (Roma) when I picked this up and now feel privileged to have shared this glimpse of their
culture. I did not know about their history as slaves, knew
little about them as targets of racial purification, and was not aware there is a modern "Gypsy Pride" movement. As a Newfoundlander, I was particularly struck by some similarities
to my province's culture (the "bucket full of crabs" analogy).
This is a scholarly research work of impressive dimensions,
written in a style that should keep anyone reading.
Rating: Summary: I haven't read it yet, but she is gorgeous... Review: After seeing Isabel Fonseca on CNN, I 'm sure that this is a great book.
She is beautiful, smart, brilliant and sensual. I fell in love immediately.I wish
I were a gipsy to be touch and describe by her! Dou you think I need read this book after seeing her ?
Rating: Summary: Sladerous book Review: Reading this book I had a sensation that can be well described by the words of the author when she stumbled on a pair of bare-assed middle-aged man in Warsaw. "I leapt back, stupidly gasping eek like I'd come upon a large rat".
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