How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents

Rating:
Summary: Nice Read, Interesting Format
Review: I was recommended this book after I read "The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing." I liked the beginning and I found it interesting how the author switched the plot so the beginning started at the end and worked its way back to when the girls were still in the Dominican. This technique reminded me of the movie called "Momento." However, this technique did not work with the book, because after the climax I felt like I had to slog through the rest of the material to get to the abrupt ending. I liked the author's use of imagery in her prose, because I could imagine myself being in the Dominican with the family. I also liked the well developed characters, although I do not have a particular favourite. Some of the stories are quite cute and others are more serious. This is a very interesting author, because she's willing to experiment and take chances and for that I applaud her courage and I am eager to see her develop into great author.

Rating:
Summary: How the Garcia Girls Affected Me
Review: I read How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents for a college course covering
Latinos and Latinas literature in the United States. Through the semester I read
many different books written by Latinos and Latinas. Alvarez's novel was the last
one read but it was extraordinary.
The novel is a story about four sisters and their lives in the Dominican
Republic and the United States. The women's lives are shared through their
memories from childhood and adulthood. The novel is unique in that it is told from
the present and regresses to their childhood.
The book begins with Yolanda, the third daughter, arriving in the
Dominican Republic from the United States. The stories then move back into their
childhood to the family's fateful move to the United States. The stories are very
compelling that lead the reader to this point. They give insight into the Garcia
daughters personalities and family life. Carla, the oldest daughter, is a psychologist
that is always giving advice and analyzing the family. Sandra was the beautiful
daughter that has an eating disorder. Yolanda, the writer, was the third. Sofia, the
baby, was the wild one that had the first son in a few generations.
The stories not only reveal their personalities, they also show the reader what
their journey into adulthood was like. Their journey was a difficult one. The girls
were growing up in the United States by conservative parents. They were expected
to live by Old world rules of their parents. The girls of course all rebelled in their
own way. These stories make up a wonderful book that keeps the reader enjoying it
all the way to the end.

Rating:
Summary: The girls constantly in search of the right accent
Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, written by Julia Alvarez, was overall a very interesting book, and was very enjoyable. This story is about 4 sisters who are forced to flee their home country, the Dominican Republic, and move to New York. The story goes through the lives of the girls. The thing that makes these girls story seem very unique, aside from the fact that their family had to flee a country in order to escape a tyrannical dictator (Rafael Trujillo) who was after their father, is the fact that Alvarez tells us the entire story in reverse. The story talks about how these four girls become Americanized after being brought up with Dominican ideals, in which the women for the most part play an inferior role in society, and where people are afraid to voice their opinions for fear of being murdered by the government. The conflicts between the old way of life and the new American way of life make for a very interesting story. It's also interesting to see how much simply living in a different country can change what kind of person people end up being.
Alvarez does a very good job of telling these girls story. Despite the fact that we know where the family will end up due to the order of the book (end to beginning) the book still does an excellent job of holding the readers attention. This order however could also be considered the books downfall, because in the same way that it keeps the readers attention throughout the book, it also ruins the climax of the book due to the fact that the reader already knows where it is going. Despite this, the climax is still exciting, and fun to read. Aside from a somewhat dragging end to this book, it was a pleasure to read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Hispanic, especially Caribbean because it offers a different point of view than most modern Latino novels. This book offers a look at not only the lower class Hispanics, but it also shows the reader the life of the upper class Hispanics. Even if this is not something that exactly sounds interesting to you as reader, I would still suggest this book, because it is very interesting and fun reading.

Rating:
Summary: Great for those interested in autobiographies
Review: I was given this book to read for my master's project to write my memoir. This gave me great insight on format and structure. It was entertaining and also a learning experience to see it from the Garcia girls point of view.

Rating:
Summary: One-sided
Review: This story starts with some brilliant dialogue and sensative treatment of the early years, viz.,a longing to be accepted in their new country (aided, but not as much as they had hoped, by their European features).
Initally I thought her treatment of Haitians was cold, showing them as a people locked in santeria and a willingness to do nothing but be 20th century slaves. Then I considered how locked forever the author was in her own Master/Slave attitudes (see Gilberto Freire) I accepted that. Also, after Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier, who did nothing to advance the Island's economic development, how could I really fault The Dominican Republic. DR has its own legacy of racial abiguity and overall desire to fit in. Who knows, the next Nobel Prize winner in Physics may come from Hispanola! And if she does, I would she would have something nice to say about her grandmother in the kitchen.

Rating:
Summary: How DID The Garcia Girls Lose Their Accents?
Review: Disappointment is the last thing that comes to mind when reading How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. This is an excellent novel that writes of four sisters who are ripped from their wealthy upbringing in the Dominican Republic. In 1960, Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia are dropped in the middle of New York City (helpless of their parents' decision) only to discover that their lives were going to take a 180 degree turn in the wrong direction. The author writes in a unique style taking the reader from older to younger rather than from youth to adulthood. Their drastic changes in life are written from when 39-year-old Yolanda has moved back to the island continuing back to the days of their youth before the Garcias move to New York. Growing up in America during the '60s and '70s the girls distance themselves from their old, drab island life and try their best to fit in until they are officially Americanized. Although the girls' strict, old-fashioned parents do not approve of some American traditions, they grow to be bold women - sometimes going against their parents' rules.

This book is recommended because no matter what the age of the reader, anyone can relate to something the girls experience, or if not something that happened to the girls, something the parents went through or the cousins, or the aunts and uncles. The author brings it all close to home by expressing how Fifi (Sofia) felt under peer pressure, and how Yoyo (Yolanda) felt in elementary school when she was teased by the boys. The parents experienced the rebellion of the girls and the highs and lows of raising teenage daughters in America. Also, the author explores the other side, like the torture of always having to watch your back because of communists. The author's story is so personal that the Garcias feel like they are a part of the reader's family.

One argument to my recommendation is that it can get a little puzzling sometimes because the Garcia family is so large. The story gets a little off track by explaining which cousin does what and which niece belongs to which uncle and so forth. To understand the book during these points, read it very carefully and almost listen to yourself as you follow the words. That can get a bit agitating sometimes, but the plot is so intriguing that the reader will adapt to find out what happens next. This book was very impressive and really descriptive. It was interesting and I found it hard to put down. I look forward to reading the sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Who are the Garcia Girls?
Review: Look beyond the historic context of this novel and closely examine the Garcia girls. Each of the four sisters represents a facet of woman; Carla the rational, Yoyo the reader/poet, Sandi the beautiful, repressed artist, Fifi the sexy rebel. As each character retrogresses in this novel, from womanhood in the US back to childhood on the idyllic Island, readers re-discover the moments in every woman's life where we lose our "accents" or our "innocense". These sisters live in the context/shadow of a beautiful, old world traditional marriage of their parents and confront the new womanhood of the 60's, 70's and 80's in America, each in their own way. Julia Alzarez has written a captivating work and capsulizes the never-ending retrospect and analysis of woman, in an endearing sisterhood setting.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful book for adults or teens
Review: This book will appeal to people of all ages. While some of the men in my book club didn't find the subject matter interesting, I think most women will enjoy the book. It tells stories of their childhood in the Carribbean, and then growing up to adulthood in the U.S. Readers of Amy Tan will enjoy this book, with similar themes but with a Hispanic touch.

Thoroughly enjoyable, I did not have to struggle through any part of the book. It is also an easy and quick read.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Characters
Review: This novel has become one of my favorites. Not because of the outstanding story line, because it is interesting - especially the use of reverse chronology and the contrasting settings, but mostly because of the wonderful characters.

Each character in this novel has a personality of their own and you grow attached to them as you follow them through their hardships and joys.

Overall - I would strongly recommend this novel for anyone looking for an engrossing and beautifully written work. Julia Alvarez is simply brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: Lost Accents...Found Selves
Review: This book is a completely readable amazing exploration of a family, it's journey to the USA, and its impact on all (especially one) of the daughters. I read this book on the heels of a book in which the author knew everything about why the characters did what they did but didn't bother to explain to the readers. This book completely made up for that by completely recounting the events. It starts at the present and makes a trek back in time stopping at high and low points in the Garcia Girls' lives. Eventhough I have lived in the USA all my life and am not of Hispanic origin, I completely identified with the Garcia Girls' experience. This book was a joy to read and one that I will quote from for a long long time.