Rating: 
Summary: Why did she start writing so late in life?
Review: Harriet Doerr cheated herself and her readers by not devoting herself to the craft of writing much earlier in her life. She's best known for Stones for Ibarra, but I think Tiger in the Grass is her real masterpiece, and Consider This, Senora comes in second. However, all 3 of her books are excellent and demonstrate a respect for the craft of writing the perfect sentence that readers will appreciate and writers can all learn from.
Consider This, Senora is a collection of chapters focused around a small town in central Mexico where several expatriates come to live on a mesa above the dirt-poor town. It's written so carefully that each chapter can actually stand alone as a complete tale, but taken together they form a history of 6 years of life in both the village and on the mesa. We grow to care about them all: the padre, the mayor, the beggars, the income tax cheat, the man-chaser, the widow, the pianist, the beautiful 14yo serving girl, all of them.
Luminous and insightful, filled with beautiful language and the perfect turn of each phrase, Consider This, Senora, is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: I don't think this story is as exquisitely constructed as Doerr's 'Stones for Ibarra.' (In 'Stones for Ibarra,' Doerr wove a series of short stories into a rich tapestry of a novel; 'Consider This Senora' has a more traditional structure.) However, she still does a wonderful job describing rural Mexican culture from an American outsider's point of view. The language she uses is clear and concise, and at the same time full of beautiful descriptions that reflect her understanding of her characters and of the human experience in general. Doerr's prose often reads almost like poetry. This book will leave you with many beautiful images of rural Mexico.
Rating:
Summary: a gorgeous reading experience
Review: I first read CONSIDER THIS, SENORA many years ago. I have since re-read it several times, and have given it as a gift many times to fellow book lovers. This story is so beatifully written in its vivid characters and the colorful landscape of rural Mexico. Ms. Doerr has assembled a small cast of players, with very different backgrounds and motivations, and dropped them on a mesa to live out their hopes and perhaps their dreams. As she lived in Mexico for many years with her husband, who was a diplomat, Ms. Doerr paints the novel with very detailed descriptions of the smallest things like the colors of flowers. You almost can smell and see the blooms in your mind's eye. One of the most poignant scenes is that of someone playing a piano and it sounds echoing softly across the mesa in the midst of a rainstorm. The imagery is dreamlike and quite peaceful. Ms. Doerr didn't start writing in earnest until she had returned to college to earn her history degree when she was in her 70s. She has since written a collection of short stories, TIGER IN THE GRASS. She has a talent that has indeed been overlooked by millions of readers everywhere. Hopefully with time she will be recognized for her immense gift of storytelling! Superb reading. Pass it along to a good friend sometime....
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorite Reading Experiences
Review: I read this book before reading "Stones for Ibarra" & actually thought it the better of the two. The concise writing is beautiful in its simplicity & I came to love & care for all the characters. I read "Consider This, Senora" about 10 years ago & still think of these people and their stories fondly.
Rating: 
Summary: Apparently I missed something...
Review: I really hate to ruin the perfect 5 star average rating this book had before my review, especially since I imagine that Harriet Doerr is a very sweet, kind-hearted soul. But I have to be honest, I was not too impressed with this novel.
THe descriptions of Mexico are very pleasant to read; you can really feel the arid landscape, the warm sun. But the plot as a whole was a little too relaxing... it was hard to make it through a chapter without taking a siesta. I suppose I expect a little more conflict or tension in a novel, or at least some unanswered questions... something to keep me alert and awake. Consider This, Senora has no discernible tension of any kind... all of the central characters are amiable and well-intentioned, and they are much too affluent to bother with even the day-to-day hassles of making a living. As a reader, I didn't begrudge them their easy lives (they seemed like pleasant enough folks) but I also didn't relate to them or care, particularly, what happened to them.
This book has a strangely old-fashioned feeling to it. THe writing is very formal (a little stilted, in my opinion) and the dialogue is untainted by slang or profanity. There are a couple of delicate hints at sexual activity among the characters, but these are mentioned only in the most discreet manner. I kind of felt like I was reading a nineteenth century novel --except that those generally contained some element of scandal and excitement in their plots, while this has none. In sum, this is a pleasant book, but so dainty and reserved that it seems to have been written for an audience of grandmothers. I won't recommend it to my grandma, though-- she'd prefer something juicier, I know.
Rating:
Summary: Almost as Good as "Stones"
Review: I understand why some readers would be frustrated with this book's story line. I think this book is best suited for the writing connoisseur who has the time to savor the artistry of each sentence and why the writer wrote it the way she did. If you have the time, patience, and inclination to read it that way, it will blow your mind. If you want to breeze through a book for the sake of experiencing some kind of adventure, which is a perfectly good reason for reading a book, I don't think you'll be satisfied. Some music can only be appreciated when you listen to it very carefully. This book doesn't do well in the background. But listen carefully, and I think you'll be amazed.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: There is only one word I can think of to describe this magnificent book- Beautiful! It has been years since I last read this masterpiece, yet I still tear up just thinking about its story, and great characters. This story is highly overlooked, yet is in my opinion, one of the greatest books I have ever read. BEAUTIFUL!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: There is only one word I can think of to describe this magnificent book- Beautiful! It has been years since I last read this masterpiece, yet I still tear up just thinking about its story, and great characters. This story is highly overlooked, yet is in my opinion, one of the greatest books I have ever read. BEAUTIFUL!
Rating:
Summary: An Unassuming Masterpiece
Review: This book gave me a wonderful glimpse into the souls of the characters and into the soulful character of an ordinary Mexico village. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorite Reading Experiences
Review: This is not quite Stones for Ibarra, but perhaps that is only because Stones came first. We are back in rural Mexico, its people bemused and amused by the strangers among them, its roads of detours and dead ends, its dust, its sudden beauty. Five expatriates come to Amapolas, their lives interwoven over five or six years, loosely connected like the chapters of the novel, each of which could stand -- and some of which were published as -- a short story. Bud Loomis is the most surprising, Ursula Bowles, the widow who has come back to Mexico more than sixty years after her childhood, is the most perceptive. Then, one by one, changed, renewed or returned by these years, the foreigners leave Amapolas and their homes on the plain. They thought they would stay forever, instead they forever take Amapolas with them. I only wish Harriet Doerr had begun publishing long before her seventies, for these two novels are gems worth discovering.
|
