Vida

Wow 1.99 Kindle special download today I own this little square paperback It s under two hundred pages and there are 9 short stories I read this last summer after meeting the author I was out of town when I read it and forgot to write a review This is Patricia Engel s debut book She also wrote the novel The Veins of The Ocean which I also enjoyed In Vida , the stories center around Sabina, the daughter of Colombian immigrants The stories deal with ethnic identity, family, friends, and people in [...]

I finished this book in one day, not because I had to for class, but because I couldn t stop reading it There is something so powerful about this girl She s snarky, she s depressed, she s desperate, she s faithful, she s impressionable She s every girl that s ever lived She makes terrible choices and deals with them the way most people do she makes the same choice again.Someone in my class said it was depressing I call it human I call it the voice of a generation that s lost and at the mercy of [...]

Lo familiar y lo extra oCuando la tem tica de un libro est atravesada por cierta relevancia contextual, ya sea el testimonio de la segunda gran guerra o la problem tica de la identidad migrante en norteam rica, existe el riesgo de contaminar la lectura con el exotismo, con el af n de juzgar la calidad literaria en aras de la denuncia o la importancia pol tica del relato.As , ese spanglish del que se envanecen ciertas obras contempor neas o la deliberada calificaci n de algunos libros como el esp [...]

I was pretty hopeful when i picked this up, but the reviews are overly generous i find little that can be called edgy in this collection narrative many bad things happen to people surrounding sabina, but not to her diretly and there s no recognition of this, and so these events feel like a construct engel skims the surface here, which can be slightly interesting but ultimately leaves me disappointed to talk about one s sexual wanderings, openly admit disgust and lack of empathy for her sick frie [...]

This was pretty good I will definitely recommend to my homies The author has a very simple writing style but it s effective This kind of read like YA fiction to me sometimes, but it s cool.It s short, so bonus points for that I kind of wish I had picked this for my ladies book club, because we would have had a lot of fun discussing it maybe I will pick one of her other novels I think it s funny how sometimes I like to read books that put me into an entirely different world, but it s also good to [...]

This is a book I got out of the library because it sounded intriguing and then I sort of dipped into it in the middle because I was running out of time to read it and kind of hoped it wouldn t really catch me But it did It caught me and I ended up reading the whole thing It s a collection of short stories that I guess are connected, but each stands alone and in fact I read them out of order and it didn t affect my enjoyment There s a lovely balance of humor and pathos It also read as autobiograp [...]

Heart breakingly beautiful, this debut novel by Patricia Engel avoids all the cliches while exploring the struggles and crises of the coming of age experience of a first gen Colombian American woman.

I loved this book Big thanks to the woman working in Malaprops another wonderful book store in Asheville NC who had just finished it and gave it to us as we were checking out, saying we had to read it Later I kept seeing it in different best books of the year lists yet still didn t get around to reading it despite its relatively short length.Now having finished it, all I can say is WOW, why did I wait so long It s definitely one of the best I ve read or will read this year It reminds me of Kitch [...]

An amazingly powerful book, easy to read because of Engel s terrific, gripping prose While I didn t want it to end, the brevity is spot on This isn t so much a novel as a series of short stories about the same character I can see the comparisons to Diaz, and his presence in her writing is unmistakable, but to call her a copycat or a rip off is narrow sighted and dismissive Sabina is no Yunior Engel s writing, while fresh and snappy like Diaz s and Latin American focused, sort of stops with the s [...]

An entertaining book based around coming of age and cultural identity While technically a series of short stories, the book focuses on one girl, Sabina, and the number of people who shape her as she grows up The fact that these stories are not told chronologically, and that the style of writing changes through each chapter, only works to add charm to the book and gives depth to the character of the girl.

This year is the first time I ve really given short stories a chance While this isn t my favorite collection, the author, Patricia Engel, writes beautifully Sabina, who is the protagonist for all of the stories, is a real girl She doesn t bulls t, which is probably what I liked most about her As someone else commented these stories are all example of how things work out in this life Overall a great purchase and read.Favorites from the book VidaPalomaRefugeGreen

My biggest complaint about this book too quick of a read Otherwise, I truly enjoyed reading the interrelated short stories about our heroine, written fluidly and seamlessly I loved the layout that had the character all over the map literally and figuratively , and I was certainly affected reading the powerful stories that snagged my emotional commitment to them right from the start.

I loved this book I can t remember the last time I read such an honest, unpretentious coming of age story I really identified with the narrator and found so much of this book relatable to my immigrant upbringing I can t wait to read of Ms Engel s work.

The reoccurring character in Vida, Sabina, is a Colombian American girl whose coming of age story is somewhat strung together in nine chapters that revolve around her relationships with men and relationship to her parents The epigraph is a line from Grenier s Islands In each life, particularly at its dawn, there exists an instant which determines everything I think these words work well for the novel because so much of what we know about Sabina is in consequence of her relationships to others Th [...]

I thought Vida was a well put together collection of stories centering around the narrator Sabina I thought that Sabina was a real and fleshed out character that truly speaks to people s humanity I really enjoyed Desaliento and Vida Those two stories really spoke to me in regards to how people interact when Sabina thinks to herself that I m not that charitable Nothing in me said that I should help Vida Give her money from my savings so she could buy a plane back ticket home ,someone to help her [...]

Picked up this collection of short stories because Junot D az wrote the following review Gloriously gifted and alarmingly intelligent, Patricia Engel writes with an almost fable like intensity, whether she is describing suburban New Jersey or urban Colombia or some other lost place her ability to pierce the hearts of her crazy ass characters, to fracture a moment into its elementary particles of yearning, cruelty, love, and confusion will leave you breathless Here, friends, is the debut I have [...]

Smart girl with bad girl tendencies hanging out with bad boys making dumb boy mistakes, well it works for me She even offers a platonic peace offering for those of us who don t really belong in her circle, spending a day and a chapter with Dia.For now, I don t even want to know how much of this is plucked from the kitchen cabinet of memoir She serves up an enjoyable set of quick reads that feel baked fresh, yet have enough death as leavening to sort of sit above your stomach, somewhere closer to [...]

Sabina, de descendencia colombiana, nos narra su vida a trav s de varias historias cortas que componen la novela Sus comportamientos durante el libro me hicieron sentir inc moda, especialmente cuando ella sinti que ten a la libertad de tomar sus propias decisiones, pero al mismo tiempo era lo que me cautivaba para seguir leyendo Me hizo sentir muchos sentimientos a la vez debido a la forma en que la protagonista narraba sus historias Vida es un libro espectacular No s lo es entretenido y est muy [...]

This is a book that really is a series of short stories that revolve around one character, Sabina Through her eyes we see the life of a first generation Colombian This book seems to frequently revolve around loss Her writing is so much about the beautiful imperfect characters that float in and out of this young woman s life that the reader falls for every one of them Her sensitivity is manifest in her writing.

Nice collection of stories I liked the ones where Sabina was younger than the others but they were all enjoyable One thing I felt was missing is an overall arc, especially since the stories were not in chronological order If there was a thread running throughout it was too subtle for me to pick up on The final story was heavier on theme bigger issues and I found it the most rewarding.

This quick read is a series of vignettes about a young girl woman of Colombian descent, some of the people and experiences that help shape her and her struggle to find her identity and voice when caught between worlds I like the writing, direct yet lyrical While I read it quickly, I suspect a careful or thoughtful reader could tease much out of this book than I did.

4.5 A complex young woman, her friends, lovers, Colombian immigrant family, and the shadow of lurking tragedy, sometimes distant, sometimes intimate I was reminded throughout of Junot D az, and in the acknowledgements she thanked him.

Short stories about love and relationships with men mostly So close in tone as to almost seem like a continuing story Well done and interesting.

I liked that this was a composition of short stories surrounding Sabina It was a very easy read for sure perhaps YA Interesting perspective of Latino, American, and female culture.

Quick read, very lit y.

Reviewed by SandraLivin la vida LatinaReview Patricia Engel s debut book was wonderful Her main character, Sabina, was smart, witty, and real she often referred to herself as a late bloomer These are stories of a girl s coming of age from childhood to adulthood although not necessarily in that order that trek through the hurdles revolving her family, friends, neighbors, and her ethnic identity Living in a community shunned by blancos makes life a little lonely for Sabina in Lucho In Refuge, Sabi [...]

Since my words are not nearly as eloquent as these, I ll quote from a review on the back of the book, Her ability to pierce the hearts of her crazy ass characters, to fracture a moment into its elementary particles of yearning, cruelty, love and confusion will leave you breathless Truth.I have only read a few books that would be characterized as not short stories, but rather, vignettes snapshots into very specific moments in the character s life And I love the genre Love it Not all life stories [...]

At a friend s recommendation I got a copy of Vida from my local library I finished half of these in a 45 minute sitting and the rest in brief stints over the next 2 days I was quite impressed with her style and the approach of having a novel of short stories featuring the same character at different points in her young life It seemed to go in chronological order and then it didn t The character seemed to sort of have it together and then she didn t But then she did But then she didn t But then s [...]

Really great book on the topic of the Colombian immigrant experience You can t help but wonder what would happen if you made a different choice when you came to that fork in the road This book thinks about that shadow life those what would have beens if you d made other choices.There are so many what ifs in this book What if they d stayed in Colombia What if she had snuck out with Lucho that night What if she hadn t trusted her hairstylist to get her on the pageant circuit What if she hadn t cal [...]

I am just beginning to delve into the short story genre and I have much to learn Is a short story simply a book that starts near the end Must the stories in the collection have certain similarities or a unifying theme Does one judge the parts or the whole My wife loved these stories but I felt left out like I missed something I was impressed with the writing and the merging of cultures It did give me something other than boxing to discuss with my Panamanian friend He did appreciate Sabina s reto [...]