Reviews

Bittere tijden by Mario Vargas Llosa

eshj's review

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3.0

Dit boek en ik vormden geen gelukkig huwelijk.. Ik had meer roman verwacht na het lezen van de achterflap denk ik. In het boek staan veel feiten en jaartallen en personages met moeilijke namen die ik door elkaar haalde. Heb soms een paar pagina's moeten teruglezen. Het boek zit prachtig gedetailleerd in elkaar en de afwisseling tussen feit en "fictie" wisselt elkaar goed af. Het onderwerp is interessant en nodigt uit tot meer onderzoek.

jaysymone's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

A historical fictions that blends fact and fiction. A dense read and sometimes hard to keep track of all the notable figures but very fascinating. 

jan73af's review against another edition

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4.0

Need to read this again. Hard to follow unless one is familiar with events and persons involved.

diegovazquez's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

piocha's review against another edition

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informative tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

bdevil90's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

rachellorraine7's review against another edition

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dark informative tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Very hard to follow at first but once you get it, it’s hard to put down. It’s so interesting how the author takes real people and puts you inside their heads. It makes you feel for each of them, even ones who are objectively terrible people. I definitely feel like I understand that time in history so much better now. Not a huge fan of the ending, though, which knocked down the stars for me. 

abeanbg's review against another edition

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2.0

Vargas Llosa wanted to make a (widely-shared and uncontroversially correct) point about American blundering in Latin America, but this read more like an essay with some gestures towards the historical figures having interiority, rather than actual fiction.

Something about Vargas Llosa just doesn't click for me.

aafromwv's review against another edition

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4.0

Excellent. I had some idea of US meddling in central America on behalf of United Fruit but never Al realized how much.

rana_heshmati's review against another edition

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3.0

وضعیت عجیبیه. رمان جدید نویسنده محبوبم رو خوندم، ولی یک ماه طولش دادم. و الان هم که تموم شده، اگه بخوام بگم که درمورد چی بود، نمی تونم :)) خیلی کلی بخوام بگم، وضعیت آمریکای لاتین و گواتمالا به صورت اختصاصی.

همه چیز از یه موز شروع شد.
و کشوری که (گواتمالا) به خاطر منافع شرکت یونایتد فروت (که موز می‌فروخت) به فنا رفت. اصلاحات ارضی قرار بود انجام بشه و یونایتد فروت باید مالیات می‌داد و دیگه از بهره‌کشی خبری نبود. پس چیکار کرد؟ آمریکا رو علیه گواتمالا شوروند و گفت اینا کمونیستن (درحالی که خاکوبو آربنز خودش طرفدار دموکراسی و سرمایه‌داری آمریکایی بود و همه این کارا رو برای به آمریکا شبیه شدن انجام داده بود.) و آمریکا هم یه کودتا راه انداخت تا همه نظام رو تغییر بده و وضعیت به شلم شوربایی رو به عقب تبدیل شد.
اما داستان انگار یه برش از تاریخه و سرانجام خاصی نداره. خیلی سردرگم کننده ست. و پره از اطلاعات تاریخی پشت سر همی که بر گیجی شما می‌افزایند. ارتباط‌هایی با سوربز و تروخیو داره و یه کاری کرد دلم بخواد دوباره برم سراغ کتاب محبوبم.