Stephanie Jane reviewed Doña Barbara by Rómulo Gallegos
Couldn't get into this one
2 stars
I received a copy of Dona Barbara as a free ebook download from the University of Chicago Press. A classic in Venezuela where the book is set and written by a former president there, the novel of cowboy life on the Plains looked like it should be an interesting read. Unfortunately I often found myself struggling to keep ploughing through the book. I like Latin American fiction generally, but I couldn't get into this one. Descriptions of the landscape are nicely done and occasional scenes caught my attention which is why I did keep reading to the end. However, I thought the majority of the characters were two-dimensional and unrealistic. Perhaps a lot has been lost in the translation from the original Spanish because readers in that language seem to rave about Dona Barbara. Personally I was disappointed.
I received a copy of Dona Barbara as a free ebook download from the University of Chicago Press. A classic in Venezuela where the book is set and written by a former president there, the novel of cowboy life on the Plains looked like it should be an interesting read. Unfortunately I often found myself struggling to keep ploughing through the book. I like Latin American fiction generally, but I couldn't get into this one. Descriptions of the landscape are nicely done and occasional scenes caught my attention which is why I did keep reading to the end. However, I thought the majority of the characters were two-dimensional and unrealistic. Perhaps a lot has been lost in the translation from the original Spanish because readers in that language seem to rave about Dona Barbara. Personally I was disappointed.