In the Time of the Butterflies

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Summary: Alavrez's Art
Review: In her second novel, Julia Alvarez uses a technique not unlike Audre Lorde's biomythography. Alvarez bases In the Time of the Butterflies on a story she heard as a child about the Mirabal sisters. Herself a refugee from the Dominican Republic, Alvarez is fascinated by the legend of these sisters, who banded together against the repressive dictatorship of Trujillo. What makes this novel unique is Alvarez's manipulation of the narrative. Rather than following the sisters' lives from a third-person perspective, she explores their collective experiences from their own viewpoints, providing the reader with an inside-look into their minds and feelings. Alvarez's ability to create four unique voices is remarkable. Each sisters' voice becomes so much her own that the reader no longer has to reference the chapter headings to ascertain who is speaking. Rather, the use of language tells the reader whose voice we are listening to. The story of the Mirabel sisters is fascinating enough that probably a B-grade novelist could formulate it into an interesting novel. Alvarez, however, proves that she is more than a B-grade novelist in her use of tone and language. In the beginning, it is difficult to put this book down because it is suspenseful. From the onset, the reader knows that only one sister survives Trujillo. The plot unravels reverse chronologically, and then shifts forward again, such that at times it feels more like a murder mystery than an exploration of the lives of four remarkable women in a period of revolution. In the end, however, what makes this book so remarkable is that Alvarez is able to hook the reader without having to rely on the initial cliff-hanger opening. The Mirabal sisters come alive, and are so honest in their understanding of the world around them--however chaotic it may be--that the reader comes to love them all. To say that this is merely an historical novel about four revolutionaries is to ignore the fact that this is, in fact, a family history, a biomythography, a literary work that encompasses all of the larger questions about God and love and family and self. I would argue that the greatest works of literature are often those that defy categorization, and Alvarez's work certainly does. Unlike her somewhat formulaic How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies is a work of art as much as it is a story.Alvarez captures the spirits of four women, their nation, and their history. Perhaps the only disappointment here is that Alvarez can't tell us more about the real Mirabal sisters. However, she stirs in readers an interest in the subject. Alvarez's gift for objectivity also propels the story. Certainly, the sisters have their differences. One refuses to partake in their revolutionary activities because her dominating husband forbids her to do so. Yet the reader does not condemn any one of the sisters for their viewpoints. Likewise, in the end, Alvarez shows us how sisterhood interlocks women in ways we cannot slow or prevent. The sister who resists revolution grows old as the caretaker of her sisters' visions and of her sisters' children, the most literal legacy possible. While she initially does not welcome the responsibilities thrust upon her, she comes to love her role as a teacher and surrogate mother. Her recognition that she is not to blame for her sister's deaths, that her role was to survive, is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. Only after years of guilt and shame does she see that the meaning of her life has run parallell to that of her dead family, that she is still--and always will be--a part of their circle. That moment, more so than the fall of Trujillo or the recognition of the Mirabal sisters as national heroines, is the crux and climax of the story, the overwhelming truth that each of us has a place where we belong. With In the Time of the Butterflies, Alvarez establishes herself as a gifted novelist. While her work may not yet be comporable to that of other Latin American writers (Allende, Garcia-Marquez, Eco), In the Time of the Butterflies stirs in the reader a sense of hope, loss, and ressurrection. It is a story about humanity and sisterhood, a feminist reawakening, a cultural recreation, a revolution. Few writers could address as many questions with the same grace and honesty as Alvarez.

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Summary: A thrilling story of a wonderful family.
Review: This was the second book that I had read by Julia Alvarez. The way that ahe writes brings you right into a family that otherwise you would have never known. The family faces many different tragedies and triumphs. They are courageous when they are faced with their different problems. They seem to have no fear in facing a government that could easily kill the all off. The whole story will keep you spell bound through out your reading. This is the best book that you will read in a long time. This book will amke you think, wonder, and be thankful for the freedom that you have

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Summary: engaging, touching, yet melodramatic
Review: In this novel, Julia Alvarez weaves a magical and wonderful tale through which she is able to explore and comprehend her own past. The presence of the author is continually felt through the novel with returns to the present time--1994-- every so often. It is not difficult to understand that Ms. Alvarez needed to recreate a part of her life that is lost for herself as well as her Western readers. The world that Ms. Alvarez creates is one that easily seen within my sights. This is a considerably amazing feat since I have never been farther south than Texas! Perhaps more building on the skeleton details given by Ms. Alvarez, I have visited the setting of this novel in my mind. But what lives, and quite eloquently, are the characters created in this novel. After having finished the book, I feel that I can predict the sisters--what they would do, what they would say, what they might feel. This, for me, is the sign of a good novel. The characters have taken on lives of their own (ironically, since the actual people preempted the novel) and allowed me to visit their world. In The Time of Butterflies is not without criticism though. Ms. Alvarez wants the reader to truly feel the pain and suffering of her homeland. However, rather than through any details of revolution or triumph of the human spirit, her characters become the gods Ms. Alvarez tried so earnestly to avoid. Too often the reader is bombarded with melodramatic sentiments from the main characters. Though they may not have been out of character for the Mirabel sisters, this angle is not as strong as another one may have been. What is lacking is something to carry this novel further-- beyond the tears so easily evoked through deaths and torture. There is not too much to take home after having visited the couragous and fantastical world of the Mirabel sisters

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Summary: Can't put down
Review: I could not put this book down. It is supposed to be fiction, based on the life of the Mirabal sisters but this book was more of a look into the history of Republica Domincana. I have a much greater understanding of the culture and it has helped me in my work with clients who are originally from Republica Domincana. Once I began reading I shut out the outside world until I was done

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Summary: Four sisters, a dictator, and death.
Review: The Mirababal sisters capture your attention immediatelywith their naivety. This is a true story which has beenfictionalized by the author. It takes place in the Dominican Republic under the dictator Trujillo. The sisters are not political dissedents but find themselves slowly awakening to the reality of their country. They each tell their own stories with voices which portray the horror of prisons and yet have the simple day to day experiences mingled in. Each sister is uniquely different, each wants and needs her story to be heard, and yet they speak together. This story will haunt you.

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Summary: My favorite book...
Review: This has to be one of my favorite books, if not my overall favorite. I am a huge Alvarez fan, and have read most of her works. I found this book in particular to be truly inspirational. It made me want to go out there and become a revolutionary! But while we all may not go to that extreme, it will at least make you want to appreciate each day to it's fullest, and it's a good history lesson at that.

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Summary: Reflection into the past
Review: I am the editor for the Hispanic Culture Forum on BellaOnline.com. I began a reading club and came upon this book in my reviewing literature for my readers. I wanted to applaud the power and detail the words in this book used. It was as though being transported to that time in history and walking in the footsteps of the Butterflies. It was compelling in the manner that you do not take your everyday freedoms for granted after reading of the struggles that are sometimes waged and vested losses by those who would go nameless if not for the recording of their names into moving literature such as In the Time of Butterflies. I am recommending this book to my readers as one of the first books to read.

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Summary: In The Time Of The Butterflies
Review: My introduction to Julia Alvarez's work was her brilliant, humorous and poignant book, "How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents." "In the Time of the Butterflies" is just as compelling and gives new insight into 1950s and 1960s politics and oppression in the Dominican Republic.

Alvarez's novel is based on the life stories of four sisters--Dede, Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva. Three of these sisters were nicknamed "Las Mariposas" (Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva). They were central in the uprising against the corrupt and oppressive dictatorship of President Trujillo. The beautiful, dynamic and resilient women endured imprisonment and torture in exchange for their tireless efforts to take a stand against the tapping of wires, supression of expression amongst citizens of the Dominican Republic and general scare tactics enforced by a political regime. These women ended up being killed at the hands of Trujillo's henchmen. Dede, the one sister who didn't get involved in political movements as heavily as her siblings, is the subject of many interviews and much interest expressed by visitors and fellow countrymen and women, alive after the assassination of President Trujillo.

What sets "In the Time of Butterflies" apart from other novels about social and political movements and the great people who participated in them is Julia Alvarez's sensitive, warm and touching style of interweaving the stories of the four women. Alvarez is actually a product of a Dominican family, herself, that escaped the Trujillo regime when the immigrated to the United States. Her father was actively involved in the coup to remove the violent, arrogant and lecherous Trujillo from power. Ms. Alvarez's personal knowledge of the fear and turmoil experienced by Dominican people at the hands of their oppressive government added to the believablity of this fictionalized account of three beautiful women we all ought to know more about.

Please read this book! I believe all high schools should add this to their reading list. We all should have some exposure to Latin American literature--the earlier in life, the better.

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Summary: Excellent story told in an okay way
Review: This book held my attention, but I never really came to love it or the women characters. Here are some of the reasons I was not completely drawn in:

As I read this book, I wondered why the author had told me in the first chapter what would happen to the "girls." Maybe she just figured everyone already knew because this was history, so it wouldn't matter. But it did remove any possible suspense, even about how the end came.

The "girls'" voices were somewhat the same and their reactions to various situations too stock for each of them.

The book was over for me once the "girls" were grown up and became rebels.

I never really believed that they had a huge role in the underground. Except for Minerva, they all seemed too naive.

Nevertheless, I do recommend this book because I learned from it about a time and place that I had known nothing about except the name "Trujillo."





Rating:
Summary: Alvarez when she is best
Review: Julia Alvarez is always magnificent, but this book tops them all.

This is a fasciniting account of the lives of the Mirabal sisters who had the courage to stand up to the dictator. The account is historically correct and serves a purposes as both a history lessons, but also as an captivating account of immense belief, injustice, love and cruelty.

The book is recommendable for everyone and it doesnt matter if you have a connection to the Dominican Republic and its history already. You will surely have one after reading the book.
For those familiar with the Dominican Republic it is likely to help explain and put in perspective parts of the culture as it is today.