The Faraway World
By Patricia Engel
200 pages
What’s it about?
These ten stories are set in New York, Columbia, and Cuba. In the first story we meet a 16-year-old twin whose sister has been abducted, in another story we meet a Columbian mail order bride, and in another a victim of domestic abuse meets a kidnapping victim and they bond. The one thing the stories all seem to have in common is each main character seems to be longing to be in a different “world”.What did it make me think about?
These stories all had a kind of mundane despair throughout- and yet I enjoyed this book…. Not sure what to make of that.Should I read it?
I think Patricia Engel is a literary star! If you have not read Infinite Country then you should remedy that. Although this book of short stories was really different than her last novel they are both worth your time. Be aware- although a few stories take place in New York- this is not a book about immigration. This is a book about looking towards, or back, to home. Don’t miss it.Quote-
“The first years in New York, he thought, just like we all do when we arrive, that he would eventually go back once he had something saved, but now he’s been here long enough to know there is no returning- once you cross that ocean and those borders, they cross over you.”What’s it about?
These ten stories are set in New York, Columbia, and Cuba. In the first story we meet a 16-year-old twin whose sister has been abducted, in another story we meet a Columbian mail order bride, and in another a victim of domestic abuse meets a kidnapping victim and they bond. The one thing the stories all seem to have in common is each main character seems to be longing to be in a different “world”.
What did it make me think about?
These stories all had a kind of mundane despair throughout- and yet I enjoyed this book…. Not sure what to make of that.
Should I read it?
I think Patricia Engel is a literary star! If you have not read Infinite Country then you should remedy that. Although this book of short stories was really different than her last novel they are both worth your time. Be aware- although a few stories take place in New York- this is not a book about immigration. This is a book about looking towards, or back, to home. Don’t miss it.
Quote-
“The first years in New York, he thought, just like we all do when we arrive, that he would eventually go back once he had something saved, but now he’s been here long enough to know there is no returning- once you cross that ocean and those borders, they cross over you.”
