Customer Reviews

Aura

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

En el libro Aura, el autor Carlos Fuentes hace una crítica de la época colonial, cuando los mexicanos no tenían la libertad. Fuentes publicó este libro en 1965. El cuento tiene lugar en México. Un hombre joven, Felipe Montero, ve un anuncio para un trabajo que parece ser para él y solamente él. Felipe va a una entrevista con la mujer vieja que está ofreciendo el trabajo. Él acepta el trabajo en la mansión colonial después de ver los ojos de la sobrina bonita de la mujer. Felipe trabaja en la mansión, y no tiene permiso para salir. Él nota muchas cosas raras, que incluyen una conexión extraña entre Aura, la sobrina, y su tía, la Sra. Llorente. Él quiere ayudar a Aura para que ella pueda escapar el control de su tía. Felipe también se siente una conexión con Aura. Una noche Felipe y Aura hacen el amor, pero Felipe ve a la Sra. Llorente en el cuarto después del acto. La Sra. y Aura parecen hacer las mismas acciones todo el tiempo. Durante su trabajo, Felipe ve una foto del Coronel Llorente, el esposo muerte de la Sra. Se da cuenta de que él mismo tiene una cara igual al Coronel. También se da cuenta de que la conexión entre Aura y la Sra. Llorente es más que el control. Él también se siente una conexión con las mujeres y la casa, y empieza de sentirse en casa.
Me gusta este libro. Carlos Fuentes usa elementos fantásticos y imágenes opuestas para criticar la época colonial y los apoyantes de esta época. Fuentes muestra que la época colonial no es real, que ya no existe. Unos ejemplos de estes elementos fantásticos son el nombre "Aura," que indica algo místico, la conexión entre Aura y Sra. Llorente, y las caras iguales de Felipe y el Coronel Llorente. Fuentes usa las imágenes opuestas para mostrar que las personas que apoyan el periodo colonial están viviendo en un mundo de sueños. Un ejemplo es la mansión colonial situada entre tiendas modernas. Otro ejemplo es el cuarto de Felipe. Recibe mucha luz, y al principio del cuento Felipe cree que todavía está conectado al mundo. Esto no es cierto, sin embargo; Felipe está atrapado en la casa. Finalmente, hay símbolos del cristianismo. Aura lava los pies de Felipe, los carácteres rompen y comen el pan, y hay una figura de Jesucristo en un cuarto. Sin embargo, el cristianismo no está verdaderamente presente, porque la magia es la influencia principal en la casa.
Creo que Sra. Llorente crea a Aura para preservarse para siempre. También crea a Felipe para preserver al Coronel Llorente. Ella sabía que la réplica de su esposo existe y este es la razón que el anuncio fue perfecto para atraer a Felipe. Sra. Llorente quiere vivir con el Coronel para siempre por medio de Aura y Felipe. Ella quiere quedarse en el mundo colonial. Fuentes critica las personas como la Sra. Llorente que no avanzan y no aprecian un México libre. Yo recomiendo este libro.

This review refers to the Bilingual Edition of "Aura" by Carlos Fuentes..

This was my first read of Carlos Fuentes, and I was very impressed. I am already adding others by Fuentes into my cart. "Aura" is a novella that will keep you involved from the first page to the last. The story, told as if you the reader are the main character,pulls you right into the emotions he is feeling, from the joy of a new job, to the love and lust towards a beautiful woman, to the fear of the unknown. As others have said, the style is akin to Poe. The words flow beautifully, the story is chilling.

Sr. Montero finds an ad for a chance at the job of a lifetime. The pay will keep him comfortable fo quite a while, and that at first is a big draw. He will be organizing and rewriting the journals and memoirs of a distinguished gentlemen for his very old widow. It must be done before she dies. The old woman is an fragile figure, over 100 years old. She insists he stay at the very dark and gloomy home during his employment.

Aura is the beautiful niece of the Senora, and Montero is immediately under her spell. He begins to notice strange and eerie events going on around him, but his love for Aura, overshadows it all. The Sra. and Aura hold a powerful and mystical secret, and getting to it is an engrossing read.One that may give you a nice little twist at the end.


An excellent translation of this mysterious story from Spanish to English by Lysander Kemp. The book is a fast read with Spanish on the left page and English on the right side. It's one that left me thinking about it for quite a while after the read. It will keep you good company and make the time pass on a plane trip or waiting room. Also nice for those learning Spanish or English, to have this bilingual edition to use.

A eerily lovely way to spend a couple of hours.
Enjoy....Laurie

"Aura" ha causado controversia recientemente en Mexico, donde un grupo conservador trato de prohibirla como lectura escolar para adolescentes. Me toco leerla cuando fui alumna de un colegio catolico muy conservador... y nos encanto! Mas de 15 años despues, la relei y me sigue encantando. Para empezar, la narracion es en segunda persona, muy original! Te agarra desde el principio y no la puedes soltar. Desde la pagina uno, nos convertimos en protagonistas de un misterio que nos llama por nuestro nombre y no tenemos mas remedio que responder al llamado. Somos invitados a la casa de una anciana y su bella sobrina, una casa llena de gatos, de figuras de santos, de rituales, de misterios, y de amores olvidados que quieren renacer, cargados de sensualidad. Es un libro muy cortito (mi edicion tiene 62 paginas), pero da mucho para descubrir. El protagonista vive una historia de amor con una de las mujeres de la casa (o con las dos?) y durante ese tiempo, vemos referencias a tradiciones ya casi erradicadas de Mexico, como la santeria y el vudu. Todo mezclado con la influencia francesa que ayudo a moldear la "personalidad" de la Cd de Mexico y por supuesto, con la tradicion catolica tan fuertemente arraigada en este pais. En fin, una profesora mia hizo su tesis de maestria sobre AURA y dice que el mensaje de la obra es que solo en la medida en que las personas y los paises podamos recordar nuestro pasado, es que podremos aceptar el presente y mejorarlo.

Carlos Fuentes' Aura was one of the most interesting books I have read in a while. His writing is generally simple, but the plot of Aura is very intriguing and detailed. The idea that Aura is the same person as her aunt Consuelo is easy to pick out, but the fact that the reader does not know what strange event will happen next is what makes Aura fun to read. The book is suspenseful and keeps the reader focused on the relationships Aura has with both Felipe Montero and her aunt, Consuelo. Carlos Fuentes combines strange events with everyday life such as when Felipe, Aura, and Consuelo are sitting at the dinner table eating and the two ladies are simultaneously making the same exact movements, which I found strangely interesting. Because I can understand basic spanish, I found reading parts of the spanish side of Aura interesting and saw the small differences between the spanish and english versions of the story. The book was generally interesting in it's own strange way and kept my full attention from cover to cover. I would recommend Carlos Fuentes' Aura to anyone who enjoys reading books with strange events and twisted plots.

Aura is a short story that is written beautifully, capturing the magic and horror of an old widow living with her niece and the secret that binds the two.

The plot is fairly basic, as there isn't really much time to get deep into any of the characters. There are only four, although that is debatable as one is only known through diary recollections. The prime focus of the story is Senora Consuelo, the ageing widow, as the young historian, Felipe Montero, hired to re-assemble her dead husband's memoirs learns more and more about their dark past. Felipe becomes obsessed with the ethereally beautiful niece, Aura, his dreams are filled with feverish images of her and him, together, declaring their love.

The novella is written in an interesting style, using 2nd person perspective (You did this, then you did that), and it works well. It means that we never really get an insight into Felipe's thoughts, but at the same time we only experience things through his eyes. The writing itself alternates between dark imagery involving religion, flowers, cats, and the house the story takes place within and obsessive beauty and fragility, as when Aura is described or mysterious things are occurring. Particularly haunting are the descriptions of the gloomy house filled with the refuse of fifty years of isolation.

The ending of the story wasn't expected, or at least, while I had an idea of what was going to occur, Fuentes took my expectations and extended them to a direction I hadn't predicted and was horrified with - but in the good way. This is a very dark story, and while there are flashes of beauty, these are generally shadowed by the somber tone and melancholy whisperings present throughout the novella. Highly recommended.

Suspense? Check. Romance? Check. Page turning narration? Check, and
double check. Carlos Fuentes manages to keep you involved every step of the way. Whether it's dangling a sliver of the plot just out of your reach, setting your mind off and running only to have you hit a wall when you reach the next page. Or if it's through his masterful use of "you" throughout the narrative.
The use of "you" is what gets you so involved in the book. On the first page alone "you" is used four times (And that's not even including "you're" and "your"). Why "you"? Why not "I"? "He"? "Felipe"? None of them get the job done as effectively. "You" does not only work to get you involved, but it is also what draws you in and allows Fuentes to lead you to the wrong conclusions. All thanks to "you." It gets inside your head. At times it makes you feel as if you are Felipe Montero, and that it is you who are involved in an intimate and surreal seduction.
Aura is written in the style of Magical Realism, where supernatural occurrences appear to be side effects of their environment rather than being placed or directed there by an outside source. Now personally I am not usually a fan of such things as the supernatural. Not that I have anything against the supernatural but it's just that I have a hard time taking such things literally. Now if it were a case of using a myth as a backdrop that ties together a series of odd events, that'd be one thing. I could accept that. But Aura is not such a case. Fuentes wants us to believe that what is happening in Aura is real. And I did. At the end of the book I could hardly believe it was over. Not so much because of my feelings torwards the characters(Though it may have played a role.), but mostly due to me actually believing the words on Fuentes' page. How did it slip under my radar? How did I not realize where I was being led? It's actually quite simple. It can all be traced back to "you." For you see I was Felipe Montero. I was once on scholarship at the Sorbonne. And I too was mesmorized by Aura's green eye's.
Now all of that may be just fine for me, but what about you, the one who
hasn't read the book yet. I'm not sure what to tell you, to make you pick up Aura and enjoy it. The only thing left to say is if you share my skepticism, try to set it aside, I know it to be a near impossible task, but just do your best, and read this book. If after all of this your still not convinced, then all that I have left to say is, YOUR LOSS.

Having read this book on a weekend visit to Mexico I found the book to be very different from what I am used to with Carlos Fuentes. It is a simple yet beautiful book that can be read in one sitting. The book was banned in Mexico and the controversy resurfaced this past year and for the likes of me I don't know why. Then again I don't get people wanting to burn Harry Potter books. I would think we would have learned something about banning books dating back to the time of Galileo's book on the revolution of the planets. The bilingual edition is interesting and pretty accurate. It is insightful to read in both languages, both Spanish and English at once to get the full flavor; a comparison of the delicasies of language if you will. The other reviewers have explained the plot and role of the characters so I would only like to add a few points. This is one of Carlos Fuentes's earlier works and it reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe. It has the same feel as say, "The Raven" or "The Pit and The Pendelum". In that context, this book belongs alongside the other classics of literature. A horror story that is mired in love and intrigue, Fuentes demonstrates his creative skills early on in his career, which only gets better with maturity as each forthcoming book uses denser and richer language. The beauty is in the simplicity of this book. I would also recommend other Fuentes books as well, several of which I have reviewed such has "The Crystal Frontier" or "Christopher Unborn." Recommended for open minds above the age of reason.

A friend recommended I read this book after I heard Carlos Fuentes read from his work at an event.

Fuentes is a high-profile, politically involved writer, but this novella has no overt political content, although Fuentes would say all writing is political. It is an elegantly written, if slight, story of a young scholar engaged to write a memoir of sorts. The characters are interesting--I cared about them and what would happen to them even as events become more and more eerie and supernatural.

The strength of this edition is that you can read the Spanish version alongside the English translation--and even quibble with the translation if you are given to that.

Overall, a quick and enjoyable introduction to Fuentes' work.

A key element in Fuentes' novel is the manner in which it's written: second person all throughout, mixing future and past sense, and thusly creating the imagery he wishes to portray. The novel (for its literary merit) is great; any one who appreciates literature (versus entertainment) will enjoy it. However, I want to make a note that the English translation is not the best.

This version is ideal for those who know Spanish, but whose vocabulary will fail them sporadically--allowing for a quick glance at the translation. If, however, you wish to read only its English version, look elsewhere. The translator misses the literary focus of the author, who employs short phrases, interweaving past and present tenses. Given that the importance of this novel is due to its literary features--which together with plot create the message the author wants to make--much is lost with this translation that does not do justice to the original.

In "Aura," Carlos Fuentes has created a fascinating tale that is rich in psychological intrigue. The short novel has been translated into a crisp English by Lysander Kemp; it is available in an outstanding bilingual edition in which each two-page spread contains a page of Fuentes' Spanish original and a page of Kemp's translation.

As the novel begins, scholar Felipe Montero accepts an assignment to edit the memoirs of the late General Llorente, a contemporary of Mexican Emperor Maximilian. In the creepy, rat-infested home of the general's eccentric widow, Felipe develops a strange relationship with the widow's niece, Aura.

This dreamlike tale contains elements of mystery, horror, fantasy, romance, and academic satire. The book also offers tantalizing glimpses into Mexican and European history. This is the first book by Fuentes which I have read, but it has whetted my appetite for more.