Mal de amores [Paperback]

Angeles Mastretta (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vintage Espanol | Publication Date: June 23, 1998

A spectacularly rich novel spanning 50 years in the history of a nation, a family, and a love affair, this #1 bestselling novel by the author of "Tear This Heart Out" offers a "large, lyrical, evocation of life and love during the Mexican Revolution" ("San Francisco Chronicle").

Editorial Reviews

Review

A large, lyrical, evocation of life and love during the Mexican Revolution. -- San Francisco Chronicle --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: Spanish --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (June 23, 1998)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0375702008
• ISBN-13: 978-0375702006
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #187,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Es un divertido libro de romanticismo feminista, February 28, 2001

By 

Juan Carlos Uribe (Bogota, Colombia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mal de amores (Paperback)

Si pudiéramos hablar de parentesco entre las novelas, esta probablemente es una "prima" de "Como Agua Para Chocolate".

Nuestra heroína que responde al nombre de Emilia tiene un concepto claro de la fidelidad. Nadie puede ser infiel si se acuesta con aquellos a quien quiere, a pesar de que las relaciones sean simultaneas.

Para hacer mas dramática su historia de amor ella de desarrolla en los últimos años del siglo XIX en México y los veinte primeros del siglo XX, donde el caos y la estupidez fue el común denominador de sus políticos y militares.

Prácticamente todos los personajes están fuertemente definidos, con personalidades auténticas. Casi que el lector quisiera que existieran de verdad para tener el gusto de ser amigo de ellos.

Esto hace que sus frases y sus diálogos sean contundentes y lo que es mas importante, que sus actos realmente reflejan la naturaleza liberal de sus pensamientos.

A veces pareciera ser un manual de: (i) como mantener la fe en uno mismo a pesar de que las circunstancias externas sean degradantes y opresivas, pues al final del día nuestros sentimientos siempre los escogemos nosotros; o (ii) Dar esperanzas a aquellos que aun quieren creer que en este mundo es fácil encontrar otra persona con la cual podamos vivir vinculados por un amor eterno.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAL DE AMORES IS A MASTERPIECE, July 22, 2002

By 

Aglae Rodríguez de Mizrahi (Venezuela) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mal de amores (Paperback)

Mal de Amores is a Masterpiece

>This is a super piece of literature , where the author Angeles Mastretta beguiles the reader with a novel that merges fiction and fantasy with the reality of Mexico's political context, that starts with the Mexican Revolution. This Mexican revolution starts before the fall of the Dictatorship of Porfirio Torres and ends around the democratic presidency of Venustiano Carranza.

History and fiction run together. Emilia Sauri, the principal character of the story is a beautiful girl that is raised by utterly modern parents in the city of Puebla and then becomes a beautiful, hardworking doctor, marvelous woman that falls in love with Daniel, who is a Mexican revolutionary. This love becomes a turmoil since Daniel, inside the context of civil war, only comes and goes intermittently. However he becomes the love of her life. At the end, Emilia choses between Daniel and Dr. Zavalza to keep her life going.

However, it would be a pity not to point out that all the other characters of the novel are so genuine and so well conceived, that it becomes impossible not to keep reading. The plot, the characters and most of all the impeccable fast reading prose makes of this novel a piece of art that shouldn't be kept unread. If you want fiction, you get fiction, if you want erotic relationships, you get it, if you want reality you also get it and, if you want to make yourself a favor go and get the book and read it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De lo mejor de A. Mastretta, January 8, 2002

By 

Elena Ma Brito Quijano "Elena María Brito" (Mexico City, MEXICO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mal de amores (Paperback)

He leú�o Mal de Amores en dos ocasiones y me parece un libro excelente, pues retrata a mujeres mexicanas que se salen de los moldes establecidos por nuestra sociedad. En Mal de Amores Emilia no se adhiere a un estereotipo de mujer casada y leal a su marido, sino leal a sus convicciones y a los hombres que ama.

Recomiendo tanto la lectura de este libro, as�Ecomo la de Arráncame la vida, Mujeres de ojos grandes y Ninguna eternidad como la mú} (aunque la protagonista llega a ser una especie de Emilia Sauri II en algunos momentos).