Customer Reviews

The Meaning of Consuelo: A Novel (Bluestreak)

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Spanning the growing up years of Consuelo and ending when she is sixteen, this novel is a coming of age story about a young girl finding out who she wants to be. She sheds her family's and her culture's attitudes about gender roles. Consuelo grows up in Puerto Rico with a progressive father and traditional mother, the older daughter whose role is to watch over her younger sister, Mili, who is the more beautiful and unfortunately, the more imbalanced. As Mili grows older, she slips into mental illness, and Consuelo struggles to care for her and her eroding family. In the end Consuelo must leave Puerto Rico for New York in order to become her own person. (H) Patient readers will enjoy the novel's complex plots and the story of Consuelo's quest for independence.

Consuelo resides with her parents and younger sister in a rented house on the periphery of San Juan, Puerto Rico during the 1950's. During this time period Puerto Rico is undergoing dramatic social and economic changes as the island is continually being Americanized. This rift is mirrored in Consuelo's household as her parents and relatives are split between welcoming modern American products and holding on to uniqueness of Puerto Rican history and culture. Her neighborhood, or pueblo, is filled with gossipy older woman who fail to allow anything to pass their gaze. What's worse, Consuelo's mother has an overbearing personality and is a bit nosey in her own rights. Her aunts and grandmother are a continued source of strength, comfort, and guidance to their family.

As Consuelo transforms into a senorita she begins to realize that the individuals who are closest to her are becoming a mystery. Her cousin and best friend Patricio all of a sudden reverts into his own world and stops attending school. There are concerning rumors circulating about his relationship with the pueblo's notorious cross-dresser. In addition, Consuelo's younger sister is slowing adopting curious and strange behaviors that include developing a language of her own. There is little solace or comfort with her parents as her mother suspects her father of having an affair with a woman at work. Nothing is at it seems.

THE MEANING OF CONSUELO is filled with frank and sorrowful details of how one girl's transformation to become a woman is burdened without being melodramatic or overdramatic. Judith Ortiz Cofer's prose is sprinkled with colorful Spanish words that add texture to this narrative. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others who enjoy multicultural themes or coming-of-age stories.

The Consuelo of the title is the adolescent daughter of a Puerto Rican family living in a San Juan residential area in the 1950's. The novel is on a small scale about the trials and tribulations of the family as it deals with the vagaries of life in Puerto Rico at this point in time. On a larger scale the novel projects the overarching changes occurring in Puerto Rican society as American influence and cultural encroachment undermine many aspects of traditional Puerto Rican life and culture. All of this is viewed through the prism of Consuelo's turbulent, adolescent world view.

Judith Ortiz Cofer uses a variety of literary devices to create parallel aspects of divisiveness and turbulence within the family and Consuelo's family. Her father is very American oriented, her mother very traditionally oriented. The schizoid aspects of the greater society engendered by the breakdown in traditional cultures are mirrored in the family by the appearance and development of obvious mental disease in Consuelo's sister, Mili. And so on. Some of this works well, some of it comes off clumsily.

The strength of the book rests in the integrity of Consuelo's character as well as in the author's ability to evoke both the spirit and the instability of 1950's Puerto Rico. Her ability to create a truly empathetic and genuine Latino sense of family within Consuelo's home is also a strength, enough so that the artifice of some of her mechanical device manipulations are rendered, if not moot, at least minimal in terms of affecting the story.

On the whole I found this to be an excellent if somewhat disjointed novel. Cofer is a poet as well as a novelist and essayist and the prose has a poetic, well paced quality that adds effectively to the ambience of the story. Her characters generally are well fleshed out and sympathetically presented. The ambiance of the book is good if the mechanics are occasionally irritating.

In the end the quality of the story and prose, as well as Cofers ability to genuinely render a sense of the time and place involved, overwhelms the weaknesses of the book. This book is definitely worth reading.

The book The Meaning of Consuelo, by Judith Ortiz Cofer, is about a 1950's Puerto Rican family. In this time period "Americanization" comes to the island and changes many people lives. The main character Consuelo is a 14 year old girl and her younger sister Mili is about 11. These two girls live with there parents in Puerto Rico. There father works at the Golden Palms hotel in Puerto Rico and there mother is unemployed. This book is the story of Consuelo, a young girl trying to find her way in life. She has always been referred to as the smart sensible one while her sister is know as the risk taking, wild child. Consuelo is just trying to find her way in life and where she belongs in her family and in society. Consuelo's best friend is her cousin Patricio who is about the same age as Consuelo. They know each other better than anyone else and hoped that nothing would tear them apart. Consuelo has a large family with many aunts, uncles and cousins who she visits very often.

Consuelo's life at home seems to be going well until "la tragedia" as she likes to call it occurs. She can feel that a tragedy will be occurring within her family but she has no idea what. The main themes of this book are family and tragedy which will have a major effect on Consuelo and her actions. Her family goes through its up and down through the entire book. The tragedy hits hard and will force them family to make one of the biggest decisions ever.

In this book you learn about Consuelo's family, friends, interests and decisions. You will see the outcome of her choices and what she has to go through for her family. I liked this book because Consuelo and I are similar ages. I can relate to the decisions that someone of that age is forced to make and consequences of the actions that one must deal with. Now is also the time that I am trying to find my way in life and seeing how someone else found there way helps.

From reading this book I have learned that all families go through problems big or small. At the end of the day, your family is still your family and will always be there to help you. Without a strong family to support you, you won't be able to make it in life and its as simple as that.

I would recommend this book because anyone can relate to Consuelo, male or female, 14 years old or 60 years old. Everyone can find similarities to Consuelo and her struggles. She is such a strong person and anyone can admire that.

Well the title just about says it all but yes it is a great novel about growing up and maturing in PR. Its different from History books in that it touches real life issues and themes from a first-hand basis such as homosexuality, losing virginity, leaving home, family tragedy, pressures and responsibilities. These are just some of the themes which Consuelo, the main character, deals with; there are plenty more. Very enjoyable and easy to read.

This book is beautifully written and engrosses you in the story as if you WERE Consuelo. The bond between the sisters in this story is incredible, as is the universal of growing up, becoming a woman and emotionally moving away from one's parents. Without giving away the story, this is a must read, and is one of the most incredible books I have read in many, many years.

Consuelo has always been the responsible one, the one who takes care of her little sister, Mili. Mili is the pretty one, the vivacious one, but she also tends to wander off or to get lost in her own head. As a child these traits were charming, but as she grows into a young woman they become more worrisome, until the family is forced to confront the fact that Mili is mentally ill.

This is a great story of how mental illness in a family affects every member, and how a child who isn't sick is often shuffled to the side. I like that this book acknowledged that fact, while not going too over the top with Consuelo's character. Her rebellions were relatively small and harmless and she never stopped loving her sister throughout her ordeal.

I didn't like the ending; I felt as though the author took the easy way out instead of trying to figure out what the next step in this family's saga would be. However, she did give plenty of advance notice that it was coming, so at least I was not caught completely off guard by the end.

The Meaning of Consuelo is not only well-written and vivid, the author manages to weave in so many things into a relatively short book. The book deals with coming of age for a young girl, a family's attempt to deal with mental illness, the difficulty of modernization, sexual identity both for heterosexuals and homosexuals, how society treats difference, and wrap it all up in the richness of Puerto Rican culture. A great book for students.