The Other Side / El otro lado [Paperback]

Julia Alvarez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

Characterized by respect for the past, delight in the sensory details of the present, and tentative but cherished hope for the future, a collection of poems culminates in the title poem about the poet's return to her native Dominican Republic. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Widely known for her novels, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies, Latina author Alvarez claims her authority as a poet with this collection. Tracing a lyrical journey through the landscape of immigrant life, these direct, reflective and often sensuous poems are grouped into five sections which, like the points of a star, indicate a circle. Alvarez begins with "Bilingual Sestina," a meditation on leaving her native Dominican Republic for an alien land and strange language. She ends with the title poem "The Other Side/El Otro Lado," a long, multipart narrative recounting her return to her homeland as a woman transformed?translated?by the years she has lived in America from native to guest. The speaker may claim "There is nothing left to cry for,/ nothing left but the story/ of our family's grand adventure/ from one language to another," but this poetry resonates precisely because that story embodies larger questions about self-identity. A meticulous examination of self-evolution, Alvarez's assured collection reveals that change can take us across borders so slowly that only on reaching the other side can we see the distances we've come.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Alvarez (author of one of LJ's Best Books, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, LJ 5/1/91) writes poems as impressive as her fiction. In the opening sequence, writing of a loving maid and governess, she portrays with graceful simplicity the world of haves and have nots suggested in the duality we find in the title. Whereas poets from similar backgrounds-uprooted, mocked-write bitterly of the past and ambivalently of the future, Alvarez optimistically sets about "Making Up the Past." As the poems move from childhood memories to adult realities, they become less succinct, less headed toward closure. Lines stretch out. Anger enters. The setting of the long title sequence is ironic: at an artist's colony not far from her native town, the author suffers in the midst of a lengthy writer's block as she is joined by a lover she's not sure she loves. Yet she reaches out, in the final poem, not to all the people she might have been but toward the mute girl. Recommended for all poetry collections.
Rochelle Ratner, formerly Poetry Editor, "Soho Weekly News," New York
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 155 pages
• Publisher: Plume (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452273412
• ISBN-13: 978-0452273412
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #960,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julia Alvarez has bridged the Americas many times. Born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic, she is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist, author of world-renowned books in each of the genres, including How the García Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Something to Declare. She lives on a farmstead outside Middlebury, Vermont, with her husband Bill Eichner. Visit Julia's Web site here to find out more about her writing.

Julia and Bill own an organic coffee farm called Alta Gracia in her native country of the Dominican Republic. Their specialty coffee is grown high in the mountains on what was once depleted pastureland. Not only do they grow coffee at Alta Gracia, but they also work to bring social, environmental, spiritual, and political change for the families who work on their farm. They use the traditional methods of shad-grown coffee farming in order to protect the environment, they pay their farmers a fair and living wage, and they have a school on their farm where children and adults learn to read and write. For more information about Alta Gracia, visit their website.

Belkis Ramírez, who created the woodcuts for A Cafecito Story, is one of the most celebrated artists in the Dominican Republic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and expressive, November 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Other Side / El otro lado (Paperback)

I found this book of poetry to be an honest portrait of the poet's experiences. It is divided into four main sections, each with their own topic, and each section has poems about that topic within it. The first section deals with the poet's childhood, as she lived in the Dominican Republic. Then the book moves on to deal with other topics such as her family's hurried getaway to the United States, and her awkward adolescent years, as she tried to adjust as a minority Latina in a world of <i>gringas</i>. The book moves on to her adulthood and encompasses topics which vary from her poetry readings to her boyfriends. Especially touching are the poems which speak about her return visit to her homeland of Dominican Republic, the point at which Julia realizes that she does not fit in here anymore any better than she fit in at her school when she first arrived in the US. This book is a tale of one woman's journey from immigrant to American citizen, and it expressed with the deepest and sincere sense of humanity. Her unique story-telling style of poetry makes this book unique, and her experiences will warm your heart.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Re-Posting of My Review Under the Right Nickname, October 4, 2000

By 

"neeterskeeter27" (http://www.neeterskeeter.com/new) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Other Side / El otro lado (Paperback)

"I hung back, unsure, if this was the thing I'd die for/ and so perhaps never found what it was I would live for." From The Other Side/ El Otro Lado

I found this collection of poetry to be an honest portrait of the poet's experiences. The novelist Julia Alvarez, author of "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents", "Yo", and "In the Time of the Butterflies", displays her wide range of poetry in this book, The Other Side/ El Otro Lado. It is divided into four main sections, each with their own topic, and each section has poems about that topic within it. The first section deals with the poet's childhood, as she lived in the Dominican Republic. Then the book moves on to deal with other topics such as her family's hurried getaway to the United States, and her awkward adolescent years, as she tried to adjust as a minority Latina in a world of gringas. The book moves on to her adulthood and encompasses topics which vary from her poetry readings to her boyfriends. Especially touching are the poems which speak about her return visit to her homeland of Dominican Republic, the point at which Julia realizes that she does not fit in here anymore any better than she fit in at her school when she first arrived in the US. This book is a tale of one woman's journey from immigrant to American citizen, and it expressed with the deepest and sincere sense of humanity. Her unique story-telling style of poetry makes this book unique, and her experiences will warm your heart.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great poems by a great writer, December 21, 1999

By 

"rubydee" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Other Side / El otro lado (Paperback)

I had read this book before a year ago and never really appreciated it until this year in English class when my class read it. I loved the book in the first place but now i have an ever deeper love for it since i understand it better. This book is great for casual reading but when analyzed and looked into it is excellent. I recommend this book to everyone but especially for young Dominican women trying to find a person, a book, that they can relate to.