Customer Reviews

Rain of Gold

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Rain of Gold is a book written by Victor Villaseñor an author of Mexican Heritage. Villaseñor wrote this book when he felt the urge to pas down to his children the history behind their name. Villaseñor traveled to Mexico and after years of hard work and several conflicts he published "Rain of Gold", the biography of his family. In "Rain of Gold" Villaseñor describes with full detail the lives of his ancestors in Mexico and later in the United States. More than just a story, Villaseñor gives a vivid image of life during the Mexican Revolution {the times of Pancho Villa}. He explains how his family was forced as well as other families to abandon their beloved country because of the violence and danger the Mexican Revolution brought to its citizens. Villaseñor also explains the hardships his family had to got through to adapt and survive prejudice, hunger and unfair work in the states. Not only does Villaseñor capture the struggles of his family but also the exciting and glorious moments his ancestors lived. This book has a vivid message to everybody of Mexican background. Especially to teenagers who usually don't get the chance to be taught their history with out somebody making fun or putting down their culture. This is the first book that I have truly related to, because of my Mexican background and hardships I've faced in this country. This is a book you just can't stop reading because you get so close to the characters. By the end of the book I assure you that not only will you know all of the people in the book but you will also respect and consider them part of your family! More importantly, I recommend this book to everybody who has parents or somebody who has immigrated to this country in search of opportunities and better life.

I am a 57 year old gringo living in Southern Arizona and received this book from a friend of mine who is related to the author. I did not expect much and the beginning had me wondering if I would make it through all 500+ pages of small print. It did not take very long for me to realize that this book was well above ordinary. Prior to reading this book, I personally had gotten the most enjoyment from " East of Eden " and " The Agony and The Ecstacy " and place Mr. Villasenor's novel along side both. I cried and laughed like hell and as a lifelong Catholic, was deeply moved by the incredible faith of both of his grandmothers. Some of the other reviewers were put off by his technique, I was not. I very much agree with those who found great enjoyment from this book, as I had a difficult time putting it down and experienced a real sadness as I read the final words, I did not want it to end. Mr. Victor Villasenor is one heck of a storyteller and I feel blessed to have entered into his family through his written words.

John Towle - Vail, Az.

This book started slow. It came as a gift from a friend, and just the size was intimidating. As I started, all the talk of religeon, miracles and spirits was a bit much for a supposedly true family history. The more I read, the better it got. The history of how Mr. Villasenor's grandparents came to America and met is an epic of love, transcendence and overcoming odds. If you can make it past page 20, you won't put it down.

It would have been very easy for this to be a whitewashed view of the world. Instead, the author confronts some of the darker sides of his family history. Many relatives spent time in jail. Grandpa was a bootlegger. Many of his great-aunts and uncles were jealous at the best of times, and awful at the worst. Yet somehow a great story emerges.

I can only imagine the effort required to produce this book. Mr. Villasenor, your effort was well worth it.

When I was an English Literature major in college in the early 1990s, I wrote my senior thesis on the significance of Chicano literature. "Rain of Gold" was included in my study. It is a beautifully written book and a tremendously valuable contribution to American literature.

In Victor Villasenor's "Rain of Gold," the dominant theme or metaphor is the struggle for survival. The mythic structure provides a rich and meaningful context for the characters and their inner struggle for identity and survival. "Rain of Gold" is the story of two parallel lives -- those of Juan Salvador and Lupe Gomez, characters delineated from Villasenor's real-life mother and father, who grow up with their respective families in two distant towns in Mexico and meet as young adults in California.

The novel can be divided into three parts: the families trying to survive in Mexico, but opting to find a better life in the U.S.; their harsh and harrowing journeys through the rough terrain of the Mexican deserts; and finally, their miraculous arrival and struggle in the U.S. The novel challenges the reader to experience the harsh realities of the characters' hardships and triumphs. Their struggle is internal and personal. Villasenor's adherence to myth, religion and a little of the magical paints a vivid image of a people -- survivors not only of physical challenges, but spiritual ones as well. His story is well detailed and well developed. It is truly an epic in every sense of the word.

Reading this book was a feast for the mind, the heart and the soul. About two-thirds of the way through I found myself mourning the fact that it would end. And mourn it I did after I finished the last page, closed the book and held it to my chest in breathless silence.

Many of the reviews listed here regale the beauty with which it was written, the rich history it embodies, and the values it imparts, but none touch on the aspect that swept me into its pages. While this story is about the family, it is the stalwart women, who evolve into the elderly matriarchs of the family, whose wisdom anchor it in its humanity. The mothers are honored for their unique and powerful place in the family. Their stories and their words offer guidance and comfort that is timeless and as applicable today as they were within the context of the story. For this reason, I recommend that when you read Rain of Gold, you do so from a copy that you own, so you can mark the words of wisdom that touch you -- you will want to reference them again and again -- and thereby honor these women in your own life.

The first time I read Rain of Gold, I thought to myself, "My God this is my family!" Victor Villasenor has the ability to draw in the reader and make he or she feel that they are living the story. This is particularly true in Rain of Gold.

The book follows two people and their families very different journeys through the hard times of the Mexican Revolution and into the U.S. and the very different life waiting for them there. They meet new challenges in and find each other as they adjust and learn to make a life in this new country.

The book abounds with the mystical love of spirits, nature and God that is so commonplace for us Mexicanos. I believe it is hard for people not of our culture to understand just how real the spirits are to us. This is not magical realism, but daily life to us. Mr. Villasenor shows that aspect of our culture, that old wisdom of our grandmothers so well that it brought tears to my eyes as I remembered my own mystical, wise and wonderful grandmother.


The fact that Victor Villasenor is extremely dyslexic and encountered myriad problems in school at a very young age makes this book all the more astounding. He writes with pathos, humor and his love for his beautiful family shines through it all. His simple style of storytelling makes you feel you're sitting on the floor listening to an uncle or other family member and you are completely enraptured and caught up in his spell.

It would be a mistake to believe that only those of Mexican descent can appreciate Victor Villasenor's captivating tale of the trials and triumphs of his family in Mexico and America. Although this thoroughly engaging book no doubt has a particular resonance for those who share the author's ethnic background, any reader will enjoy sharing the struggle first for survival and then for success of the vividly painted characters that inhabit Rain of Gold. Villasenor easily combines fascinating and accurate historical details with his engrossing tale of one family's cultural, spiritual, and geographic journey. Even a lifelong New England resident (recently transplanted to Texas) with no known Latin roots felt like part of the Villasenor family after reading this book.

I read this book at least five years ago and at the time I thought it was one of the best books I ever read. I still do. I wrote a review of it then but somehow it has disappeared. Why did I love this book? First of all it is beautifully written, the language is lyrical, almost spellbinding. The images are stunning, almost hypnotic. And the characters are memorable. This book celebrates the extraordinary and irrepressible power of life at one's humblest level, gratitude in one's darkest hour, and forgiveness as the very heart of love.

This book is marvelously written. I need to personally go to San Diego and meet this V. Villensenor and marvel at the work he did. It's hard to believe that Lupe and Juan are real people. I finished the book in one day- pulled an all nighter. Believe me, it wasn't a small book. No it was a big one full of adventure and fun. I'm a jr. in high school and it was an ap assignment for the summer. I'm so glad my teacher assigned it to us. Buy it! It's a masterpiece and it's underrated. It should be on the shelf of J.D. Salinger, Hemingway and Steinbeck!!

Amazing story, amazing writer. Fall in love with the characters and the magic in this book. If you read Roots and loved it, you will surely love this book as well. Trials and tribulations of the mexican american family, and a great love story make this a great read.