Customer Reviews

Sor Juana's Second Dream: A Novel

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As women living in the 21st Century, we have unlimited choices. That is why it is so difficult to imagine what it must have been like for Sor Juana. She was an intellectual giant in the New World, displaying her abilities in subjects ranging from ancient history to physics. She was a self-taught scholar. Even so, she was persecuted. Not simply because her views were extreme (though they were), but because extreme views or, in fact, views at all, were considered unseemly in women. Sor Juana's story, as well as the history of early Mexico, is the inspiration for this novel.
No doubt, Alicia Gespar de Alba takes poetic license. It is impossible to know the intimate details of Sor Jauna's everyday life, but this is a good educated guess. And it is breathtaking. Each page is a heartwrenching description of the passions that tore Sor Jauna apart. Many of her own words are used in the story, and the parts that are fiction blend beautifully with them.
In addition to its revelation of an early feminist, this book is also important in its description of Colonial Mexico. In the background of Sor Juana's story, the reader is able to view the precarious mix of church and crown, whites and indians, and intellectuals and idiots. The time period, of course, is an essential part of what happens to Sor Juana, but it is an interesting subject of its own.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of feminism or Mexico or to anyone who enjoys poetry or rhetoric. Be warned, though, when you discover what this woman went through for knowledge, you may not be able to take your freedom for granted anymore.

I thoroughly enjoyed being drawn into the world of Sor Juana. She was a genius, a gifted poet, dramatist, philospher, scientist, theologian and humanist who radically sought her personal truth despite the constrictions of the societal and ecclesiastical institutions of her day. I surmise that Sor Juana would likely not have taken the veil has she lived in our day but she chose the only route left to her within her social position to attain some manner of intellectual freedom. Alicia Gaspar de Alba is a master storyteller who knows the art of bringing the vivid colors and textures of her subject matter to life. Though I do realize that this is a work of fiction and share the author's conjecture that Sor Juana's affections most definately rested with those of her own sex and her passionate manner of writing to the same was not simply a rhetorical device of her time, I did sometimes question her literary license with regard to specific scenes which are ambiguous at best in historical accounts, not in the slightest because I think them distasteful but simply because I think the brilliance and passion of this woman is not compounded by the "fleshing" out of her sexuality in pure fantasy. The climate of the ecclesiastical world during the inquisition and the sad state of inner conventual politics makes her luminous literary heritage even more astonishing. Though the author does tell this dark aspect of the divisions and hypocracy of some member of the Spanish Catholic Church of Sor Juana's day, she never does it gratuitiously and one senses a balance as with the priests and other nuns who support her and even try to help her remain on a path of discretion when her passions overtake her rational judgement. It is truly sad that her star disappeared too soon from the heavens that she so loved gazing into with her telescope. In any case, I found it an intensely beautiful read which left me wanting to know more of the woman behind the words. I recommend this highly to anyone who wants to know Sor Juana without the censorship of other admirers of hers who would deny her one of the most elementary forces behind her creative working - her passion for the two women who helped her become fully the muse that she was.

The story of Mexico's Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) is one of the great thinkers and poets of the 17th century and an iconic figure in women's history. In this intelligent, thoroughly researched novel, Gaspar de Alba goes beyond the established facts and paints a fictionalized, sometimes controversial portrait. Sor Juana, a prodigy of erudition from an early age, chose the veil, not because she felt a calling, but because marriage was even more unthinkable. Defying the Inquisition and the profoundly patriarchal world she lived in, she wrote and read prolifically and publicly until she was threatened into silence by the Church hierarchy. She then renounced her "worldly" ways and completely surrendered to religion, ceasing all writing and communication with the outside world.

As Gaspar de Alba tells it, Sor Juana was a lesbian. She makes a convincing case by juxtaposing the nun's own poetry with actual events and fictional journal entries. Commendably, Sor Juana's flaws are not glossed over; she is portrayed as vain, prejudiced, and difficult. This work of fine scholarship and vision should increase awareness of a compelling historical figure. Brilliantly written, is a must for any lesbian reader.

Outstanding read about a brilliant woman of extraordinary talents who's life was made a hell by her religious order, her Church and the society of her time all because she was a woman who was smart and gifted and did not fail to leave a great opus of her works.

Alicia Gaspar de Alba's powerful novel is more than timely, despite the fact that it is the story of a woman in conflict with the male hierarchy of the Church in the seventeenth century.

What was most meaningful to me was the way in which the author maintained the tension between Sor Juana's own conscience and the deeply felt conviction that the oppression she was experiencing was invalid and wrong.

We are foolish if we pretend that the "authority" of the structures that organized Christianity has built over time does not in fact continue to oppress the spirits of those called to a life of intellectual honesty and passionate love. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling to find true integrity of mind and spirit.

Sor Juana's Second dream, by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, is a must-read text by anyone who is interested in the major figure from Colonial Latin America, Sor (Sister) Juana Inés de la Cruz. I have taught for many years about the life and work of this Mexican nun, and never before has a work of historical fiction captured what I believe renders a true portrait of Sor Juana. Most works of the past, even academic ones, have avoided addressing Sor Juana's personal life; in Sor Juana's Second Dream, we see, as we should, an anguished personal experience that appears in many of Sor Juana's most famous texts. Bravo! Well done!

What a daunting task for a writer - a novel dealing with the life and work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Sor Juana is considered by many to be the finest poet that Latin America ever produced - she is also a hero to many, and for good reason. In her day - the 17th century - women were looked upon pretty much as chattel. They were expected to make a home for their husband and children, to sew, to cook - and little else. They were certainly not expected to seek an education - indeed, they were not deemed capable of benefiting from one. Juana, from the time she was a child, knew better - she sought out ways to feed her hungry intellect from the time when she was three, tagging along with her older sister to school and insisting to be taught to read.

As she grew older, fame of her learning spread, and she moved to Mexico City, where she became a favorite at the court of the Viceroy and Vicereine - the attention she received there fanned the flames both of her intellect and her emotions. She joined a religious order and took her vows believing that it was the only way to further her in her quest of knowledge, and in her pursuit of literary expression. She didn't count on the incredibly, rabid opposition that she met - not only from the Church hierarchy, but from within her order, from other nuns who were jealous of the attention she received, and terrified of her intelligence. She was a threat to too many people who held power. Change frightens people - especially those who see it as a threat to their own position and influence. There's an old saying that `absolute power corrupts absolutely'. I think in the case of Sor Juana's persecution by the Church, one could observe that `absolute power breeds absolute paranoia'. If she had not, finally, succumbed - at least in part - to the will of the Inquisition, she would no doubt have been martyred. Some might say - and it's a valid observation - that, without her books, her writing materials, and her scientific and musical instruments, without any contact with the outside world, she died a martyr without being subjected to the gibbet or other tortures. The intellectual torture of repressed expression, imposed on one who had so much to express, was a death sentence in itself.

Sor Juana's sexuality has been discussed in many forums - it is, after all, a valid and vital part of anyone's personality and life. The film concerning her life - I, THE WORST OF ALL - is based on SOR JUANA, or THE TRAPS OF FAITH, by notable Mexican poet and author Octavio Paz (he being another treasure of Latin American literature), and approaches the subject of her sexuality very obliquely (I'm amazed that the film bears an `R' rating). SOR JUANA'S SECOND DREAM, on the other hand, tackles the subject head-on, in a very open - but tasteful - manner. The author discusses her viewpoint briefly in her afterward, with a couple of references to Paz and others - she sees their attitudes as `homophobic', that they distort truth of Sor Juana's life and work by turning a blind eye to her sensuality. She makes it very clear that she respects Paz and his work - but that she disagrees with his assessment of Sor Juana, as well as that of some other scholars.

What emerges from the author's viewpoint is a very readable, engrossing work. The sections of the novel that deal with Sor Juana's sexual orientation - her relationships with other women, her views of men in general, and the lifelong, ongoing struggles within herself - make this a very LIVING work, bringing to life the subject in a very human way. Given the prejudice that still exists in matters of sexual orientation, one can only imagine how much this was magnified in 17th century Mexico. Sor Juana's story is a testament to her achievements in literature and science, as well as to her own courage - courage in facing not only her accusers and enemies, but in her own psychological and emotional self-examinations. She was an amazing woman - an amazing human being, an amazing scholar - and she would be thus in any day.

The book is a long one - at over 400 pages - and goes a long way in bringing to life the everyday routine of the convent, as well as the atmosphere and intrigues in the court and Church. The characterizations are well drawn and patiently, carefully created - none of them come across as flat or stereotyped, which is a great relief in a novel of this length and scope. I found it to be both entertaining and enlightening - and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a story of a heroic, intelligent woman - or, for that matter, anyone in search of a good read.

In "Sor Juana's Second Dream," Alicia Gaspar de Alba unveils the "other -- sensual, human side" of an extremely intelligent and profoundly passionate monja/mujer -- who suffers from "unnatural, unnameable, pleasurable aches" until she comes to believe, in the depths of a hurting heart, that "love, our very soul, has no gender and is never a sin" -- and into another's orbit lets herself go!

Sadly -- however, Juana's comet soon loses its glow -- a victim of envious others and timely circumstance, she is forced to spend her short life struggling with/against the temptations of: the tender touch of an hermana's hand, the (al)lure of a soulful "cell-mate's" lips, and the unforgettable "chiaroscuro of an unspeakable love."

It has taken Gaspar de Alba's courage, creativity, imagination and interpretation to "kick the habit" off this "patron saint of rebellious women" and offer her well-rewarded readers a fresh, new look at a mujer who poured passion onto her written pages, using a quill that drew both ink/blood and inspiration from a heart's well of loneliness and love!

Juana's "re-creator" (Gaspar de Alba) gives us with her: calla lilies, comets, a meaningful medal and a long lost letter of professed and requited love -- significant symbols of very beautiful sentiments -- in juxtaposition to a hauntingly powerful and disturbing storybook tale of a young Juana's innocence/childhood lost.

I cannot find the words to sing the author's praises loudly enough! After my third reading of these pages, the passages still move me! --- perhaps that, in itself, says it all.

I was drawn to this novel specifically because it portrayed a vivid and well researched account of a woman of tremendous intellect. I had not been exposed to Sor Juana until I read this account. I was fascinated by the events of her life but most intrigued by her political "force of one". I enjoyed the read immensely and would certainly reccommend it to anyone who has a fixation on any other genre. This novel draws everyone in!

my principle regret is that young latino students and aspiring writers are often pointed to this and other like products from the publishing mills and told they are the "literary" models to follow. the book is replete with trite, canned sentiment expressed in stiffly-worded dialogue from the mouths of two-dimensional characters. too many of the descriptions are of the flowery, cake-decoration kind. the narrative is littered with redundancy as well as words that are simply misused or incongruent with the intended meaning. someone can use a remedial course in plain, effective style. it is a shame to hear such books as this one touted as the best in current "latino literature." unfortunately, such things often get published (and praised) on the strength of an author's academic connections and fashionable political sentiments rather than the worth of the writing.