Customer Reviews

In the Time of the Butterflies

5 star:		(113)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

By means of the sharpened scalpel of fiction, Julia Alvarez carves and shapes the central characters in this difficult and delicate novel as subversive agents who see themselves obligated by fate to participate in the ultimate demise of an oppressive regime. Minerva, Patria, María Teresa, and Dedé, each one in her distinct fashion, break through the tyrannical grip that holds sway over an entire island population for thirty-one nightmarish years. Alvarez is at her absolute best here, far surpassing the previously successful HOW THE GARCÍA GIRLS LOST THEIR ACCENTS. Even the more recent SALOMÉ, in my view, doesn't come across as powerfully (especially for those readers unfamiliar with Dominican cultural history). IN THE TIME OF THE BUTTERFLIES is a masterful work that illustrates the perniciousness of political oppression in every aspect of a society, written in a language of turbulent calmness. As a Dominican myself who experienced first hand the unspeakable horrors of the Trujillo Dictatorship, I admit honestly that Alvarez has presented brilliantly the case of repression and heroism more formidably than any other writer. She has officially immortalized las hermanas Mirabal as national heroines.

As a Dominican who lived under Trujillo's dictatorship until his ovethrowing in 1961, I was very taken by Ms. Alvarez' book. Her portrayal of Dominican family life is accurate and lifelike. I remember the trial for the murder of the Mirabal sisters--it was the first televised trial in the history of the D.R. I am also a niece by marriage of General Federico Fiallo who is portrayed in the book, and although as an adult I know he committed heinous crimes under Trujillo's orders, I also want to say that in his private life he was a kind man to his nieces and nephews. He committed suicide when they came to arrest him at his home. All around me when I was a child was the specter of Trujillo and his spies and enforcers. The terror we citizens endured was quite real although we managed to live normal everyday lives. His hand was everywhere. Ms. Alvarez book put into perspective many things that from the point of view of a child you see but fail to digest.

Julia Alvarez does a brilliant job blending fact and fiction. The story of the Mirabal sisters is brought to life by Alvarez's extraordinary style of writing. I just can't find the right words to describe this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat, unable to put it down, wanting to read more and more. At times it is humorous and delightful, at others sad and horrific.

It is written from the perspective of each sister: the pious and religious Patria (the oldest), the strong and fiesty Minerva (I love her best), the sensitive yet willful Maria Theresa, and Dede - the one who lived. The one who realized her strength and independence despite her doubts. Even though it is Dede who was not killed in the ambush on "the lonely mountain road," it is really all four women who are survivors; Patria, Mate, and Minerva lost their lives, yet their spirits and their courage live on. Through Dede they live on. Perhaps that is why she was not killed - to live to tell her sisters' stories as well as her own. Dede has always wondered why she escaped death, why she wasn't killed; interviewers always ask her that, yet she does not know why. But I believe that is the reason: she could tell their story.

It is interesting how different and diverse the four sisters' personalities are, yet I see a bit of each one in every woman. Patria, the hopeful; Minerva, the feminist; Maria Theresa, the giver; and Dede, the unsure yet strong.

What's more I learned of the dictator Trujillo and what was like to have lived under his regime. I never knew about him, never even heard of him until I read this book. This made me want to read and learn more not only about the Mirabal sisters, but about Trujillo ("El Jefe"). I love to read a book of fiction and learn about historical events - about people who actually existed and made a difference despite everything going against them. I learned of a period of history in a country that I knew nothing about (The Dominican Republic [I wonder why it's called that?] as well as a dictator I never heard of. For that, I thank Julia Alvarez.

This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I recommend it highly for everyone - men and women, Dominican and non-Dominican, young and old. It is an inspiring read.

Based on actual events, "In the Time of the Butterflies," is a tragic look at the four Mirabal sisters and their struggle to bring an end to the tyrannical regime of the Dominican Republic's most notorious dictator, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Known for his ruthlessness and his ability to make his political enemies disappear without a trace, Trujillo's regime was one of the most brutal in Latin American history.

After taking over the country with the assistance of the military, Trujillo began a campaign of making himself somewhat of a demigod, even renaming the nation's capital from Santo Domingo to Ciudad Trujillo ("Trujillo City"). During this time, four sisters unified the Dominican resistance in trying to bring freedom and justice to that nation. While their husbands suffered in the nation's worst prison, the Mirabal sisters face uncertain perils and repression from Trujillo's henchmen.

While the author doesn't really discuss the main reason for Trujillo's infatuation with one of the sisters, their story is one of the most memorable cases of human rights abuses on record. Trujillo, son of biracial parents, never was accepted into traditional Dominican society due to his skin color. In a country where race plays a very important role in your social standing, this was a slap to the face, and after meeting one of the Mirabal sisters before his ascent to power, and getting rejected by her, it seems like the main motives for their murders was primarily for vengeance.

Told from the point of view of the only sister to survive the accident that claimed the lives of the other three, Dede's view is somewhat blurry to an extent. Seeing that some of the novel has fictional dialogue, it is understandable why the novel moves in a slow, yet respectful approach.

Julia Alvarez, who also wrote "Yo!" and "How the Garcia Sisters Lost Their Accents" is probably the best writer to come out of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean in recent years. A resident of Vermont, Ms. Alvarez is an intelligent, well-researched woman who has given the world works that explore the trials and tribulations faced by many Dominicans on and off the island.

The Mirabal sister's legacy has been remembered worldwide. The date three of the sisters died now has become the United Nation's "International Day Against Violence Towards Women." Also in an ironic twist, one of Dede's sons became Vice-President of the Dominican Republic in 1995 when he and presidential candidate Leonel Fernandez defeated incumbent Joaquin Balaguer in that year's elections. Joaquin Balaguer was Trujillo's protege and right-hand man, and it was at Balaguer's insistance that Trujillo be buried at Paris' Pere LaChaise cemetery (final resting place of "Doors" singer Jim Morrison and author Oscar Wilde) in order to prevent his grave's desecration.

Presently, Mexican superstar Salma Hayek has purchased the rights to this novel, and is currently filming the story of the Mirabal sisters into a motion picture that will air on the Showtime cable network in 2001. Hopefully, Ms. Hayek's film will capture the importance of Ms. Alvarez's novel without leaving out any details. Overall, "In the Time of the Butterflies" is a tragic, yet moving tribute to four heroes and their struggle for liberty in a country where justice, equality, and democracy are all threatened.

In the Time of the Butterflies is political history rendered read through fiction format and through the gifted poetic, lyrical writing of what we can now claim as a national treasure: Julia Alvarez.
The Mirabel sisters, born into a conservative and pious Catholic extended family, were martyred during the last days of Trujillo's dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The book chronicles their movement, over time, from the pampered bosom of an upper-class family into the cause of revolution. Alvarez, having lived it herself, captures the atmosphere of what it's like to live in a police state, in which the population exists under the threat of atrocities and horror that dare not be acknowledged. As the sisters' fervor turns to tragedy, Alvarez writes movingly of their courageous desperation.
Mesmerizing, and as the end of this book approaches, you know what's coming and don't want to read it. I found myself kind of looking out the corner of my eye at the page, reading only half a page at a time, putting it aside, reading again...
Spectacular accomplishment.

I stumbled upon this book this week. It's a beautiful and poetic work that takes you to the timeframe of the four young women (my personal favorite is Minerva) and dumps you into their world of tragedy and trimpuh. Tying in fiction and fact makes the story all the more interesting. Julia Alvarez is a fantastic writer; just the right amount of words, just the right amount of atmosphere. Highly recommended.

"In the Time of the Butterflies" was an amazing story. I enjoyed every page. Usually, I am not someone who likes to read about historical happenings; but this novel is all about history and it was amazing. I liked the stucture Julia Alvarez used. She wrote it as each sister telling their side of the story. It was very intersting. Especially how she wrote Maria Teresa's side. She wrote it as her journal. Reading this novel, I not only got the pleasure of reading out of it, I also learned about happenings and the emotions of the people who lived in Dominacan Republic at the time.

In the Time of the Butterflies is a fictional account(based on facts) of a revolutionary period in the Dominican Republic. The author acknowledges that she had to create a lot of the story based on a small amount of information she learned. The story is told from the point of view of the four Mirabal sisters. It takes you through their childhood, schooling, and their maturing into women of purpose, who dedicated their lives to their families and to their country. The characterizations of the sisters were a bit too simplistic, but still the story of their lives, dreams and desires was very well done. The story begins from the point of view of the surviving sister, Dede. Her feelings about being the survivor were excruciating and so honest that I find it hard to think that the author did not get these portions of the story directly from Dede. The story wraps itself in and out of the sisters lives, and is laced with religious faith and family strength, and sisterly bonds that can never be wrenched apart.

The portrayal of Trujillo, the dictator, was chilling and vivid as far as it went. The torture and disappearing of people was also clearly portrayed for the horror that it was. This is an excellent story and gives a realistic, although fictionalized picture of a turbulent period in the political and social structure of the Dominican Republic.

Julia Alvarez's fictionalization of the lives of the Mirabel sisters--real-life revolutionaries whose murders are memorialized every year in the Caribbean--will stay with you long after you put this book down. The book spans several decades and is divided into first-person narratives by the four very different sisters; the first part of the book chronicals their growth from girls into young women, and eventually into (sometimes reluctant) revolutionaries. These early "development" sections can be slow, even excruciating, at times, but pay their dividend later, when we truly know how and why these very ordinary, down-to-earth people resist an overwhelming and oppressive regime. The second half of the book gripped me hard; I couldn't put it down for 2 days, until I'd read the last sordid details about the inevitable murder of 3 of the 4 sisters. I'm not the crying type, but this book almost got me misty. I'll definitely read more by this author.

My introduction to Julia Alvarez's work was her brilliant, humorous and poignant book, "How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents." "In the Time of the Butterflies" is just as compelling and gives new insight into 1950s and 1960s politics and oppression in the Dominican Republic.

Alvarez's novel is based on the life stories of four sisters--Dede, Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva. Three of these sisters were nicknamed "Las Mariposas" (Patria, Maria Teresa and Minerva). They were central in the uprising against the corrupt and oppressive dictatorship of President Trujillo. The beautiful, dynamic and resilient women endured imprisonment and torture in exchange for their tireless efforts to take a stand against the tapping of wires, supression of expression amongst citizens of the Dominican Republic and general scare tactics enforced by a political regime. These women ended up being killed at the hands of Trujillo's henchmen. Dede, the one sister who didn't get involved in political movements as heavily as her siblings, is the subject of many interviews and much interest expressed by visitors and fellow countrymen and women, alive after the assassination of President Trujillo.

What sets "In the Time of Butterflies" apart from other novels about social and political movements and the great people who participated in them is Julia Alvarez's sensitive, warm and touching style of interweaving the stories of the four women. Alvarez is actually a product of a Dominican family, herself, that escaped the Trujillo regime when the immigrated to the United States. Her father was actively involved in the coup to remove the violent, arrogant and lecherous Trujillo from power. Ms. Alvarez's personal knowledge of the fear and turmoil experienced by Dominican people at the hands of their oppressive government added to the believablity of this fictionalized account of three beautiful women we all ought to know more about.

Please read this book! I believe all high schools should add this to their reading list. We all should have some exposure to Latin American literature--the earlier in life, the better.