The Years with Laura Diaz

Overview

A radiant family saga set in a century of Mexican history, by one of the world's greatest writers.

Carlos Fuentes's hope-filled new novel sees the twentieth century through the eyes of Laura D'az, a woman who becomes as much a part of our history as of the Mexican history she observes and helps to create. Born in 1898, this extraordinary woman grows into a wife and mother, becomes the lover of great men, and, before her death in 1972, is celebrated as a politically committed artist.

Editorial Reviews

In a masterwork imbued with historical anecdotes, mystical imagery and revelations about human existence, Fuentes (The Death of Artemio Cruz) relates the story of 20th-century Mexico through the fictional biography of Laura D!az. Narrated by Laura's great-grandson, a photographer and documentary filmmaker, the central thread is straightforward: Laura grows from an unusually observant child into an attractive and passionate young woman, survives numerous revolutions and world wars, several lovers and one husband. The catalyst that keeps this chronicle engaging is Laura's desire to steer the course of her life above and beyond the political currents surging through Mexican society. Much of her life revolves around her rising and falling romances: with a Casanova who vanishes when Laura gets too close to him, a Communist whose search for his missing wife precludes their relationship and a screenwriter who is slowly dying of emphysema. She eventually marries Juan Francisco, an activist whose political passion initially attracts Laura, but ultimately disturbs and alienates her. The union produces two sons. In her later years, inspired by close acquaintances with the artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, Laura becomes a photographer (she photographs Kahlo's body while it is being cremated) and achieves renown almost instantly. While in other books Fuentes's characteristic riffs and dizzying, cascading sentences were intended as potential expansions of the novel, this time these gestures are used for the deepening development of the content of the book rather than of its form. Fuentes's emotional commitment to his subject shows in the lucidity of the book's underlying intellectual dialoguesDthe opposition of communism and fascism, the corrosion of individual identities by historical processesDwhich Fuentes is able to animate with a learned lyricism that should make this volume one of his most admired and memorable. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes is the author of more than twenty books, including This I Believe, The Death of Artemio Cruz, and The Old Gringo. He served as Mexico's ambassador to France from 1975 to 1977. He has received many awards and honors, including the R�mulo Gallegos Prize, the National Prize in Literature (Mexico's highest literary award), the Cervantes Prize, and the inaugural Latin Civilization Award. He has also been the recipient of France's Legion of Honor medal, Italy's Grinzane Cavour Award, Spain's Prince of Asturias Award, and Brazil's Order of the Southern Cross. His work has appeared in The Nation, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, the Los Angeles Times Book Review, and The Washington Post Book World. He currently divides his time between Mexico City and London.

Customer Reviews

• Tremendous portrait of life, death, and 20th century Mexico

  Posted December 31, 2008 by Kim, Lancaster, SC

  First off, I am not a literary critique. I am a historian of Latin America, however, and enjoyed Carlos Fuentesa novel, The Death of Artemio Cruz quite a bit. So with that in mind, I took a couple days of my holiday vacation to read this book. It is a tremendous read.
  
  That said, I both love it and hate it. Through the eyes of Laura Diaz, we see an average woman, one who loves and loses, and lives in the present, which cannot be said of many of the other characters, (who are always living for and dreaming of the future). Moral lessons. Historical lessons. Intrigue. Suspense. Nostalgia. All are in this book. All are in this book. I love it! But at the same time, that which I loved most I also hated the most. Laura Diaz has numerous affairs and cannot understand how her husband can still love her and live with her, even having finding out. The Revolution is less an integral part and the affects of the Revolution take center stage. Does the Revolution really not play a major role in Veracruz as the author states? And I am still dying to find out more about Santiago the First (though not knowing much is the point). And Pilar Mendez and Baselio Baltazara �what happened to them?
  
  One good thing about this book again, from a non-literary perspective is that it does not have the thick sludge packed into his more famous book, Death of Artemio Cruz. This is a much better book and well worth the read, right up there, in my opinion, with Isabel Allendea's House of Spirits (though without magical realism or whatever the literary terminology is). The reading flows smoothly and I found myself putting down my Brad Thor novel for this one.
  
  On a negative note�.oh, heck, I cannot think of anything negative to say. Give this book a try.
  
  

Additional Info

Imprint

Macmillan

Filesize

1.74 MB

Number of Pages

528

eBook ISBN

9780374706425

Awards

• International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
• Kiriyama Prize