Reviews for El Canto de Agua (Song of the Water Saints)

The average rating for El Canto de Agua (Song of the Water Saints) based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-12-21 00:00:00 Tyson Ratliff Normally, I have a great appreciation for books that view the history of a nation, a region or a culture through the lens of the fate of a family--"100 Years of Solitude" is the best-known recent example; one of my favorites is perhaps the oldest of them all, the classic Chinese novel "The Dream of the Red Chamber." And I see where Nelly Rosario is going in "Song of the Water Saints"--the history of the Dominican Republic beginning with yanqui armies there and ending with the immigrant community in New York so well represented by the play "In the Heights." And there is much to love about such a novel that centers on the lives of women of successive generations, with riffs on imperialism, emigration, Catholicism, economic and sexual exploitation and destructive poverty, somewhat intertwined. But the novel rarely centers; most of these women (with one girl among them) are on stage for episodes long enough to make a romantic or unromantic choice of a man and then the next generation replaces them. The exception is Graciela, great-grandmother to the Leila, the girl with which the series ends. Graciela is given the most pages, confronts the steepest challenges and is in the end victimized by them. And she is clearly meant as a matriarch, the strong core of the narrative, but for all the life-force expended on her, Graciela's character never cohered for this reader; she is alternately tough and weak, placing herself in danger without much explanation. These things can all be done, but not in so few pages and with such spare development. Novels this ambitious need enough space to fulfill it.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-29 00:00:00 Tracey Orgeron 2.5 It is always challenging when reading a novel about a different culture, this being set in the Dominican Republic, that one has not enough knowledge to judge the book or the writing style. In this case I liked the writing, Rosario has a choppier style of writing, often small paragraphs, yet was able to make me feel as if I was part of that culture. I often felt like a voyeur. Like I was there only to observe. Also from these description we get a view of the political situation on this country, though the main story concerns the women. Beginning of the twentieth century, and Graciela wants nothing to do with the usual roles of wives and mothers, she wants to experience things. She does not want to settle. I really liked her, she was a very colorful character. She does have a daughter, and eventually the daughter and her daughter end up in the United States. Seems that all the women have inherited Graciela's lust for life. I would have rated this higher, but at times I felt the sex, which was extremely gritty was not necessary, unless it was to provide a shock value, which was to imply that the life these women led was shocking. I honestly don't know. Also while the story was interesting, it did not provide a cohesive story, and the pacing was very uneven with the first part taking the longest and the rest seemed to go quicker. Yet, I cannot say I will never read this author again, I think she has an amazing talent and it may just be me and the culture, the style of writing. I think she has a talent that bears watching.