The idea of the Native American living in perfect harmony with
nature is one of the most cherished contemporary myths. But how
truthful is this larger-than-life image? According to
anthropologist Shepard Krech, the first humans in North America
demonstrated all of the intelligence, self-interest, flexibility,
and ability to make mistakes of human beings anywhere. As Nicholas
Lemann put it in The New Yorker, "Krech is more than just a
conventional-wisdom overturner; he has a serious larger point to
make. . . . Concepts like ecology, waste, preservation, and even
the natural (as distinct from human) world are entirely
anachronistic when applied to Indians in the days before the
European settlement of North America." "Offers a more complex
portrait of Native American peoples, one that rejects mythologies,
even those that both European and Native Americans might wish to
embrace."-Washington Post "My story, the story of 'how I became a
nun,' began very early in my life; I had just turned six. The
beginning is marked by a vivid memory, which I can reconstruct down
to the last detail. Before, there is nothing, and after, everything
is an extension of the same vivid memory, continuous and unbroken,
including the intervals of sleep, up to the point where I took the
veil ." So starts Cesar Aira's astounding "autobiographical" novel.
Intense and perfect, this invented narrative of childhood
experience bristles with dramatic humor at each stage of growing
up: a first ice cream, school, reading, games, friendship. The
novel begins in Aira's hometown, Coronel Pringles. As
self-awareness grows, the story rushes forward in a torrent of
anecdotes which transform a world of uneventful happiness into
something else: the anecdote becomes adventure, and adventure,
fable, and then legend. Between memory and oblivion, reality and
fiction, Cesar Aira's How I Became a Nun retains childhood's main
treasures: the reality of fable and the delirium of invention. A
few days after his fiftieth birthday, Aira noticed the thin rim of
the moon, visible despite the rising sun. When his wife explained
the phenomenon to him he was shocked that for fifty years he had
known nothing about "something so obvious, so visible." This
epiphany led him to write How I Became a Nun. With a subtle and
melancholic sense of humor he reflects on his failures, on the
meaning of life and the importance of literature.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
