What was it that enabled people to give their lives for an idea, for the freedom of others? I made the mistake of starting this close enough to the onslaught of my winter school session to make an eight day work take two months, but now that I know I'm capable of dipping back into something over such a stretched period, it's since become a valuable experience. It would have been one even without my inadvertent multitasking exercise supreme, for when someone like me is able to check off autobiog What was it that enabled people to give their lives for an idea, for the freedom of others?
It would have been one even without my inadvertent multitasking exercise supreme, for when someone like me is able to check off autobiography, translation, woman of color, revolution, poetry, literature, and the US rendered as the menace that is all in the same work, they'll do what I'm doing now and give studying for finals the finger long enough to both finish and properly reminisce. I can understand why the status quo's uncomfortable. Shit moves fast when it hasn't been doing so since the day you were born. It's outrageous to think that knowledge is only for those who can pay for it.
Despite the tremendously high rating this book enjoys, I'm sure there are those out there ruining this work for others because Giocanda Belli's not a saint or chaste or romantically faithful or consistent to any other principles than her own sense of ethics on a national, global, and literary scale. I came to this work knowing bits and pieces about Reagan and the Iran-Contra scandal and a couple students in a community college class who were worried about their family back home, and left blessed with a better grip on yet another part of the world than I could have ever hoped for.
Also, famous literary people! Famous historical events that didn't make sense until surrounded by the deeply personal context of someone who not only lived through them but helped bring the best of them to fruition! I was in heaven. I gotta say, though: Another circle had closed.
I too had fought for this, fought so my daughters could, as Che said, "deeply feel any injustice committed against any human being anywhere in the world. Si usted es mujer, es latinoamericana, y cree en la posibilidad de un mundo mejor, debe leer este libro. Mar 05, else fine rated it it was amazing Shelves: It happens to all of us. You meet someone - at a party, maybe, or a coffee shop - someone so beautiful you feel slightly blinded, and when you try to talk it just comes out all garbled and stupid.
Your hands twist and your heart constricts, like you're trying to curl up into yourself for safety. I feel like that about this book. Rendered stupid and inarticulate, cut to the quick.
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Her story goes beyond the particulars of one time and place to say something profound about the universal experience It happens to all of us. Her story goes beyond the particulars of one time and place to say something profound about the universal experience of women - women as artists, women as citizens, women as members of families, women alone. I was expecting history, but what I got was revelation. Jan 26, Maxy. Seriously what a great book.
Giving it to all my friends for their birthdays, you've been warned! Jul 12, Dani rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: This book empowered me to forward thinking. This is great feminist, political and historical literature. Gioconda Belli writes in such a way that the reader feels that their traveling down memory road alongside the author. A great book and difficult to put down, The Country Under My skin is a very worthwhile book to read.
Oct 21, Merrikay rated it it was amazing. This is an intriguing memoir of a woman born into the Nicaraguan upper class, whose experiences and insights cause her to join the Sandinista revolution, work in the Ortega administration, marry an American reporter from NPR and move to Santa Monica, California. What a fascinating life and what multiple perspectives she develops through these experiences. I have recently read memoirs of other women revolutionaries from Cuba and Russia among others, and have developed more of a knowledge base f This is an intriguing memoir of a woman born into the Nicaraguan upper class, whose experiences and insights cause her to join the Sandinista revolution, work in the Ortega administration, marry an American reporter from NPR and move to Santa Monica, California.
I have recently read memoirs of other women revolutionaries from Cuba and Russia among others, and have developed more of a knowledge base for making some comparisons. Some of the similarities that I am seeing are struggles with feminist issues, free speech issues, and individual vs. Belli is respected for her participation in the revolution early on, as she performs such varied actions as writing poetry, publishing magazines and newspapers, and transporting arms, ALL of which put her life at risk.
As the revolution succeeds and the Sandinistas come into power, their attempted treatment of women as equals begins to fail. Belli seems to think this is due to the difficulty of ridding themselves of lifelong habits and beliefs about gender differences. It seems that men carry the largest part of the burden of this imbalance of power between genders in their culture, but women are also responsible for falling for some of these old beliefs and giving in to being taken care of.
Surely this is an existential issue that most humans experience. Specifically when she moves to a suburban area in the U. Her description of this alone is worth the read. It is intriguing to read her comparison of conversations at parties in the U. Do the topics of conversation bring us closer or keep us at a distance? With the quiet, empty streets and houses, you have to put in a lot of effort to make things different.
Don't know if I would know how to do that in a foreign culture and geography. Another by-product of imbalance between individualism and collectivism seems to be some loss of creativity. Although I must say that in Cuba, the embargo and other causes of shortages in many areas seem to have resulted in a lot of creativity.
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She seems to think that Castro was perhaps more effective in his stronger control of the media, believing after the fact that this may be necessary for a new young government initially. I loved that the first thing both the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutionary governments did was to focus on raising the literacy rates in their countries, because of their belief that an educated population was necessary. This is interesting and timely reading for me as a U.
As the news continues to break of illegal U. We were the only two people there, in this suburb of the capitol of California. But that's a different review.
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I have noticed that other reviewers perceive Belli as narcissistic, grandiose and neglectful of her children. I have to say - nothing new there - studies show these tendencies are found in many if not most leaders and CEOs. Seems one would almost have to have ideas of grandiosity to think you might be able to pull off a revolution. Also, children of leaders often suffer from neglect and danger. I think here about the children of those who fought to free slaves in the U.
The decision has to be made about whether your children will benefit most from remaining slaves or suffering the trauma of fighting for freedom. I have often thought about how my parenting might differ if instead of being white in the U. How would I tell my children to respond to being pulled over by police if I were a member of a group who experiences more police brutality.
Watch the last scene of the movie Panther and tell me what you teach your children. There seems to me also to be an inordinate amount of sexism found when examining parenting by leaders. I don't often read criticism and accusations of family neglect by male leaders who spend their lives working.
Although, I have heard those accusations about Gandhi.
Undoubtedly Mandela's children felt abandoned while he was in prison. It is not a decision to be taken lightly or by those of little courage. One last topic I found interesting was reading about the three factions of the revolutionary party in Nicaragua and the difficulties of dealing with their differences and working together, which was the only way to succeed with a revolution it seems. This is especially interesting reading in the light of current occurrences in Egypt and other countries experiencing revolution today.
So yes - a five star read for me. Feb 12, Ron rated it liked it. While the book does serve as an insider's history of the Sandinista movement that 'liberated' Nicaragua from Somoza, the author's depictions of herself as a free spirited libertine fall very flat as do her depictions of her family life, aside from the relationship with Charlie. Despite her revolutionary activities and lifelong seeking of agency as a woman and a citizen, she nonetheless describes having to 'fit into the roles history has cast for us' with surprise, even more surprised that the While the book does serve as an insider's history of the Sandinista movement that 'liberated' Nicaragua from Somoza, the author's depictions of herself as a free spirited libertine fall very flat as do her depictions of her family life, aside from the relationship with Charlie.
Despite her revolutionary activities and lifelong seeking of agency as a woman and a citizen, she nonetheless describes having to 'fit into the roles history has cast for us' with surprise, even more surprised that the Ortegas would simply become the new establishment or that General Torrijos or Castro saw the reward of power as sexual dominance; it's as if she's never read anthropology, living in her little bubble where she believed her love for various Sandinistas was pure.
While her idealism is clear, she betrays an ignorance of history that her elite status and access to books and education should long ago have repudiated. The truth is that she traded one bubble for another, that she had access to wealth as the heiress to a coffee mogul, but lived among the impoverished in a way that can only now be viewed as slumming or fetish. She traveled the world and met many fascinating characters with great power as world leaders, but the tales of meeting Fidel Castro and others fail to shed much light on them and she displays a very sad support for Zionism that no modern radical would.
In the end, her depression seems to reveal that perhaps she did not have the idealism or courage of her convictions that we were led to believe, that she was perhaps merely a thrill seeking personality running on adrenaline which ran out when they won. She ended up marrying a man of some fair means--even if he too seemed a poseuer by working for NPR--and now spends her time flying back and forth several times a year to Nicaragua and in therapy or shopping, also buying the establishment and right wing view that technology will ultimately save us.
There is a great deal of good material here--and none in her poetry or novels, BTW--but it's difficult to get through the book, even if her writing is elegant and refined. Something simply rubs the reader the wrong way because of her background and that knowledge that she always had the ability to return to her life of privilege and wealth and now does so frequently. Feb 23, Jessica rated it really liked it.
All memoirs should be written by internationally reknowned poets; it makes them such a sumptuous read. She happened into being a sandinista more than she made a conscious political statement, and her privilege may have insulated her from a tr All memoirs should be written by internationally reknowned poets; it makes them such a sumptuous read.
She happened into being a sandinista more than she made a conscious political statement, and her privilege may have insulated her from a true understanding of the risks she was taking, but even if some of her action was spurred by youthful naivete and recklessness, it is clear that she loves her country and its people and that she grew into a deserving leader. The history and political upheaval provide a serious backbone for a story that is also sprinkled with unapologetic insights into parenting, love, sex, power, and the interplay between them all.
Belli is frank about her romantic affairs, representing them all -- healthy, unhealthy, based on love, on sex, on a mixture of both -- as normal and equally valuable. She describes the sexism she experienced from fellow sandinistas and from world leaders frankly and without defensiveness. Jul 02, Diane Ramirez rated it liked it.
Gioconda is a writer of great talents and a compelling story -- she was intimately connected with the Sandinista revolution from the beginning of the s. I get the feeling this wasn't the best way for me to discover her. Gioconda Belli knew everybody, apparently every male she encountered including presidents and generals found her irresistible, she alway Gioconda is a writer of great talents and a compelling story -- she was intimately connected with the Sandinista revolution from the beginning of the s.
Gioconda Belli knew everybody, apparently every male she encountered including presidents and generals found her irresistible, she always lived a life of extreme advantage NB except when she got in touch with the impoverished people, but only for as long as she could take it , and what's more, she always seemed to know what was right and best, even when her fellow countrymen were floundering. The most "disparaging" thing she found to say about herself in this exploration of her life is that her particular interpretation of the Sandinista uniform included camouflage pants and a halter.
It made her feel sexy. That's kind of like the old job interview answer "I am just too much of a perfectionist. She also married a US citizen, so she is faced with the differences between the two countries in a big way to this day. However, she seems to forget that she is herself a product of privilege, even if she's from Central America. There are very few of us that are made directors of television stations, flown around the world to meet with world leaders, placed in "simple but comfortable" homes, flown to Mexico City by friends to get over a broken heart.
This is a perfect example of why I typically dread reading memoirs. It's not that I can't relate to Belli's life experiences, it's that she makes herself so aloof and above it all that it's impossible to relate to HER. Dec 06, Katherine rated it really liked it Recommends it for: Recommended to Katherine by: I would definitely make this more of a 4.
This was such a beautiful personal account of Gioconda Belli's journey into Sandinista activism and love affairs with multiple intellectual figures that drove many of her life decisions. One of the best factors of what made this story so precious was really her writing style, and I did read this in Spanish. I heard the English translation doesn't leave the same impression, but for those who can do it, please read the Spanish version. I l I would definitely make this more of a 4. I literally felt the words were melting with honey all over with me with many of her phrases.
On another note, her story is so fascinating, in terms of how she really lived each present moment and didn't hold back to push herself into a risky lifestyle within a guerrilla movement, living in exile and incorporating herself in love affairs without regrets. She was honest in her sharing her story, even being genuine that this life wasn't without pain.
But everything ultimately came down to her choice of how she want to live her life, no matter how much we could choose to judge her decision-making patterns. Yes, it's true that in her story the main protagonists are always men, and there are no highlights of other feminists within the movement. But it might be her own self-interest in making sense of things as she draws out all the different men in her life and how she lived at a time where women's empowerment was a different thing. She got married young because she thought that was her road to independence. But as soon as she saw what it really led to, she didn't follow the norm, but decided to led her life be led by what made her passionate.
And yes, she does come from a more middle-upper class background where her choice to join the movement is different to someone from a poorer marginalized group. It doesn't mean that it isn't an interesting story and that we don't get a sense of what it meant to liberate Nicaragua from a US-funded dictator, as a promise to make the country a better place for future generations. An extraordinary human being. I'd be curious to see how the translation into English turned out.
It depicts a young woman from the burgeoisie who becomes an guerrilla fighter. Brought back memories of that whole era of the Salvadoran and Nicaraguan solidarity movement here in the U. And it also reminded me of when I visited Nicaragua in 82 or 83, to see the revolution up close, and ended up in a hospital in a contra war-ravaged area of northern Nicaragua with killer food poisoning The scarcity was such, the hospital was strapped for all kinds of supplies, including toilet paper But that was nothing compared to the wounded young soldiers that came in screaming I look forward to reading more of Gioconda Belli's poetry and fiction!
Jun 21, Sarah Macdonald rated it liked it. I have mixed reactions about this book. On one hand, it is a unique perspective on the Sandinista movement from someone who knew their inner workings. Also, we rarely hear of the women's involvement in such revolutions, so it's an even more intriguing perspective.
However, I found Belli herself to be a privileged, name-dropping narcissist whose personal life was horrifyingly shallow. As she demonizes those she cheated on to justify her many affairs, and glosses over the fact she was largely abse I have mixed reactions about this book. As she demonizes those she cheated on to justify her many affairs, and glosses over the fact she was largely absent mother yet takes credit for her children's successes, it sets off red flags about the veracity of her narrative.
If her reflections on her personal life seem to have a heavy bias, can we readers trust her perspective of the revolution? And as a poet, she does not apply a poet's frugality with words; at times the story got bogged down with heavy-handed details and endless, odd descriptions of people based on how good looking they were, or with long, pointless sagas about influential men who made passes at her.
Due to its unique perspective, I would recommend it to any interested in the Sandinista movement, but not to those interested in a good read. Simplesmente adorei esta autobiografia da escritora e ativista Gioconda Belli! Oct 23, Nic rated it really liked it. An easy to read account of life in Nicaragua just before, during and after the Sandanista revolution in Gioconda relates her story as only someone both on the inside of a political upheaval and an artist can. That makes it an interesting story revealing both her romance with the revolution and her disillusionment.
It is not a historical text and is limited to the perspective of just one person, but at the same time, much more entertaining and personal because of the real life confusion and An easy to read account of life in Nicaragua just before, during and after the Sandanista revolution in It is not a historical text and is limited to the perspective of just one person, but at the same time, much more entertaining and personal because of the real life confusion and emotions intertwining with the bigger world news story.
Mar 31, Sheri Fresonke Harper rated it really liked it Shelves: I bought this book before going to Nicaragua recently and just finished it. It feels odd to see my country as a villain. The feminist take on the revolution was interesting, as does the reactions of various women. This memoir though feels very personal, despite the historical aspects. Sep 07, Andrea Rizzo rated it really liked it.
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I read this book just before my first trip to Nicaragua. It was a good primer on what life was like before and after the earthquake, but more importantly, all about the revolution from an insider's perspective. The fact that the author was a feminist and poet made it even more fascinating. Jun 26, Shira Reiss rated it it was amazing. I absolutely loved this book!! She is a romantic, practical idealist, grounded visionary and author of paradoxes who sees life in all its fullness.
This book gave a point of view from a woman who was intimately and deeply involved in the Sandinista revolution to oust the dictator, Samoza, the horrendous earthquake in Managua, meeting Castro as well as the post re I absolutely loved this book!! This book gave a point of view from a woman who was intimately and deeply involved in the Sandinista revolution to oust the dictator, Samoza, the horrendous earthquake in Managua, meeting Castro as well as the post revolution struggle for power followed by the Contra-Sandinista War funded by the U. Recently I was in Nicaragua.
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I was handed this book when I said that I really wanted to understand the history of the country. This book was a real find! When I finished it, I felt a deep connection with the country and all of past troubles and a connection with the author, Gioconda Belli. The book is so intimate that I feel that I not only got to know her, but that I grew up with her through her early years as a woman discovering herself as a sexual being to finding true love and especially her budding idealism as a Sandinista.
Her views of life in U. Her memoir takes us from Managua — Santa Monica If not, you may enjoy these passages. Who am I as a woman? I had exposed myself to bullets, death; I had smuggled weapons, given speeches, received awards, had children--so many things, but a life without men, without love, was alien to me, I felt I had no existence unless a man's voice said my name and a man's love rendered my life worthwhile.
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It was not a question of denying men a role in my life, but I was determined to stop being emotionally dependent on them. I forced myself to examine my vulnerabilities: I had filled a raw emotional void, tried to make up for affection I had lacked, by asserting myself and my femininity mostly though my sexuality and my powers of seduction, ignoring and underestimating my other gifts.
I thought nothing of my tenacity, or my optimism I also understood that I loved my children, but only as reflections, only in two dimensions, as if they were just simple, sweet creatures, and I could not see that below the surface they too had fears, complexities" p. Who am I as a poet? It was water flowing from a spring within me that channeled onto the page, effortlessly. I also thought of it as energy produced by an unseen organ in my body--a sensory antenna, perhaps, that would capture aromas, feelings, sensations, and every so often would release a flash of illumination.
If I had paper, pen, and silence at hand when the first verse broke into my consciousness, that thunderbolt would ignite a poem" p. To be or not to be a revolutionary? I stood there for what must have been a long time, watching their peaceful faces as they slept in their orange-colored beds. Melissa with her pacifier and Maryam with her arms wide open. If only I could take them back into my womb to shelter them.
I wanted a womb to hide in with them, the warm safety of the amniotic fluid. At least Nicaragua wasn't like Argentina, or Chile, where the dictatorships tortured and killed children along with their parents. I didn't fear for their lives--what I feared was the idea of them being left all alone. Did I have any right, as a mother, to take such risks? But my fate was sealed. A Comparative Analysis of the European Press. Retrieved 28 June Archived from the original on 3 May Archived from the original on 5 January In Richard Gunther; Anthony Mughan.
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Retrieved 17 April Archived from the original on 21 June Retrieved 23 February Retrieved 1 December House 17 June Culture and Leadership Across the World: Retrieved 31 January Retrieved 12 December Society for News Design. Retrieved 6 October Corporate Reputation and the News Media: Press Freedom and Pluralism in Europe: Retrieved 7 January Archived from the original on 22 June Retrieved 6 September A comparative analysis of the free and paid-for newspapers in Spain". Revista Latina de Comunicacion Social Archived from the original on 24 September Retrieved 19 August Retrieved 20 November PR Noticias in Spanish.