Esteban Trueba disgusts me. I literally threw my book across the room because I couldn’t stand the racist, sexist, rapist, abuser. In fact, every person in this book has disgusted me in some way. I don’t like any of them. But I think that’s because the book is so brutally honest. Nothing is left out. Every character’s sins are recorded. It’s a good reminder that everybody is terrible. Humanity always has been, always is, and always will be polluted by sin. It’s amazing how God can read the stories of our lives, which are often far worse than what is written in this book, and still love us as much as He does. I will never wrap my head around that.
The style of the book, how it spans across generations and sometimes shifts viewpoints, reminds me of a book I read in high school called The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. Both books are honest portrayals of imperfect people in imperfect families and, as I just said, they both take place over decades. I like that the stories don’t restrict themselves to just a few years. It gives freedom to write about every aspect of the characters’ lives, even if there are parts that some people would rather not read.
P.S. I commented on Clabo’s and Rebecca’s posts.
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