Love is the best ingredient of all

Like Water for Chocolate was a very beautifully written, emotional story by Laura Esquivel. I found many concepts to be very interesting. What I most enjoyed about the book is also a love of mine in life, food. Each Chapter began with a different recipe that would invoke memories for Tita.  For Tita whether it be wedding cake, tamales, or dinner rolls, the recipe is the first step to triggering memories. These recipes, once created, have colors, smells and tastes that are unique to that dish. It creates memories and feelings for Tita, quite literally. Tita’s emotions were reflected in the food she cooked. I found this to be an extremely interesting concept because most dishes are better when people put their emotions into them. Tita creates a meal filled with lust, quail in rose petal sauce, after Pedro gives her a rose. This is one of the many fantastic examples of magical realism with Tita’s dishes. Gertrudis is swept away by a solider and stricken by love after eating Tita’s meal of lust. This has fantastical elements to it showing Tita’s meals can instill her emotions into others through food. 

This reminded me of the Disney film, Ratatouille, when the main character, a rat named Remy, is experiencing food. He talks about how each flavor is totally unique, and combining one flavor with another something new is created. In these scenes, Remy visualizes what the food tastes like while symphonies of musical instruments and dazzling lights dance around him demonstrating how the food makes him feel. This is similar to Tita’s cooking. What ingredients you put into food and the passion behind it create a certain feel figuratively, and in Like Water for Chocolate, literally.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfV8NUiUz60&feature=related full scene. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXoJjgxMj9M&feature=related clearer version)

My mother always says her special ingredient is “love.” I found it funny, the entire time I was reading the novel I kept going back to that statement. When my mom makes a big fantastic feast while lighting candles in the kitchen and listening to her Celtic Woman CD, her meals taste so much better than when she comes home from a frustrating day at work to see a messy kitchen because no one has done the dishes from the night before!

Love was a theme I found throughout the novel and I must comment on the love story as I feel I am a bit of a romantic. I have heard people comparing the love of Tita and Pedro to that of Romeo and Juliet. I would say they are very different. While Tita and Pedro longed for each other, they did not have the obsessive lust Romeo and Juliet shared. Romeo and Juliet were willing to run away, even die, to be together. Tita and Pedro followed what they had to do and only had one major indiscretion. The only thing I found similar in the two couples passion was the fact it was forbidden and in the end they were together. This brings me to my next question; do I consider this a happy ending? Absolutely. I don’t know about what Hollywood thinks, but in the real world, in a situation like Tita’s, that’s as happy as it is going to get. I loved the ending although at some points I was hoping she would settle for a life with John. Tita got what her heart truly desired in the end, what more could you ask for?

Mama Elena was a very dreadful person. I was appalled by her “traditions” not letting Tita follow her heart. She was, however, a very demanding character who caught your attention. “Unquestionably,, when it came to dividing, dismantling, dismembering, desolating, detaching, dispossessing, destroying, or dominating, Mama Elena was a pro. After she died, no one came close to accomplishing the same feats….” (97)  She was a powerful character although a horrid one, and although Mama Elena was truly hated by Tita she was a fierce woman. Without Mama Elena, I do not believe Tita would have grown into such a strong, powerful character herself.


The book did not have a sad ending to me. I thought it was perfect. Pedro and Tita could be "together for the lost Eden.  Never again would they be apart." Tita deserved nothing more than a perfect ending for all she had gone though. Like Water for Chocolate was a beautiful novel, and inspires one to follow their heart, keep your head up, and know a happy ending is possible.



extra thought: Taste Visualization for Pixar's Ratatouille (Just thought it was neat!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xizttM_Cbuc&NR=1

Zorro, "Just So"

I have never actually read a graphic novel. I took a glance at Watchmen at one point, but never really got into it. Zorro was absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed reading it. A lot of times with novels, I find it hard to follow. I definitely enjoy reading but with a lot of books I get very lost with long drawn out paragraphs. It's hard for me to pay attention to what's going on and find myself rereading pages over and over again. The doctor and my mother says it has to do with my ADD, but I think a lot of times my mind wanders because I'm focusing so hard on picturing what the story is saying and creating my own visions and creating my own story that I lose track of the words I'm actually reading. This, of course, is the beauty of literature, but often times I get frustrated. With Zorro the images were right in front of me so I didn't have to read long drawn out imagery or details. It was almost like watching a movie.

I have heard of Zorro before, of course, and have seen a couple of the films, but this story line was great. It gave Zorro a reason to be who he is. Zorro reminded me a bit of Robin Hood, a character I very much admire. To have gone through everything Diego De La Vega had gone through and still be a wonderful, giving person concerned about the wellness of others is my exact definition of a hero.

There were so many great scenes throughout the novel it is definitely hard to pick out just one! My favorite scene was during the pirate attack. Once the pirates enter the De Le Vega home in chapter 2, Diego's mother puts on her "Daughter of the Wolf" face and was ready to fight for her home and protect her only son. The first image I love is the one of her standing by a fireplace, two swords in hand facing a mob of nearly ten pirates. But in the second image, a close up of her face, she is a fierce mama wolf with powerful eyes ready to attack. I LOVE this image of Regina. It shows such powerful emotion.

The scene I liked the least but I must note is the scene where Bernardo's mother was raped. This scene is on the page right after the Regina scene mentioned above. I have to note this scene because it was one of the first images that really gave me an emotional connection to these characters through the images. The scene shows Bernardo cowering under a bed keeping his word to his mother that he will not make a sound. The progression of tears forming and eventually pouring out of his eyes while his mother gives a great sacrifice to save him broke my heart.



"JUST SO."



I also very much enjoyed all of the close up images of Maestro, Miguel Escalante's face throughout Diego's fencing training. He would be twisting his mustache saying "Just so." I found that funny.

I loved all the fast action scenes as well! For example, near the end of the novel, Zorro has his much anticipated major fight scene with Gonzales! The words ran though my mind and the pictures seemed to move so fast I forgot I was reading a book!

This graphic novel was really amazing. I was very impressed. The story was captivating, the images were beautiful. I loved everything about it, I couldn't put it down. I'll definitely be reading many more graphic novels. Starting with Zorro Vol. 2. I'm buying it this weekend.

BORGES

You know what happens when you assume...

Jorge Luis Borges

Last week I read several pieces by Borges. I read "The Garden of Forking Paths," "The Gospel According to Mark," and "Emma Zunz." They were all wonderfully written stories, however, there was often times confusion and holes in his stories. He would assume the reader knew a lot more than they probably did. Similar to the past authors, Borges creates alternate realities for his characters.

The first story I read was "The Garden of Forking Paths."  It was a very long story. I feel the whole which path should you follow has been done so many times I just didn't enjoy this story. Also I found it kind of hard to follow and I think that had to do with how long it was.

"Emma Zunz" was another piece by Borges that I read. This story definitely kept me on my toes. In the story Emma kills the man who killed her father. She tells the police an entirely different story. People will see her as a helpless person who killed someone by protecting herself. She will go on living in different worlds. Many people lie. In fact, most people do. It is not the right thing to do because lying creates different realities. Depending on what degree of a liar you are, you could have so many realities you won't be able to keep track of them all. This story reminded me of a boy I knew in high school. He would lie all the time about the silliest things. When people would bring him up, every one always had different information about him. He lived so many different lives. I know Emma only lived with the lie about killing the man but the boy in my class was almost like a fiction character to me, know one really knew who he was.

In "The Gospel According to Mark," apparently the Gutres did not know who Espinosa was. Well, don't feel bad, I did not know either. In this story Borges assumes a lot. Like the reader knows what Espinosa stands for. Espinosa was 33 years old at the time of the story, the age Jesus was when he died on the cross. His first name was Baltasar, which was one of the wise men and Espinosa was the name of the man who scientifically proved Jesus to be real.

"The Gospel According to Mark" the Gutres decide to crucify Espinosa. I kind of thought this was weird. They believed by sacrificing Espinosa they would be able to stop the rain. The Gutres were ignorant. Borges used magical realism to create a reality for these people. The reality was that by sacrificing Espinosa they would gain what they want. This is not true. Espinosa had so many similarities with Jesus Borges, perhaps, suggests that this is his fate.
Borges was a great author. I enjoyed him more than I did Marquez. My favorite story of his was probably "Emma Zunz." I would love to read more work by him.