Malinche: A Novel Audiobook

" While I enjoyed the passionate, magical Like Water for Chocolate better, Malinche has been an enjoyable historical read. Esquivel paints a vivid portrait of indigenous life and beautifully captures the spirituality that motivates the main character's life. My favorite descriptions in the book are when Esquivel describes the process in which Malinalli aquires and manipulates the new language she is learning, Spanish, and compares those meanings against the meanings in her native language. "

" Excellent, interesting, beautiful history of live, love and war. What could you sacrifice for love? Do you believe in some God?. A Mexican Indian that want help her people but also She wants to be loyal to her feelings. "

" I'm just about to start. "

" After reading this book one wants to learn Nahuatl to experience the gentle kind poetic language of Mallinali. Esquivel did a great job portraying the wisdom of Mallinali's grandmother in this novel through the reminiscings of her grand daughter. "

" This was terrible and the worst part is that it is based on historical events that are absolutely captivating. Cortez took her as his translator/concubine and he used her to help him conquer Mexico. Not only that, but they had a son who is considered the first "Mexican" to exist, which is contentious for the indigenous population of Mexico. Malinche is still a divisive icon in Mexico- someone who enabled the forcible colonization of their land and people. This book has the potential to be amazing but the fact that I struggled through it on a beach vacation no less... what a disappointment. "

" Terrible, trite, overwrought. Esquivel brought no life to the characters. It read like an evangelical sermon, Mexicali style. "

" i wish i could give this one 2 1/2. I liked it alot until it moved completely into the Cortez story. I know when reading the jacket that I should have known what I was getting into but the first part of the book gives you more than just the story of spain "raping" the aztecs for gold. it did insight some emotions though in case you hadn't noticed. "

" I feel pretty conflicted about this novel. On the one hand, I am drawn to its proud retelling of history and beautiful religious imagery. On the other hand, I had a lot of trouble with the rape scenes, since they were not intended to be read as rape...there was just a lot of the main character being raped then falling for the man who raped her! She seemed so much stronger than that! But I definitely see this book as important book for those who've grown up with the malinche story, and really all of us who've grown up with stories demonizing women. The books ultimate message is one of love, healing, and growth. "

" Terrible book. Great premise, and I had such high hopes from the author of Like Water for Chocolate, but this just didn't live up. Very verbose and difficult to get through...reading it felt like an assignment. "

" This translation felt so choppy that it drove me crazy. Though it was an interesting book, I think that I just wasn't in the mood to read about the various Mexica gods or appreciate how much Malinalli suffered as the Tongue. "

" I can't give this a fair review, because I couldn't bring myself to finish it. "

" Historia de Mexico, su raza y su cultura a travez de una india llamada Malinche,,,que mostro antes los conquistadores mas que su inteligencia el poder de convencer y manipular la situacion de nuestra raza en contra de esos arrebatadores conquistadores...muy buena, recomendada... "

" I started reading this book with all the emotion that I always start a book by Laura Esquivel, but I have to say that it was a disappointment.I was only able to read half of it and I did this forcing myself to get there. Boring. "

" This was a fast read - I remember enjoying the story, but it didn't blow me away "

" My expectations were perhaps too high since I thought "Like water for chocolate" was a wonderful magical realism. This book did not live up to that. I refused to give up but I skimmed lots of it. Perhaps the translation was bad but I did not see why this book was on the best seller list for long long time....the language was trite not "lyrical" "

" Actually it was the English version I was reading, but it might as well have been the Spanish version. Another book club selection gone bad for me at least and I usually love anything in a historical setting. "

" Good weaving of history and literature. Offers another pov of the conquest and why it was successful. "

" A fantastic evocation of a much explored historical period, excellent and moving characterisation. Lyrical and poetic. "

" I was impressed with the author's detailed descriptions in this novel & found myself transported to another time and place. I felt Malinalli's pain at her abandonment by her mother and her pain at abandoning her own child, her horror at the images of war and finally her peace. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its ability to engross me so that my own surroundings did not even register while I was reading it. "

" Spiritually enlightening. "

" A much-needed version of La Malinche's story from her point of view. I truly enjoyed the story and its historical references. "

" great book! I love how they mix history and religion with this story about a native girl. "

" This was just wierd. And not in a good way. "

" This was amazing. I enjoyed the time spent with her Grandmother, the best. We all are connected. "

" Malinche, being prepared to do everything for her Cortez - romantic, realistic novel "

" Really disappointing and indulgent interpretation of this story. Ambitious idea, but Esquivel really falls short in honoring the complexities of the Malinche figure. "

" I enjoyed the "history" component but a little too breathy! "

" I learned a lot about my Aztec ancestors. Reading this book actually inspired me to take a History of Mexico course in college. "

" This book didn't get good reviews but I really enjoyed it. It was flowery, not much of a plot, but the description of the Maya culture and symbolism of nature was beautiful. "

" Not a favorite.... "

" Loved it. I'm a sucker for a tale of woman's war survival story. I mean, war from a man's perspective is kind of like, no kidding...but war from a woman's perspective sheds light on the hidden cost and sacrifice. "

" It's kind of weird for me that I'm better at reading in Spanish than in German, but anyway. I love how Esquivel writes - because it's not hard for me to understand but also because it's such smooth, poetic language. "

" I'm just about to start. "

" The writing is lyrical but makes massive assumptions of the life and internal thought of Malinche and Cortez, none of which seem to be reflected in their actions. "

" Creo que nunca odié tanto un libro. "

" Her other book Water for Chocolate is SOOOO much better. I agree with the people who said this shoulda been amazing. "

" I had to stop after about 50 pages. It was boring, slow and overly dramatic. I don't recommend it. "

" Historia de Mexico, su raza y su cultura a travez de una india llamada Malinche,,,que mostro antes los conquistadores mas que su inteligencia el poder de convencer y manipular la situacion de nuestra raza en contra de esos arrebatadores conquistadores...muy buena, recomendada... "

" I learned a lot about my Aztec ancestors. Reading this book actually inspired me to take a History of Mexico course in college. "

" Beautifully written! Highly recommend the Recorded Books version narrated by Maria Conchita Alonso! "

" It was very interesting, I want to learn more about Malinalli (her name was Malinalli, Hernan Cortes was referred to as Malinche, I didn't know that.) "

" This book tells the story of Malinalli who had a relationship with Hernan Cortez and is seen as a traitor to her people. The story is a great read I really enjoy this book, gave me a little of history. "

" Delicious after coming from a trip to mexico "

" " Sorry I just didn't get this book. Too many god of blah..blah..I was totally lost.. " "

" I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it in the original Spanish. Oh well. Malinche is such a fascinating historical figure, but Esquivel's interpretation of her story is nothing at all like my imagination portrays her. "

" Historical fiction with a mystical-spiritual bent. Not my thing, but not horrible, either. "

" I really enjoyed how Laura Esquivel portrayed Malinalli-- her thoughts, beliefs, and actions- in this book. It was an enjoyable, easy to read narrative. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Latin American history, especially if he/she likes historical fiction. "

" I'm glad I started listening to this before I learned about her legend among the Mexican people. I feel that Laura Esquivel did a nice job of representing Malinalli in a more positive light. "