Sunday, November 2, 2008

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

Rico is a Cuban-American, but doesn't look it. His pale skin and light hair set him apart form the other Latinos in his community. Feeling isolated from his culture and misunderstood by his parents, Rico runs away to Wisconsin to live with his friend Gilberto. While there, Rico doesn't have to worry about being Cuban because everyone thinks he's white. But in the land of milk and honey, Rico feels a part of him missing, and is determined to discover who he really is.

Este libro es muy bien. In other words, this book was very good. This surprised me because I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I definitley liked how Oscar Hijuelos added some Spanish into the book (with an English translation, of course). I'm in Spanish IV and I like to see how much Spanish I've actually retained and can recognize. I thought that Rico was an interesting character and I felt sympathy for his identity crisis. He had trouble discovering who he was as a person and I think every teenager can relate to this. Even though I liked this book and thought it was good, I don't really have much to say about it. It didn't elicit much of a reaction out of me. I know this sounds like a contradiction, but you'll just have to go with it. : )

6 out of 10.

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