Reading
Latin
American literature commonly deals with issues
of
sexuality in a frank and direct manner, and
many of the books
on this list contain sexually explicit portions
which may not
be appropriate for your student. Please contact
Mr. D. for more
information about specific titles.
Bernal
Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain
William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest
of Mexico
" History
of the Conquest of Peru
Miguel Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears: the
Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico
Bartolome De Las Casas, A Short Account of the
Destruction of the Indies
Luis Alberto Urrea, Across the Wire: Life and
Hard Times on the Mexican Border
Andrew Sinclair, Che Guevara
Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of
Solitude
"
Leaf Storm and Other Stories
"
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories
Thornton Wilder, The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory
Isabel Allende, The House of the Spirits
Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing
"
All the Pretty Horses
Mario Varga Llosa, Death in the Andes, or any
of his works
Carlos Fuentes, The Campaign
"
The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and
The New World
"
The Death of Artemio Cruz
Paul Theroux, The Old Patagonian Express
Bruce Chatwin, In Patagonia. A beauty.
Joan Didion, Salvador
Jorges Luis Borges, The Book of Imaginary Beings
Redmond O'Hanlon, In Trouble Again
Pat Mancini, ed., Contemporary Latin American
Short Stories
Robin Kirk, The Monkey's Paw
Miguel
de Unamuno, poems
Pablo Neruda, poems
Hoberman
& Socolow, The Countryside in Colonial Latin
America
Ruth Behar, Translated Woman: crossing the Border
. . .
Alan Riding, Distant Neighbors: a Portrait of
the Mexicans
Inge Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya
and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
Alfred Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: the Biological
Expansion of Europe, 900-1900
D.W. Meinig, The Shaping of America: a Geographical
Perspective on 500 Years of History, vol. 1
- Atlantic America
Lillian Castillo-Speed, ed., Latina: Women's
Voice from the Borderlands
Thomas Skidmore and Peter H. Smith, Modern Latin
America
Lori Marie Carlson, Barrio Streets, Carnival
Dreams: Three Generations of Latino Artistry
Alicia Dujovne Ortiz, Eva Peron: a Biography
Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place
This
is a very very partial list of Latin American
literature
and books about Latin America. These are merely
the titles I happen to know, and I
don't know much. If you, whoever who are, have
some suggestions of good titles for high-school
aged readers, please let me know! send
me mail
Thanks!
Films about or
by Latin Americans
In
general, films from and about Latin America
tend to deal with
human needs and sexuality in a more direct manner
than we are
accustomed to. Many of these films contain sexually
explicit scenes,
many involve strong emotional content, addressed
head-on.
Unless
noted as "U.S." these films are in
Spanish or Portuguese,
with English subtitles.
You
might find many of the U.S. films at your local
video shop, but for most of them, you may need
to look further. All
of them are available by mail order from "Home
Film Festival," at $6 per title plus S&H,
for three nights. There is a catalogue at TSA
available for review and ordering information,
or you can contact them at 1-800-258-3456 and
become a member ( recommended ! )
El Norte. U.S. ( in Spanish ) Brother and sister
flee their violence-torn village in Guatemala.
My Family. U.S.; three generations in the life
of a Mexican-American family.
The Mission. U.S.; haunting story of 17th century
Amazonia, based on the true story of the utopian
Jesuit missions in Paragua; with Jeremy Irons
and Robert DeNiro.
Like Water for Chocolate. Mexico; story of magical
girl, a wicked mother, food, love . . .
Los Olvidados. Mexico; children and slum life,
by Luis Buñuel . . . sure to be strange
Danzon. Mexico; dancer from Mexico City searching
for lost companion
Macario. Mexico; peasant finds special water
that "cures death"
Viva Zapata. U.S.; with Marlon Brando, Anthony
Quinn, dir by Kazan, and screenplay by John
Steinbeck . . . why is this film so difficult
to find??
The Alamo. U.S.; credit only for critical review
focusing on the film's treatment of history
and the Mexicans
The Official Story. Argentina; woman confronts
the ugly truth about her daughter's past.
Man Facing Southeast. Argentina; "ET"
for grownups . … a strange man with a strange
past.
Killing Grandpa. Argentina; old man finds new
reasons to live.
Don Segundo Sombra. Argentina; classic coming-of-age-story
of young gaucho on the Argentine pampas.
Aguirre, the Wrath of God. German; a maniacal
Spanish conquistador on a doomed expedition
into the Amazon rain forest.
Buena Vista Social Club. U.S.; celebrated film
on a Cuban-American musical meeting.
Under Fire. U.S.; Nick Nolte as a photojournalist
in the Nicaraguan Revolution.
Salvador. U.S.; James Woods in El Salvador during
the war.
Romero. U.S.; Raul Julia as the martyred Salvadoran
archbishop.
El Super. Cuban? an exile in NYC dreams of his
Cuban homeland
8-A Ochoa. Critical look at life in Cuba under
Castro.
Evita. U.S.; The musical version of the Argentine
legend, with Madonna, gadzooks.
Skyline. Spanish; a newcomer copes with New
York City.
Alsino and the Condor. Spanish; 10-year old
boy tries to fly, gets swept up in the revolution
in Nicaragua.
The Harder They Come. U.S./Jamaican; violent
70's cult film about reggae singer's transformation
into outlaw hero; launched Jimmy Cliff's U.S.
career.
Under the Volcano. U.S.; serious drama of heavy-drinking
burnout in Cuernavaca; excellent Mexican background,
including markets, festivals, bullfights.
Veronico Cruz. Argentina; coming-of-age in rural
Argentina in the 1970's and 80's
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings. Cuba; surreal
allegory based on Garcia Marquez story.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord. U.S.; Excellent
adaptation of Peter Maathissen's novel about
faith, identity and the destruction of a small
Amazonian native tribe.
This is a very partial list. Please let me know
of other films that you know and recommend--
send mail.
Thanks, and enjoy!
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