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A review by wyntrchylde
The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
4.0
The Cemetery of Untold Stories
Author: Julia Alvarez
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publishing Date: 2024
Pgs: 243
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
A writer writing about writing without it being a non-fiction. I find this fascinating. A story about stories, the lives they have, that they live, and the limbo they continue in.
_________________
The Feel:
I like the story, but it is giving me the maudlins. The idea that we are all cemeteries of lost stories, stories untold, unshared. Wistful. Sad.
Least Favorite Character:
El Jefe is a dick.
Favorite Quote:
The First Visitor, the first storyteller, Filomena, her description hits me hard. “She has never married and is now on the achy side of middle age.” …the achy side of middle age. I feel like that meme where that guy is saying how dare you say something so controversial and so brave…thought in my head it’s “so true.”
Favorite Concept:
The idea of burying your unfinished stories in the way that Alvarez has Alma talk about makes me want to reach out to my writerly friends, published, unpublished, fan fiction, original, whatever, everyone and have a discussion about unfinished stories. I have a box named Title Farm and it is full of fragments, chapters, and sometimes just a title. It’s been a long time since I journeyed all the way to the bottom of that box to look with fresh eyes at what is in there. Maybe I should. Hell, there’s a mostly complete Childrens’ book in there already, just needs art and a publisher willing to take a shot. …it may not be as complete and ready as I remember it being, but it is further along than most of the other stuff in the box. … … …you see why this book is speaking to me on a pretty deep level.
Tropes:
Filomena’s story is full of cliché, to the point that it is cliché. It is well told, but as you read it, you can almost go, “and then, this happens, and then this, and then this…” This is the first place in this novel where that happens. Hopefully we don’t circle back to this and the rest breaks the bonds of trope and moves onwards. The early part where Alma was living her life and working her way along the plot towards the cemetery was better. I like Filomena’s story and the character. But it is an old story that has been repeated both in story form and in real life too often to count. It being a trope doesn’t make it unlikeable or even unreadable, it is still well told/written.
Hmm Moments:
With Filomena hearing the stories, Alma has been pushed to the background. The novel begins and leads you to believe that Alma is the main character and that devolves on to Fila as you start hearing her stories. And after she takes the stage, no one else comes to the talk box and gains entrance with a story of their own which seemed to be a central precept when Alma started el cemeterio.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The wider story of Perla and Tesoro feels like an interrupter. We already know all we need to know about them as part of Filomena’s backstory. I’m doing McKayla Maroney mouth reading the chapter focused on them and Perla’s return from the Norte. Enough stories already in the cemetery, and the barrio that surrounds it, without a living story intruding.
The Unexpected:
With the way this year in reading has gone, just about the point where I start thinking about the last page, or how far away it is, or this story not touching me, this started to charm me.
Calling the Ball:
Calling it: Perla blames Filomena, and because of the name confusion, and Perla being who and what she is, Fila will take the fall.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
This was a predictable story, but it was enchanting. But it wasn’t the story I was expecting either. I didn’t get the happily ever after I wanted out of it. It’s a tragedy. It’s hopeful and full of real life and magic, but it stops well short of giving you the warm and fuzzy. It’s sad really, but it feels like real life, a writer’s life, a storyteller’s life. The stories that if they were told in full would change things. The stories that are untold. The stories that end with the storyteller…or are never finished by the storyteller. Sad. Full. Thoughtful. Not what I wanted. Still a good book.
Author: Julia Alvarez
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publishing Date: 2024
Pgs: 243
=======================
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Why this book:
A writer writing about writing without it being a non-fiction. I find this fascinating. A story about stories, the lives they have, that they live, and the limbo they continue in.
_________________
The Feel:
I like the story, but it is giving me the maudlins. The idea that we are all cemeteries of lost stories, stories untold, unshared. Wistful. Sad.
Least Favorite Character:
El Jefe is a dick.
Favorite Quote:
The First Visitor, the first storyteller, Filomena, her description hits me hard. “She has never married and is now on the achy side of middle age.” …the achy side of middle age. I feel like that meme where that guy is saying how dare you say something so controversial and so brave…thought in my head it’s “so true.”
Favorite Concept:
The idea of burying your unfinished stories in the way that Alvarez has Alma talk about makes me want to reach out to my writerly friends, published, unpublished, fan fiction, original, whatever, everyone and have a discussion about unfinished stories. I have a box named Title Farm and it is full of fragments, chapters, and sometimes just a title. It’s been a long time since I journeyed all the way to the bottom of that box to look with fresh eyes at what is in there. Maybe I should. Hell, there’s a mostly complete Childrens’ book in there already, just needs art and a publisher willing to take a shot. …it may not be as complete and ready as I remember it being, but it is further along than most of the other stuff in the box. … … …you see why this book is speaking to me on a pretty deep level.
Tropes:
Filomena’s story is full of cliché, to the point that it is cliché. It is well told, but as you read it, you can almost go, “and then, this happens, and then this, and then this…” This is the first place in this novel where that happens. Hopefully we don’t circle back to this and the rest breaks the bonds of trope and moves onwards. The early part where Alma was living her life and working her way along the plot towards the cemetery was better. I like Filomena’s story and the character. But it is an old story that has been repeated both in story form and in real life too often to count. It being a trope doesn’t make it unlikeable or even unreadable, it is still well told/written.
Hmm Moments:
With Filomena hearing the stories, Alma has been pushed to the background. The novel begins and leads you to believe that Alma is the main character and that devolves on to Fila as you start hearing her stories. And after she takes the stage, no one else comes to the talk box and gains entrance with a story of their own which seemed to be a central precept when Alma started el cemeterio.
Meh / PFFT Moments:
The wider story of Perla and Tesoro feels like an interrupter. We already know all we need to know about them as part of Filomena’s backstory. I’m doing McKayla Maroney mouth reading the chapter focused on them and Perla’s return from the Norte. Enough stories already in the cemetery, and the barrio that surrounds it, without a living story intruding.
The Unexpected:
With the way this year in reading has gone, just about the point where I start thinking about the last page, or how far away it is, or this story not touching me, this started to charm me.
Calling the Ball:
Calling it: Perla blames Filomena, and because of the name confusion, and Perla being who and what she is, Fila will take the fall.
_________________
Last Page Sound:
This was a predictable story, but it was enchanting. But it wasn’t the story I was expecting either. I didn’t get the happily ever after I wanted out of it. It’s a tragedy. It’s hopeful and full of real life and magic, but it stops well short of giving you the warm and fuzzy. It’s sad really, but it feels like real life, a writer’s life, a storyteller’s life. The stories that if they were told in full would change things. The stories that are untold. The stories that end with the storyteller…or are never finished by the storyteller. Sad. Full. Thoughtful. Not what I wanted. Still a good book.