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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | 921 MENCHU | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The second part of the life of the Nobel prize-winning activist, telling of her flight from Guatamala in 1981 to escape persecution and her eventual return in 1988 as a representative of the opposition in exile. The text is both the tale of a political campaign and a homage to Mayan life.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Part memoir, part political manifesto, this impassioned testimony by the Guatemalan Maya human-rights activist and winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize is a stirring sequel to her 1984 autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchú. The author, who fled Guatemala in 1980 after both her parents were murdered by a right-wing military regime, launched, while in exile in Mexico, a movement for the rights of indigenous peoples. Although she notes that Guatemala has made progress toward becoming a pluralistic, multi-ethnic society, it remains, she charges, "a bloodthirsty, repressive, racist, dirty, backward country," where big landowners and the military oppress the poor and deprive native peoples of basic rights. Menchú-Tum explicates Maya customs, myths and a moral cosmology rooted in reverence for Mother Earth, writing movingly of her close relationship with her mother, who was a peasant leader, midwife and healer. Recounting her 12 years of lobbying at the U.N., she argues that that world body can become the main problem-solving force only if it gives a greater voice to nongovernmental organizations representing the dispossessed. Menchú-Tum makes a good case for the U.N.'s adoption of a proposed universal declaration to protect the world's indigenous peoples from ethnocide, massacres and discrimination. Her political agenda of equitable land distribution and struggle against racism gives her book broad appeal. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Aug.) FYI: I, Rigoberta Menchú has sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide in 13 languages. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The author continues and deepens the testimony first presented in her 1980s autobiography, I, Rigoberta Menchú (not reviewed). Menchú begins here with her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 and her subsequent return to her native Guatemala in 1994. In exile for most of the 20 years previous, she had spent her time campaigning ceaselessly against the murderous counterinsurgency campaigns in Guatemala that claimed the lives of thousands, including her parents and several siblings. She became a strong advocate for human rights, especially for the rights of the indigenous people of her own land and throughout the world. The Nobel Peace Prize has, in fact, brought her little peace. Upon his return to Guatemala, her nephew, mistaken for her son, is immediately kidnaped (and, thankfully, returned). Weeks before the countrys first reasonably open elections in a generation, the army carries out yet another massacre, in the village of Xaman. Amid this setting of hope and despair, Menchú meditates on several themes. She speaks lyrically (the translation seems wonderful) of the sweet mysteries of her Mayan childhood, of the ``cosmovision'' of her people, of the wisdom, boldness, and courage of her mother. These make up her identity, her nawaal, the shadow that accompanies her and sustains her. She tells of the frustrations of her work at the United Nations, where the simple recognition of the existence of indigenous people was a major struggle. She reveals dreams, spiritual and political, that are yet to be. She dreams of a world accepting of difference, of ``pluri-cultural'' societies, of a time when her ``Indian'' face will not mark her as the other, of a time of justice. She dreams of her hair growing white, a symbol of wisdom that her mother, whose life was cut short, was denied. Menchú emerges here as precisely what she is, a hero. (maps, not seen)
Choice Review
Like her first book, this second book by a noted Nobel Peace prize winner is less an autobiography in the conventional sense than an excellent example of that typically Latin American genre, the pensador piece. This means that although Menchu often talks about herself and her family, the work is not a descriptive narration that allows the reader to establish a clear view of its genealogy. Nor is the story told chronologically. Rather, the book offers a series of thoughtful, individual essays on a variety of subjects. These include a rich, often moving, and profound reflection an the author's experiences at the UN and as a world traveler; incidents, not always pleasant, of life in Guatemala; Mayan thought and culture in general; and especially, the campaign to win the Nobel Prize and the implications of that status. Menchu has traveled much both literally and figuratively and learned a remarkable amount. Her poignant observations about community, politics in Guatemala, and the position of indigenous peoples in the wider world reinforce the impression that she is an exceptional individual whose horrible personal tragedies have blunted neither her idealism nor her enthusiasm for her cause. All levels. F. W. Knight; Johns Hopkins University
Library Journal Review
Menchú, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her efforts to end the oppression of indigenous groups in Guatemala, vividly juxtaposes human rights violations with the beautiful customs and dignity of her people in this continuation of her life story (following I, Rigoberta Menchú, LJ 11/1/84). Menchú's simple, eloquent voice recounts her arrest in Guatemala City in 1988, the massacre of villagers in 1995, her worldwide travels as an ambassador for indigenous peoples, her return to her childhood village of Chimel, and the ideal of community and natural beauty that, nevertheless, was razed by the Guatemalan military. Wright's translation captures Menchú's courage and empathy in this inspiring tale. Recommended for collections on human rights and for all public libraries.Rebecca Martin, Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
