El infinito en la palma de la mano. (Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand)
Reviewed by Carmen Cusido, Union City, NJ -- Críticas, 5/15/2008
Belli, Gioconda.
U.S.: Rayo: HaperCollins & Planeta. 2008. 240p. ISBN 978-84-322-1249-9. pap. $17.95. FICTION
Was eating the forbidden fruit a sin, or was it an act of curiosity? Nicaraguan-born poet, novelist, and activist Belli revisits the story of Adam and Eve and delivers a refreshing, intimate, and moving version of the events in Genesis. She describes lyrically the couple’s magical innocence before eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In a more somber tone, the story chronicles their fears and doubts when they are expelled from paradise and explores their feelings when forced to discover the human condition: hunger and thirst, the pleasure of sex and the pain of childbirth, and the cruelty of having to kill in order to eat. Unlike the biblical story, which presents Eve as guilty for offering Adam the forbidden fruit (a fig in this story), Belli portrays her as a curious woman who believed Elokim wanted her to acquire the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam blames her, she defends herself. “I get enraged when you remind me that I ate the fruit every time you want me to obey you,” Eve fires back, pointing out that the decision to eat the fig was his. Recently awarded the 2008 Biblioteca Breve Award, El infinito will captivate readers interested in magical realism. Recommended for all libraries and bookstores.
View All Blogs
