About this title: Ella Lynch is a gorgeous Irishwoman living in Paris when the Paraguayan prince regent, Franco, takes one look at her, falls instantly in love, takes her home, and sets her up in luxury as his mistress. Lily Tuck tells Ella's rich and colorful story by weaving together the tales of many others who come into her orbit, as Franco succeeds to power and eventually leads the country into a disastrous war. THE NEWS FROM PARAGUAY won the National Book Award in fiction in 2004.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780066209449ISBN:0066209447
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Nice clean condition. Dust jacket has a couple of scratches on the back. Initialed on 1st page. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 272 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: 2004-05-01
ISBN-13:9780066209449ISBN:0066209447
Description: Very Good. Very good/Like new hardcover with DJ. An unblemished copy other than paperclip mark on couple pages.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Free Delivery Confirmation! Ships same or next business day! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Date Published: 2004-12-01
ISBN-13:9780060934866ISBN:0060934867
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Light wear to covers noted, previous owners name on inside cover, else interior clean, binding tight, spine sunned, read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: HarperCollins
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780066209449ISBN:0066209447
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
"I wanted to like this book. Paraguay has such a fascinating history that I was glad to see that someone had written a book of historical fiction about Francisco Solano Lopez and his Irish mistress Elisa Lynch. The style of the book is cut and paste - it mixes first person with third person, present with future, fiction with historical data. I could forgive the disjointed writing but found difficult to forgive the many passages aimed to make my stomach turn. It was impossible to forgive the many inaccuracies in the Spanish passages, Guaraní passages, and in details of Paraguayan culture (sopa Paraguaya is not mandioca soup). Would it have been so difficult to find a Paraguayan to fact check the manuscript?"
"This book was easy to put down. It won a National Book Award, so I kept reading even though I wasn't liking it. But, I'm not sure why it won an award. Horrible things happen and there's no serious concern from the characters and it all seems senseless and meaningless. None of the characters were sympathetic or terribly interesting. It's historical fiction though, so if you were interested from that perspective, maybe there's more going on. But I found this fairly torturous."
"Well... I finished the novel. I can't say that I enjoyed it, and I really hoped that I would. In college, I had read a lot of stories about Paraguay and the Guaraníes, so I had high hopes for this story.
Instead, what you get is a choppy novel filled with what could have been interesting characters but, since they weren't fully developed, they came across as very one dimensional. And, the violence and gore towards the end of the novel were a bit over-the-top for me, especially since I have a tendency to read while I'm having breakfast. It's not likely that I'll pick up another novel by Lily Tuck after slogging my way through this one."
"This novel is based on actual happenings, so it's harder to take in than if it had all been fiction. An Irish woman, divorced in Paris, meets a Paraguayan man and returns to that country with him, has his children, and aids him in his ambitions to lead the country after his father's death. The incredible cruelty of so many characters is almost unbelievable. The narration is too rote to make the characters come alive, but I kept reading just the learn the outcome. I don't recommend this one! I gave it 2 stars for educating me on the history of Paraguay."
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