Elena Poniatowska, also known by her family as "la princesse rouge" not only for being a descendant of the last king of Poland Stanislaw August Poniatowski but also for her well known left ideals and speaking up for human right causes, is today one of the best female writers that proudly represent Mexico's literature. She was born in France but fled to Mexico when she was 10 years old along with her mother and a sister who escaped from a Europe being devastated by the second world war. Poniatowska was then raised and influenced greatly by Mexico's cultural diversity, a culture that produced such a deep impact on her. This made her a young avid reader, but she was interested in reading only books that could be useful, books that could help her shape her ideals and her biggest goal became to help her home country and its people through the best weapon of all...words.A journalist, a novelist, a poet, a social activist, an intellectual. Her work has been dedicated to represent Mexico's culture and people, its government and its politics, its current affairs and speak for those who don't have a voice. Elena Poniatowska represents a voice for humanity, a voice for the oppressed, the poor, the women, a voice against prejudice, corruption and those in power, she represents that voice that demands justice and urges a change in Mexico. One of her best known books is "La noche de Tlatelolco", in which she narrates the 1968 student massacre in Mexico City through testimonies of relatives and witnesses. She has also written biographies, one based on the life of the Nobel laureate Octavio Paz; and has also written many interview narratives of people such as Subcomandante Marcos or Diego Rivera among others important political or historical figures of Mexico.This time, I decided to submerge myself in "La piel del cielo" or "The skin of the Sky". In this amazing novel, Poniatowska tells us the story of Lorenzo de Tena. The story opens beautifully with a boy asking his mother where does the world ends, to what his mother replies that it doesn't and she will take him further away than what his eyes can simply see and so a journey of science and wonder begins. Lorenzo, the illegitimate son of a wealthy businessman but at same time a distant father, is constantly motivated by a poor but somehow intelligent mother who always takes her time to explain things to this little boy of a curious and brilliant mind, a boy that pursues to answer the many riddles of our universe and our place in it. It is through his mother, that Lorenzo develops a love and such an immense fascination for stars. After facing many adversities in life and struggling with personal sacrifices, Lorenzo goes to Harvard and becomes quite a successful astronomer, but albeit this professional success he feels empty and out of love. Almost at the end of the novel, an important female character to the story appears: Fausta Rosales. But, can she finally help Lorenzo understand what love really is? Poniatowska not only succeeds in giving us an extraordinary novel of a boy who faces many challenges and obstacles throughout his life in order to follow his lifelong passion for science but she also manages to describe the scientific details quite impressive. It was also a delight to read so many wonderful historical figures such as the great astronomer E. Halley taking part in the novel as a fictional character, characters with whom you will enjoy many philosophical discussions. It is important to say that the author was actually married to a Mexican astronomer named Guillermo Haro and we can definitely see the big influence of him in the life of Lorenzo, on whom the character was mostly based. The author also projects the difficulties of wanting to do first class research in a country such as Mexico."The Skin of the Sky" is quite a captivating story, I really enjoyed Lorenzo's personal conflicts and existential thoughts throughout the novel. It's a novel of struggle and of passion, it offers a philosophical and a political view but most of all Lorenzo de Tena was the life of a boy I found truly inspiring thanks to the exquisite words of this talented and admired writer. Elena Poniatowska, as Octavio Paz and my favorite Carlos Fuentes offer that window of Mexico's beautiful culture, its history and its reality through the wonderful art of writing. Highly recommended.
If you are looking for a good, long epic tale about a man who discovers himself through astronomy, Mexican politics, family and of course, a good woman, this is your book. It never gets sentimental and the language is lush and moving. The book starts with young Lorenzo de Tena wondering at the world, "Mama, what is at the end of the world?" Encouraged to explore the world by his mother but through a twist of fate, ends up raised by his playboy father and stiff upper crust aunt. He gets a good education and ends up at Harvard studying astronomy. During the Second World War, Mexico builds an astronomical observation station with the help of America which lures Lorenzo back to home.Poniatowska raises a variety of polemic themes about Mexico from its own corruption to its competiveness with America. The dichotomy of Mexico reminded me of Carlos Fuentes' work: who is a Mexican? how does the Mexican fit into the world? the struggle of indigenous and city people and how does one succeed in such a harsh world? or enjoy the benefits? I enjoyed her reflective statements such as "the sun lies to us by creating a lush planet, because when one leaves earth, there is nothing but dead space." The book spans several decades from the 1940's to the 1990's. In short, it covers a life. Lorenzo is presented a a cool, collected man who spends his life building his career in science. Underneath, something is missing. The story is not new, but I enjoyed this particular different angle. An enjoyable read.The book won the Premio Alfaguara de novel 2001. Read in Spanish.
What do You think about La Piel Del Cielo (2002)?
es curioso, estaba segura haber leído este libro antes y fue como leer un libro nuevo, claro algunas cosas ya sabia que pasarian, pero en general me sorprendio no haberlo recordado.Resena: Lorenzo, un chico de la clase mas baja, pero con un gran cerebro, inteligente como muy pocos y su constante discurrir acerca de la educacion, forma de vida de Mexico, entre sus estudios en astronomia. Me pone a pensar sobre si Mexico sigue siendo el mismo que pinta Elena a traves de Lorenzo, si seguimos igual de atrasados, y creo que la respuesta temida es que si.
—Aline Lin Lin
Good story about scientific human being, focused on Mexican astronomy. I believe its a good description of the feelings of the Mexicans opening their eyes when given the opportunity to study abroad, and coming back to the mess of science in Mexico. The main character carries with him both his education and culture, being at the same time features and barriers to make progress. I didn't like the macho portrait of the main character, but I recognize it is adjusted to what many Mexican scientist are, unfortunately. In particular I didn't feel identified with the protagonist but with many of the situations he had to live . The plot develops well until the last three chapters, after that, the author miss a bit the point, and the end is not as strong as the other sections of the novel. I recommend to read it for anyone who wants to understand why it is so difficult to make science in Mexico and to readjust to the bureaucratic Mexican whereabouts and culture. Unfortunately, what the author describes still happening with science and young scientist in Mexico.
—Pedro
Disfruto mucho encontrarme con los personajes de Poniatowska, me encanta como logra a través de sus historias regalarnos momentos de un México que no es tan lejano al de hoy, pero que fue y sólo revive cuando se le solicita. Vaya que agradezco que ella sí lo ha hecho porque de esta menera he podido andar entre sus calles, conocer a sus personajes y presenciar las revueltas ideologicas (siempre están empapadas sus páginas de dosis de política). En esta ocasión nos presenta Lorenzo, otro loco empedernido por lograr ejercer su vocación, trás ello todos los líos y obstáculos que conlleva, porque hoy y siempre en México se es dificil abrirse camino; la fuga de cerebros, la falta de inversión en educación... estos y otros temas vienen involucrados en el libro. Pero claro también nos habla del cielo, de su lejanía, su belleza y su inmensidad, y por supuesto y menos importante también nos habla del amor, para concluir digamos que no hay mucha diferencia entre uno y otro, ¡vaya que a Lorenzo le queda bastante claro!
—Gebanuzo
