The Line of the Sun - Hardcover

Cofer, Judith Ortiz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820311065 ISBN 13: 9780820311067

Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr, 1989

Synopsis

Set in the 1950s and 1960s, The Line of the Sun moves from a rural Puerto Rican village to a tough immigrant housing project in New Jersey, telling the story of a Hispanic family's struggle to become part of a new culture without relinquishing the old. At the story's center is Guzmán, an almost mythic figure whose adventures and exile, salvation and return leave him a broken man but preserve his place in the heart and imagination of his niece, who is his secret biographer.

About this title

About the Author

Judith Ortiz Cofer is The Regents' and Franklin Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Georgia.

Reviews

The vivid opening of this first novel, in which the hero, Guzman, kicks lustily in Mama Cielo's womb, abates somewhat before the first chapter ends. Even the doughty, tyrannical Cielo succumbs to the trials of Puerto Rican life--her older son's death in battle, Guzman's wild passion for the local whore, the late birth of a sickly daughter. After Guzman leaves for New York, the narrative is taken up by his young niece Marisol, daughter of his sister, who has moved to Paterson, N.J. Through Marisol's eyes we understand the clash of conflicting values endured by Puerto Rican emigres. Though exposed to the U.S. mainstream in school, Marisol remains rooted in the island culture stubbornly maintained by her mother and others in the Spanish-speaking tenement community. When Guzman suddenly appears in Paterson, the adoring Marisol finds a spiritual mentor. But the neighbors inexplicably detest Guzman, and other events--a factory strike, a fire, a seance--lead to the family's separation. Unfortunately, the rest of the novel never lives up to the excitement generated by Guzman in the opening pages. But though weakened by clumsy plotting, arbitrary shifts in points of view and sometimes pedestrian prose, prize-winning poet Cofer's novel paints a colorful, revealing portrait of Puerto Rican culture and domestic relationships.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This first novel by an accomplished poet flavors the U.S. immigrant experience with a hint of magical realism. The story of Guzman, black sheep of a Puerto Rican village, is here told by his assimilited niece. Adventurous from childhood, the wild youth is ostracized because of an affair with a notorious older woman whose reputation as a spiritist does not save her from the wrath of righteous neighbors. Heading for New York and the American dream, Guzman wanders for more than a decade until he confronts his island roots in a violent, resonant denouement. A shaky transition between the novel's two main sections is offset by well-realized characters and vibrant depictions of Puerto Rican folk culture. Recommended.
- Starr E. Smith, Georgetown Univ. Lib., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr
• Publication date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820311065
• ISBN 13: 9780820311067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304