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neilrcoulter's review
4.0
The Weight of All Things was a really interesting reading experience. For about the first half of the book, I was not especially taken with it. The excessive description (no noun is safe from being joined by at least one or two adjectives) felt like a kind of failed creative writing project, and the narrative was not flowing or drawing me in. But then somewhere around page 100, it become un-put-down-able and I wanted to race to the end. So either it took some time for Sandra Benítez to find her stride, or it took me some time to get into the flow and really invest in the characters. Either way, it’s a tremendous novel.
I confess that before I began reading The Weight of All Things, I knew little about the civil war in El Salvador, other than vague memories of news reports from my childhood, and U2’s song “Bullet the Blue Sky.” This novel, and a bit of extra reading I did online, have supplemented that sketchy knowledge I started with. The real-life story is, of course, very sad, and the book conveys that. But Benítez skillfully and beautifully weaves a fictional story into the real events to validate Rilke’s epigraph: “Life is heavier than the weight of all things.” That is, no weight of sorrow can entirely overwhelm life and continued hope.
The journey of protagonist Nicolás through the story is full of ups and downs, and there were many moments where I feared that terrible things were about to happen. But he is guided by la Virgen in miraculous ways. What I appreciate in Benítez’s storytelling is the way she makes religious faith a real option for life. In moments when Nicolás might have chosen to doubt or question, he simply holds onto faith, believing in what he has seen. The spiritual journey of his grandfather is shown with great subtlety, letting us fill in the spaces of whether he has come to share Nicolás’s confidence in la Virgen, or whether he is just allowing Nicolás to take the lead and enter manhood. (A couple of chapters from the grandfather’s point of view were a surprising and interesting shift in perspective.)
The story is rich with symbolism, and what I’m especially pondering is the idea of borders and boundaries. Life and faith for the Salvadoran villagers are not separate from the ground where they live, and moving from one place to another risks significant consequences. The climax of the story, along the banks of the Sumpul River that divides El Salvador and Honduras, highlights the border that Nicolás is learning to cross during his journey—the difficult move from boyhood to manhood. He needs to become more than just another person’s “pack mule,” and he demonstrates this growing wisdom in his final choice:
The Weight of All Things is a beautiful story. Benítez finds a way to show what the war meant to Salvadorans, but without being overwhelmed by the grittiest details. And at the end of it all, there is hope.
I confess that before I began reading The Weight of All Things, I knew little about the civil war in El Salvador, other than vague memories of news reports from my childhood, and U2’s song “Bullet the Blue Sky.” This novel, and a bit of extra reading I did online, have supplemented that sketchy knowledge I started with. The real-life story is, of course, very sad, and the book conveys that. But Benítez skillfully and beautifully weaves a fictional story into the real events to validate Rilke’s epigraph: “Life is heavier than the weight of all things.” That is, no weight of sorrow can entirely overwhelm life and continued hope.
The journey of protagonist Nicolás through the story is full of ups and downs, and there were many moments where I feared that terrible things were about to happen. But he is guided by la Virgen in miraculous ways. What I appreciate in Benítez’s storytelling is the way she makes religious faith a real option for life. In moments when Nicolás might have chosen to doubt or question, he simply holds onto faith, believing in what he has seen. The spiritual journey of his grandfather is shown with great subtlety, letting us fill in the spaces of whether he has come to share Nicolás’s confidence in la Virgen, or whether he is just allowing Nicolás to take the lead and enter manhood. (A couple of chapters from the grandfather’s point of view were a surprising and interesting shift in perspective.)
The story is rich with symbolism, and what I’m especially pondering is the idea of borders and boundaries. Life and faith for the Salvadoran villagers are not separate from the ground where they live, and moving from one place to another risks significant consequences. The climax of the story, along the banks of the Sumpul River that divides El Salvador and Honduras, highlights the border that Nicolás is learning to cross during his journey—the difficult move from boyhood to manhood. He needs to become more than just another person’s “pack mule,” and he demonstrates this growing wisdom in his final choice:
Nicolás pulled the weapon from Basilio’s hands. “I know what to do.” (234)What he does then is something fantastic that surprised me in the best way.
The Weight of All Things is a beautiful story. Benítez finds a way to show what the war meant to Salvadorans, but without being overwhelmed by the grittiest details. And at the end of it all, there is hope.
cham3rion's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
dlberglund's review
4.0
Based on events that happened in the civil war in El Salvador, the story is heartbreaking. It is told through the eyes of eight year old Nicolas, who maintains a certain innocent view of the world even as he learns to be pragmatic and prepared in the face of war. He walks right into the conflict on the first few pages of the book, and when he makes his way back to his home village alone, the war finds him. Powerful, and perhaps inspired by a particular person's true story.
zoefcampion's review
4.0
The Weight of All Things, by Sandra Benitez, tells the story of a young boy, Nicolás, searching for his mother. The book begins with Nicolás and his mother at the funeral of the assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero. Gunfire erupts, and his mother protects him with her body, causing her to be shot and killed. She is dragged away from his, and Nicholás refuses to believe that she is dead. So begins a quest to find her. He starts by looking in the catedral, but has no luck. Then he goes to his grandfather’s ranchero to find the address of her employer. At the ranchero a group of FLP, the people’s army, soldiers take it over as a camp. When they move out Nicolás is captured by a government soldier and put to work at one of their bases. While working at the base he finally accepts the fact that his mother has died, with the help of la Virgen. He escapes and goes back to his grandfather, and then the two of them, along with some other friends try to escape to Honduras. The army raids the camp of hundreds waiting to cross the river. Most people try and cross the river, but Nicolás, his grandfather, and a friend hide and watch hundreds of their fellow refugees get killed by the Honduras and El Salvador armies while crossing the river. The theme of this book is life is hard, so you must be strong, but also caring.
The Weight of All Things is a very good book. It was very interesting to read, especially because I am also learning about the Salvadoran Civil War in spanish class. Nicolás calls la Virgen his mother, and also compares himself to a lion and a lamb, which I found was really interesting to compare himself to both. But by the end of the book I learned that it was good to be a mix of both. It was also interesting how he used la Virgen to bridge the gap between the two, like she was a mix of both, which Nicolás tried to be. This book was accelerated because it uses a lot of metaphors that can be hard to understand. It also talks a lot about the pains of the Salvadoran Civil War, which was very hard to read about and slightly confusing if you didn’t have prior news. I recommend this book to people who want to learn about the Salvadoran Civil War and reading about self discovery.
The Weight of All Things is a very good book. It was very interesting to read, especially because I am also learning about the Salvadoran Civil War in spanish class. Nicolás calls la Virgen his mother, and also compares himself to a lion and a lamb, which I found was really interesting to compare himself to both. But by the end of the book I learned that it was good to be a mix of both. It was also interesting how he used la Virgen to bridge the gap between the two, like she was a mix of both, which Nicolás tried to be. This book was accelerated because it uses a lot of metaphors that can be hard to understand. It also talks a lot about the pains of the Salvadoran Civil War, which was very hard to read about and slightly confusing if you didn’t have prior news. I recommend this book to people who want to learn about the Salvadoran Civil War and reading about self discovery.
debbiesbooknook's review
4.0
The Weight of All Things deals with the detrimental consequences of war. The narrator of the story is 9-year-old Nicolas. Nicolas lost his mother during the war in El Salvador, and you can honestly feel his sadness and grief. The poor kid goes through hell and back, but his resiliency and grit are breathtaking. Benítez does an incredible job of bringing El Salvador and its surroundings to life. If you would like to understand or learn more about the war in El Salvador, I highly recommend this book.
eroggbyrne's review
5.0
I first tried to read this book a few years ago, when I was still in grad school studying El Salvador. Maybe I was El Salvador-ed out, since I had also done my undergrad thesis on the country, but I couldn't get into it. This time, I did, and I loved it. Great story about the impact of civil war on the people caught in the middle.
bookwormbecks's review
4.0
Beautifully written and such a haunting story. The main character, 9 year old Nicolas, is so endearing and sweet...as a mother, reading the love he has for his mother, is almost too much to take! You just want to pick him up and hold him.
The story is based off 2 actual events in El Salvador in 1980. You know that these types of things are going on all over the world and they have been for years, but somehow reading about it through a child's perspective makes it more real and that much more unbearable.
The story is based off 2 actual events in El Salvador in 1980. You know that these types of things are going on all over the world and they have been for years, but somehow reading about it through a child's perspective makes it more real and that much more unbearable.