Official Review: El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos
Posted: 15 Oct 2017, 00:30
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos" by Barbara.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Have you ever gone to see a play? It's very common to observe the actors making a characterization, so the audience understands the characters and the plot better. When reading El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos, I felt I was reading a script for a play in several occasions. I imagined the characters preparing their roles.
El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos is a book of reflection. It was written by Barbara and it's written in Spanish. It consists of 52 chapters; most of them are short, no more than two pages. Sometimes, before each chapter, there is an illustration of one of the characters. The main characters are animals, a fox and a horse. That's why, I thought the book was a fable, at first. However, it isn't. Barbara characterizes these two common animals to transmit ideas about money, power, crime and punishment, guilt, freedom among others. Each chapter deals with a different topic.
By using a fox (usually symbolizes cunning) and a horse (portrays the idea of strength and perseverance), Barbara helps the reader meditate in different situations that we can encounter in our daily life. Sometimes, these two animals are arguing about a topic, and other times they recognize they cannot live apart. When reading, I found myself meditating in some profound phrases and/or statements such as why thinking about blaming something or someone when "the only one responsible for my actions is me." Do I really have to choose between two bad choices when "Ice and fire have the same power of destruction"? or "We cannot achieve peace in our mind if we do not achieve peace with our body first."
Although I enjoyed reading some of the remarkable statements mentioned above, I must admit sometimes the topics were not delved fully. Actually, some statements were quite ambiguous. For instance, the author speaks about loneliness, but she only repeats how lonely she is without explaining the reasons why she is lonely and/or what people did to her to make her feel that way. Besides, at the beginning of the book, the writing style used is structured coherently. The fox and the horse are having a dialogue. Nonetheless, from the middle of the book forward, the author gives no participation to the characters or it is just scarce. The author starts writing directly to her son or a divine someone. It was very confusing.
Moreover, there were some grammar errors. Spanish uses mark accent in many words and the accentuation depends on the length and spelling of the words. I found some words marked with the accent that shouldn't have been marked. On the other hand, the gender of the fox and horse suddenly switched from He to She, which made me go back several times when reading to understand the message better.
In sum, the book has very important current topics that any of us might live or have lived before. However, the lack of consistency in the writing style and not delving into the topics force me to give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to readers that like to meditate on emotions and feelings that humans experience in our lives. Also, if you want to polish your Spanish, this is a good book. The language used is rich and easy to understand.
******
El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Have you ever gone to see a play? It's very common to observe the actors making a characterization, so the audience understands the characters and the plot better. When reading El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos, I felt I was reading a script for a play in several occasions. I imagined the characters preparing their roles.
El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos is a book of reflection. It was written by Barbara and it's written in Spanish. It consists of 52 chapters; most of them are short, no more than two pages. Sometimes, before each chapter, there is an illustration of one of the characters. The main characters are animals, a fox and a horse. That's why, I thought the book was a fable, at first. However, it isn't. Barbara characterizes these two common animals to transmit ideas about money, power, crime and punishment, guilt, freedom among others. Each chapter deals with a different topic.
By using a fox (usually symbolizes cunning) and a horse (portrays the idea of strength and perseverance), Barbara helps the reader meditate in different situations that we can encounter in our daily life. Sometimes, these two animals are arguing about a topic, and other times they recognize they cannot live apart. When reading, I found myself meditating in some profound phrases and/or statements such as why thinking about blaming something or someone when "the only one responsible for my actions is me." Do I really have to choose between two bad choices when "Ice and fire have the same power of destruction"? or "We cannot achieve peace in our mind if we do not achieve peace with our body first."
Although I enjoyed reading some of the remarkable statements mentioned above, I must admit sometimes the topics were not delved fully. Actually, some statements were quite ambiguous. For instance, the author speaks about loneliness, but she only repeats how lonely she is without explaining the reasons why she is lonely and/or what people did to her to make her feel that way. Besides, at the beginning of the book, the writing style used is structured coherently. The fox and the horse are having a dialogue. Nonetheless, from the middle of the book forward, the author gives no participation to the characters or it is just scarce. The author starts writing directly to her son or a divine someone. It was very confusing.
Moreover, there were some grammar errors. Spanish uses mark accent in many words and the accentuation depends on the length and spelling of the words. I found some words marked with the accent that shouldn't have been marked. On the other hand, the gender of the fox and horse suddenly switched from He to She, which made me go back several times when reading to understand the message better.
In sum, the book has very important current topics that any of us might live or have lived before. However, the lack of consistency in the writing style and not delving into the topics force me to give this book 2 out of 4 stars. I recommend this book to readers that like to meditate on emotions and feelings that humans experience in our lives. Also, if you want to polish your Spanish, this is a good book. The language used is rich and easy to understand.
******
El balance o el equilibrio en los extremos
View: on Bookshelves
Like Kalin Adi's review? Post a comment saying so!
