Flight of the Swan by Rosario Ferré

Flight of the Swan Reviews

• 
  Jeimy

  Inspired by Ana Pavlova's Latin American tour, Ferré brings the famed ballerina to a Puerto Rico where nationalists are not happy with the U.S's takeover of the island and the granting of U.S. citizenship just in time to go fight in WWI.
• 
  Mae

  Rosario Ferre, cracked the ceiling of Puertorican male dominated literature. She was also the leader of historical/political fiction. Reading her books is always a pleasure and a comfortable experience. I like finding evidence of the families I know of. As she uses real family and political stories to knit them into the fabric of her fictional accounts. She tries hard, sometimes, to hide, who they were, by using different names, or mixing up the events, but I find it fascinating to figure them out. As a puertorrican reader, this gives her books an additional layer for me.
  However, for someone who doesn't know the families or the historical events it is still a great story. She is a wonderful storyteller and many of her books have been translated. For those of you who would like to know a little more about Puerto Rico and understand were we come from, reading her books is a wonderful opportunity to do just that-- enter into the "marasma" of being puertorican.
  I loved this book.
  
• 
  Virginia

  A pesar de que el ballet es un mundo que nunca me ha interesado, he de reconocer que esta novela me ha encantado, en parte por la maestría de la autora. Escrito con fluidez y desenvoltura (casi, como los movimientos de ballet), esta novela abarca un amplio espectro de emociones humanas, envueltas en una historia emocionante y desgarradora, que logra enganchar al lector desde la primera página.
  Sin duda alguna, he disfrutado de su lectura en cada momento, emocionándome en ciertas partes. Amor, pasión, política y guerra, entremezclados en una gran historia sobre una compañía de ballet, y ubicada en Puerto Rico, que la autora sabe describir de forma delicada y muy bella.
  
• 
  Jana

  It was a struggle to get through this book because I didn’t find the characters compelling at all.
• 
  Melvin Rodríguez-Rodríguez

  Una premisa interesante y ambiciosa no logra materializarse por una ejecución tropezada.
  
  En 1917, Madame (Ana Pávlova) llega con su troupe a Puerto Rico como parte de su gira por América, pero al estallar la revolución bolchevique en Rusia su situación política la obliga a quedarse en la isla, donde conocerá las luchas políticas locales y un romance que amenazará su disciplina. Todo esto es contado por Masha, amiga y dama de compañía de Madame, que cuenta a manera de memoria los pormenores del suceso. La novela está basada en un hecho real, Ana Pávlova estuvo unos meses en Puerto Rico en 1917, y la historia toma esto como punto de partida para comparar a los exiliados rusos con los puertorriqueños sin independencia y acabando de tener la ciudadanía estadounidense. Hay una buena labor investigativa que logra colocarnos en el período en que transcurre la trama que muestra la inestabilidad política de Puerto Rico, la caída de una monarquía, así como la diversidad de posturas políticas y cómo éstas cambian. Existe también la intriga de un atentado contra Madame y la exploración de temas como la obsesión, la bisexualidad y el arte. Sin embargo, demasiadas elipsis mueven la trama tan rápido que no le permiten a los personajes tener peso. Lejos de quedar humanizada, Madame sigue siendo un mito y no una mujer, y su romance resulta poco convincente. También, por partes la narración es detenida por largos monólogos que añaden información pero detienen la trama y el clímax resulta muy confuso. La novela hubiese sido un gusto de haber continuado con el ritmo de los primeros capítulos, que logran dar información mientras mueven la trama y están cargados de lirismo en su descripción de los bailes de Madame.
  
  Vuelo de cisne es por tanto, más interesante por el tiempo y los temas que presenta que por la historia en sí.
• 
  Robin

  I got to about page 50 of this book and couldn't remember what it was about, so I started it again. The second time I got to page 25 when I realized that the reason I couldn't remember what it was about was because nothing was happening of any importance and I had no interest in the book, so I quit.
  
  It's about a ballerina from St. Petersburg, Russia, before the communist revolution. This woman is an outstanding ballerina (considered a diva). She has a group of young ladies who dance with her and adore her. The group travels from Russia to the US, to Cuba and then to Puerto Rico. Sometime during their stay in Puerto Rico, the revolution occurs and all the dancers realize they don't have a country anymore. Then I quit reading.
  
  
• 
  Tara Chevrestt

  I made it thru half. I found it dull and un interesting but my main issue was unlikeable characters. The narrator is a closet lesbian (at least I got that impression as she is in love with Madame) with no self esteem whatsoever. The madame (whom everyone is in love with for some reason) is a snot. It just didn't work for me.
• 
  Barb Bailey

  I really liked this book. Although I thought the middle drug a bit, the story line was very good. A troup of Russian ballerinas go on tour and end up being detained in Puerto Rico for 3 months. This story is during the Russian Revolution and takeover of the Zaar and the take over of Puerto Rico by the US. It was worth plowing through the middle bits to get to the good ending.
• 
  Nancy Zigler

  The only work of Ferre I've read before is a short story--"Sleeping Beauty," and it flew way above my head, but it lingered with me, perhaps because of my lack of understanding of the experimental passages. I decided to try again--it's important to remember that Ferre is foremost an intellectual, but this book revealed the heart of her political sentiments. Better yet, she revealed these stories through ballet. I'm not sure if this was a translation, but I did have some trouble finding the emotional undercurrent of the characters, as there was a large cast. My biggest takeaway--the ending? Perfect.