T is for ‘Tita’.She is the protagonist of a book that should be better known, Like Water for Chocolate. It is a strange book with a strange name and an even stranger theme. The plot is simple, a man not allowed to marry his loved one Tita, marries her elder sister Rosaura so that he can be around the one he loves. I like themed books, the kinds that have a single theme running across all chapters, sort of like a spine to the book. In this case, the theme was Mexican cooking. Every chapter began with a list of ingredients for a dish and the events in that chapter somehow managed to give the entire recipe within it. Not once was there a disconnect, not once did the pace falter. Now that’s powerful writing.
Tita is obsessed with cooking and her dishes are delicious. There is a scene in which she is baking the cake for Rosaura’s wedding with her love, Pedro and her copious tears mix with the icing. Everyone that eats the cake is overcome with an eerie sense of infinite longing.
At times though, the magic realism foes into an overdrive and things are too strange to be true. I definitely recommend this book, not if you’re looking for classic magic realism; but more if you’re looking for a beautiful love story and a very unusual narrative. And of course, if you want to whip up some delicious Mexican!
From the movie, Tita, cooking
So far:
Atticus,
Beth,
Cassius,
Dumbledore,
Estella,
Francesca,
Gandalf,
Humbert,
Ishmael,
Jean-Baptiste,
Kali,
Long John Silver & Lisbeth,
Miu,
Nancy,
Oliver,
Piyali,
Quentin,
Rebecca,
ScarlettI'm writing every day of April for the
A-to-Z April Blogging Challenge 2012. I'm writing of characters of fiction that are immortal and touch hundreds of lives everyday...