In class we’ve so far been reading novels that tell of different revolutions through the lens of one or a group of people. This has had limitations, and several times I got lost or could not really see how the revolution was portrayed. We just read people’s thoughts that are so random and all over the place. Despite this being the longest of all, Country Under My Skin, was a novel that I quite enjoyed reading. I could actually see in chronological order how the Nicaraguan revolution unfolded. Although this novel was told by one person and hence subjective, the language was less poetic or ambiguous, and there was less dialogue, making it easier for me to follow through and understand. But enough about the practical and structural part of the book. My appreciation of the book also came from some of the quotes and events of the story. To begin, the book starts off with something that I found quite interesting. It describes Nicaragua with words such as “brisk wind, clear sky, perfect day for going to the beach, lounging on the grass beneath a tree, gazing out at the Caribbean”. Then immediately after this there is a contrast where it says “instead I found myself at a shooting range with a group of Latin American guerrillas with my AK-47, and behind me was Fidel Castro”. I found this introduction to the novel quite interesting as we are presented with two realities of Latin America; one imaginary and the other more realistic. Often we have these tropes that describe Latin America as lush, peaceful, sunny, very exotic. And yet, the author, or Gioconda, quickly corrects that and tells us a more realistic and upsetting aspect of Latin America, that of combat. She is practicing for the day when the revolution is to come, a revolution where Nicaraguans, like other Latin American people, are trying to fight for change. What Gioconda is telling us immediately is that Latin America is not as romanticized as we make of it, there are people who suffer dictatorships and poverty and who trying very hard to the best that they can to stop this. Instead, we are shown a Latin America that is in a state of impoverishment, hardship and struggle. And this is something that we must always remember, even up to this day. Now steering more towards the topic of revolution, page 5 I found quite interesting. It talked about patriotism and this iconic figure of Fidel Castro. “We are the soliders who will free the Motherland….It was listening to that song that I first experienced the call of patriotism”. I liked this quote because it gives us a different look at revolutions. We’ve so far been predominantly looking at revolutions as an instrument of bringing change. Here we are also told how it is related to patriotism, that this is also about unification, protecting the country, being proud about one’s country and the love for it. I think a revolution has to have a love for one’s country in order for it to start, or even in order for people to see that change is needed, otherwise people wouldn’t care. What I found more interesting was then the iconization of Castro. “To me Fidel was a romantic hero”. But what I found more interesting was then how she admits that people say so many different things about him that she doesn’t know what to think. Just like in the introduction about imaginaries of Latin America, here Gioconda is also being critical and honest. One last quote worth mentioning is on page 24 when she defines the Sandinismo movement saying that “it is a particular ideology that was a mélange of New Left socialism, cooperativism, and popular democracy, that it claimed to be the successor to General Sandino’s nationalist legacy”. Then she goes on to say “But, they didn’t seem like a real alternative for us. They were guerrillas. They advocated armed struggle, violence, socialism”. Here is another time she gives us this contrast, this “two sides for every one thing”. What I liked then afterwards was how she openly and strongly said how it was different from communism. Page 276 “we aren’t communists, fighting the label the United States had pinned on us. And it was the truth: for all Marxism and Leninism we had studied, we had different dreams for Nicaragua, we wanted a new kind of socialism, Nicaraguan, libertarian”. Further down she says “we wanted a new kind of revolution that would be original and open, the product of a tropical, irreverent left-wing movement”. And yet, even this example once again shows how Gioconda is challenging people’s ideas of Nicaragua, that Nicaragua is unique, different and has its own problems and patriotism worth fighting. These were some of the quotes I found interesting. But there were a lot more. One last thing I really enjoyed about this novel was it appeared to be framed from a feminist stand, and yet despite this, Gioconda maintained a level of objectivity. She told throughout the novel, problems that she faced such as men, love, family, divorce, job, being a soldier, and her emotions. In the end we find out that life for a woman in Latin America, is not that easy, once again challenging our notions of how things are in life. It is this challenge that she presents to us, that I found quite “refreshing” and I learned a lot more about what life was like in a Latin American revolution, from this book, than any other book we’ve read. Truly a book that I would recommend to others.