Jorge Ramos

The events that occurred were awful. I think Ramos covered the topics he did with sensitivity. I give three stars for the -style- he chose in his writing. The first time I read this a few years ago, I had never heard of the tragedy. I was heartbroken, chilled, and infuriated all at once. I didn't have the emotional capacity to put my thoughts into words, so I didn't review the book. It took two days for me to process it emotionally, that first read. Now, I wondered if I could, so here I go.

Ramos, in the introduction, says he's telling the story that four survivors told him. He makes a big deal of saying readers should check out court stuff and various other things related to the tragedy...and thens pends half the book detailing the things he said he wouldn't cover. I was glad for the information but annoyed that he forgot immediately he'd stated differently in the introduction. On second read, I read it as an ebook. I didn't want to wait, and it was available immediately, so. The ebook formatting was not one I responded to well, to such a degree that if affected my reading experience and I lowered the rating a little. Nothing to do with Ramos' writing. He seems to hold back in terms of--something. Both times I read this, I couldn't help but think how well he'd probably write a short story. His writing is vivid and speaks of details he may have possibly edited out for brevity. I don't know journalism, so don't quote me on that. He clearly chose, to my mounting annoyance, to be incredibly repetitive every few pages, with entire paragraphs being similar except for synonyms. Often, he mentioned something he'd detailed in a few pages previously. Did he thing readers were losing interest or something? I was not. Did he think readers forgot things? Not really.

This was not told in chronological order. It flipped back and forth several times per chapter. Ramos used cultural differences between the US and the Central American countries the late immigrants were from to further humanize the tragedy. It worked. He'd abruptly switch, though, into another aspect of the investigation, and it was tiring after awhile. Another thing he did throughout the book that got on my nerves was, he'd write straightforward factual sentences and then ask a question after. You're the journalist. You tell me. These were often tragic sentences, too, and then he'd--the following questions were clumsy, bordering on insensitive, sentences designed to drum up emotions. It's already sad! Quit asking if I am sad. Quit trying to made me sadder with your questions when your facts already are.

Ramos chose to portray a wife-beater as a misunderstood guy and "both sides"-es the issue of domestic violence. He spends two sentences on the fact that the wife-beater also kidnapped--took without permission or knowledge of his wife, who was the biological mother of--his child. This action led to his son's death, as they were both in the truck. Paragraphs upon paragraphs are splattered in this book about what a loving father who just made a bad choice, this man is. To quote playwright Philip Dawkin's play "Charm": "The best gift a man can give is to respect his child's mother." That was not present, and I was enraged at Ramos' apologia. Due to it, I won't and haven't read any of his other books.

How he chose to end the book was no doubt supposed to be emotional, with quotes from people involved in different ways, but it made me weary.… (plus d'informations)

Can you imagine being hated simply because you exist? Can you imagine being hated because you are different? Can you imagine being hated because you want a better life for yourself and your family? I have been fortunate. Because of a cast of a die, I was born into the majority of at least this country, the United States. However, others are hated because they are from a different race, culture, religion, or sex. Even when you are a citizen of a country, you can be treated as a stranger. This is laid out in Jorge Ramos' book, Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era. Read more
… (plus d'informations)

Another one of the books I read in early 2005. The following are notes about the book from my journal:

>>According to the author, "this book's central argument is that Latinos are changing this country in many significant ways" (226). When the book was advertised, it was billed as a book about how Latinos will elect the next President of the U.S. And he does address that using the example of the 2000 Election and the techniques Republicans used to court the Latino vote. But this book is about so much more.

One way to look at this book is as a primer about Latinos in the U.S. The author does an excellent job of highlighting our differences and yet showing what traits and issues we share in common. Issues like education and poverty are issues we all share.

The book also explains and illustrates the benefits of immigration, especially the economic contributions that immigrants, legal and illegal, make to the U.S., even illustrating how more often than not those immigrants give more to the U.S. than they get, no matter what the racist anti-immigrants say. They probably should read this book and think a bit, but odds are they won't since railing against immigrants is easier than fixing problems and dealing with the issues. The U.S. has a pattern of often using immigrants as scapegoats. But, as Ramos argues, the Latino Wave is here, and it is inevitable. By 2059, whites will no longer be the majority. And most interesting is that while America (the U.S.) is getting "latinized," Latinos are getting "americanized" as well, even as they preserve their culture. Many second and third generation immigrants do not speak Spanish, yet they are proud Latinos. Just one example that things are not simple, but rather diverse. We should embrace this diversity, why can't others see it?

Overall, this is for me a highly recommended book. Anyone wanting to learn more about Latinos in the U.S. without some stuffy academic text should read this.… (plus d'informations)