Subject: Review: THE LAW OF LOVE by Laura Esquivel

From: "Evelyn C Leeper" <[email-masked]>
Date: 31 Dec 1996 19:49:30 GMT

THE LAW OF LOVE by Laura Esquivel
                  Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
                   A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		    Copyright 1997 Evelyn C. Leeper

     This novel by the author of LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE is bound to be a
success, no matter what I say.  But for a speculative fiction audience it is
worth noting that in spite of its future setting and its characters' travels
to other planets, and in spite of some descriptions labeling it as science
fiction, this is not science fiction -- this is fantasy.  The premise is
that everyone goes though thousands of reincarnations, trying to match up
with their "beshert."  "Beshert" is Yiddish for "the person for whom you are
intended and who is intended for you," a concept not easily expressed in
English.  There are guardian angels and mind transference and machines that
read minds and a whole slew of other ideas.

     There is also a CD with music tracks to be played at various points in
the story.  And there are illustrations in the style of graphic novels of
people's dreams and memories.  All this book seemed to be missing was a
scratch-and-sniff card.

     Maybe this is unfair.  But I found the CD tracks disruptive--when I
read a book I don't like having to stop, reach over, hit the start button on
my CD player, listen to arias which seem to have a background of clattering
cups or some such, hit the stop button at the end of the track, and go back
to the book.  Not to mention jumping from text to pictures and back again.

     Ultimately, I found this book had too much science fiction to work as a
fantasy, too much fantasy to be good science fiction, and too many gimmicks
to work as a novel.

%T      the Law of Love
%T      Ley del amor
%A      Laura Esquivel (translated by Margaret Sayers Peden)
%C      New York
%D      1996
%I      Crown Publishers
%O      hardback, US$25
%G      ISBN 0-517-70681-4
%P      266pp+CD

Evelyn C. Leeper    |  [email-masked]
+1 908 957 2070     |  http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824
"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library."
--Jorge Luis Borges