In the Shadows

A friend of mine who's blog I follow recently posted, "when life happens, blogging doesn't." (you can check out her blog here).  How true that is.  My goal for this blog was to read a book a day and then blog about it.  But it doesn't always work out that way.  Some days, those slow lazy days that I love, I can read 2 or even 3 books so on busy days I still have something to blog about.  I know my life has gotten crazy when I run out of my "cushion" books and still don't have time to read.  This weekend two good friends of mine got married and my boyfriend was the best man so this weekend was filled with wedding festivities. (A big congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Keller-your wedding was beautiful and perfect and I was honored to celebrate with you).This is the week of double classes which means 3 hours in the morning and three in the afternoon plus all of the corresponding readings outside of class.  So unfortunately I have not been able to blog as much as I wanted.

Enough you are saying, get to the book.  Ok here it is.  Maia Wojciechowska's (yes that is her last name, yes I double checked the spelling) Shadow of a Bull is the tale of a young boy whose father was a champion bull fighter named Juan Olivar.  Juan dies when his son, Manolo, is young but Manolo spends his whole life in his fathers shadow.  The entire town is waiting for him to reach the proper age and become a champion bull fighter just like his father, "They talked about him, not behind his back, but all around him, in front and alongside and behind, not caring at all if he was within earshot or even standing and listening to them."  No pressure, right?

What a way for a child to grow up, 'they were waiting for the son to be like his father."  But what if the son is not like the father?  And this is the conflict of the book.  It is Manolo's struggle to find out who he really is, is he a champion bullfighter or does he want something else?  Of course I'm not  going to tell you the answer you will have to read the book to find out.  Does Manolo stay in the shadows or does he step out on his own path?

Learning who you are, even if it's not what people expect...that's kids stuff.