Cogan’s Reviews My spies tell me that author Scofield used to live in Ajijic and that Lago de Luz, the setting for her novel, is in fact Ajijic. If so, here’s her description of the village: “Lago de Luz, on the altiplano far from the sea, where it is neither hot nor cold, boasts no […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I came across this slender little volume in a friend’s house recently and I’m glad I took the time to read it. Less than a hundred pages, it’s a compilation of photos, drawings, essays, poems, letters, parts of novels and stories and other sources, all designed to shed light on this unique and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I reviewed the forerunner of this novel, “Rain of Gold”, a short time ago and reported that I really enjoyed it, even though I don’t normally read many family sagas. The first book was based on the history of the author’s mother’s family. This book is a kind of sequel in which Villaseñor tells […]
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Cogan’s Reviews I finally have gotten around to reading this much beloved novel even though it’s been available for years and was made into a very popular movie few years ago. I’m glad I did. It turned out to be one of the more pleasant reading experiences I’ve had in a while. If you haven’t […]
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Cogan’s Reviews Here’s an interesting collection of stories of nineteen women who came on their own to Mexico in recent years to settle in the Lake Chapala area. The book consists of eighteen interviews plus the story of the author herself. The women range in age from their 40’s to their 80’s. Their backgrounds and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews The simplest way to describe this novel is to say that it’s a kind of Mexican “Roots” – a big family survival saga covering three generations of two families, complete with a large cast of characters. Author Villaseñor has based his complex, sprawling tale on the experiences of his own family members and […]
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Cogan’s Reviews This must surely be one of the great adventure stories of all time – how Hernan Cortés and about 500 conquistadores conquered a settled and established civilization in three short years, from 1519 to 1521. Distinguished scholar and historian Hugh Thomas has made good use of recently discovered archival material in both Spain […]
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Cogan’s Reviews While I was writing this review, in May 1998, some 9,000 bush fires were said to be burning across Mexico. I don’t know how anyone ever counted that number, but I wasn’t going to argue. One night we sat on our terrace and counted twelve of them on the other side of Lake […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guidebook specifically on Guadalajara and the surrounding area. There are plenty of such books on the Lake Chapala region, serving the many tourists, retirees and ex-pats who find their way down here. But I just don’t recall seeing a specific English text on Mexico’s second largest […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews This one is an extremely interesting collection of articles about various facets of Mexican life which we gringos probably don’t hear about in the normal course of events. Perhaps if we read Mexican newspapers we’d be more familiar with some of the stories you’ll find here. It’s an odd mixture of very positive […]
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