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Saving the World (Shannon Ravenel Books)x$0.99
  (17 reviews)
Best Price: $13.95 $0.99
Alma, the narrator of Saving the World, discovers a small historical footnote while doing research for a novel: In 1803, a Spanish doctor crossed the Atlantic with twenty-two orphan boys—live carriers of the smallpox vaccine—to inoculate the population of Spain's American colonies. Accompanying them on the two-year voyage was a mysterious woman, Isabel Sendales y Gómez, the rectoress of the orphanage. Captivated by Isabe'’s courage, Alma decides to tell the grueling story of their journey. Meanwhile, Alma's husband, working with an organization committed to eradicating AIDS in developing countries, travels to the Dominican Republic. When his life is threatened, it is Isabel's strength and resolve that arouse Alma's unexpectedly heroic action. This novel within a novel presents the radiant stories of two women swept up in campaigns against the scourges of their day. Julia Alvarez is the author of five works of fiction, among them In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, books for children, essays, and poetry. Saving the World is an unfocused attempt to make a statement about the haves and the have-nots and the people who try to improve the lot of those who have never had a real chance in life: those people who try to save the world. Unfortunately, it does not bridge the chasm between authentic high-mindedness and sentimental twaddle. There are two stories intertwined in the novel: one of Alma, a self-centered depressive author and the other of Isabel, a no-centered Spanish rectoress who, in 1803, with her 23 orphan boys, joins Dr. Balmis on a ship bound for the new world destined to save the world from smallpox. The boys are to be carriers; each of them vaccinated with cowpox and then, when the vesicles fill with fluid, it will be harvested to vaccinate others. This part is, basically, a true story. Alma has a contract to write a book, gets stuck, and becomes enamored of Isabel's story instead. She starts to write, and her husband, Richard, is called away on a project to the Dominican Republic, Alma's native country, to establish a "green" zone. Another world-saving project in theory, it turns out not to be as advertised. Alma sends him off alone, telling him that she is going to work on the book--some book, anyway--and then wool-gathers about why. Isabel constantly asks herself if she has done the right thing by exposing the boys to the rigors of sea travel, the dangers of ailments other than smallpox, and will she ever have a husband and babies of her own? These two women are portrayed as having remarkably little self-knowledge, despite their concentration on taking their own emotional temperature hourly. A red-herring sub-plot is that Alma's close neighbor and "good friend," whom she seldom sees until she finds out she's dying, has a crazy son who has a crazy wife. They come to visit as Richard is leaving. Their threats to Alma and to the world at large are described by the two loonies as "ethical terrorism." This nonsense gains Alma's sympathy and she ends up protecting and defending them, spouting poetic aphorisms as reasons. The other loose cannon in the tale is Tera, Alma's one-dimensional firebrand friend who is saving the world from everything you can mention, according to her own lights. She is tedious in her extremism, and especially annoying to Alma when Alma needs attention, which is all the time. All manner of dreadful things take place in this truly messy book. Alma and Isabel cry a lot, everyone gets to act out and then we go around again. Unfortunately, this story trivializes the world-saving work of the Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition, which was an around-the-world voyage of the smallpox vaccine and really did prevent outbreaks in the New World. Now that is a fascinating story. --Valerie Ryan
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Customer Reviews
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Tempest-tossed on land and sea
By A1S5730H97QOLG on 2006-04-28
Julia Alvarez' new novel was a Book Sense pick of the month. I've never been quite satisfied by her earier books, but after dedicating five months to the Spanish-language telenovela "Alborada", I was in the mood for something at least partially set in the same early 19th century time period. I gave "Saving the World" a try.
What a fabulous surprise. "Saving the World" is not without flaws, but it is a marvelous read, completely satisfying and highly recommended.
There's a parallel story structure, one modern, one historical. In this case the historical one is the most compelling. Isabel is the director of a Spanish orphanage, who is approached by Dr. Francisco Balmis, who asks her to help him carry smallpox vaccine to the new world. This will be done by vaccinating one boy, then transferring the live vaccine from one boy to the next until they reach their destination and begin a vaccination program. Moved by Dr. Balmis' drive, Isabel agrees. She also agrees because she lost her family in the smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured.
And then you have Alma, who is supposed to be working on a Dominican family saga novel but who instead is spending her time reading about Isabel. Her husband Richard is going to the Dominican Republic to work on an environmental project while she remains at home in Vermont. That's the plan, anyway, but before the novel's end Alma will also cross the waters to try to rescue the mission of a visionary man.
Isabel's fantastic, little-known story is the more gripping. Crammed on tiny ships with rowdy little boys, touchy adult men, and bouts of seasickness, she keeps her eyes on the prize and helps the others focus in that direction as well. Alma is depressed and in trouble with her publisher, who is getting tired of waiting for this saga novel and may want the advance back. You want to shake Alma, but who hasn't used that diversionary tactic of putting too much energy into the wrong thing? She allows herself more tempest-tossed by life than Isabel, a woman who faces real tempest-tossing in a small vessel on a vast and unknowable sea.
How much you like this novel will depend on how well you're able to accept Alma. Just ride these sections and pretty soon, you'll be swept up.
Ultimately disappointing
By A146H6A41B26QT on 2006-06-08
After reading the wonderful "In the Time of the Butterflies" I eagerly picked up Alvarez' new novel. Here we have two paralell stories, and Alvarez betrays early on her real interest in the historical. First, we are introduced to Alma, a novelist in a black mood with a bad case of writer's block. Instead of concentrating on her Hispanic family saga, she holds off her publisher and agent and dips into the fascinating story of Isabel, an amazing woman of the early 19th century. Alma has a loving husband, good friends and a successful career, and Alvarez' attempts to portray her "crisis" didn't ring true to me. Alma sends her husband off alone to the Dominican Republic, despite his begging her to go, and then spends hours second-guessing herself, and using the illness of her elderly neighbor Helen as an excuse not to go. Helen's crazy son and daughter-in-law, who style themselves as ethical terrorists, made no sense to me.
On the other hand, the real-life story of Isabel was gripping. After barely surviving but losing her entire family to smallpox, Isabel takes the job of running an orphanage. Scarred for life, there is no other option left to her. Then she is approached by Don Francisco with a remarkable proposal--take any boy who has never been exposed to smallpox and begin a journey to the new world. The boys would be vaccinated in sequence, in the hopes of keeping the virus alive during the long journey--at the time there was no way to store and transmit the vaccine other than by live carriers. Isabel's deeply buried spirit grabs the chance to leave her shut-in existence. This part of the book is based on history, and the mission saved thousands of lives.
I couldn't help but find Alma's troubles trivial compared to Isabel's dramatic story. Isabel constantly worries about her own future and that of her boys, but her concern is real and realistically portrayed--this is a woman with no options in traditional Spanish society, and she has jumped off a cliff without much of a safety net beneath her. Alma's mid-life crisis, the illness of her friend, and her separation from Richard pale in comparison, and the dramatic ending of Alma's story doesn't help much.
I'd rather Alvarez had focused on Isabel and her remarkable story--the mission was flawed in some ways, but it ultimately meant a lot to many people, while Richard's work in the Dominican Republic is only one more example of well-intentioned first world projects gone awry.
Move along...
By ADFDF7Z3JNSW8 on 2006-07-15
I am an avid reader of Julia Alvarez. I collect first-editions of her novels and poetry collections.
However, I had to force myself to finish this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Isabel but each time one of her chapters would end, I'd suffer through another one about Alma. I'd put down the book for days on end and have to make myself pick it up again.
I'd love to see Alvarez try again and write a story about the Spanish Royal Philanthropic Expedition with nothing else to distract from it.
If you're interested in Julia Alvarez, try "In the Time of Butterflies" or "Garcia Girls" instead. Skip this one.
200 Years That Bind
By AHBFLD16XSVKV on 2006-07-16
While I browsed through a bookstore, the subject of this novel caught my attention: the story of a Spanish doctor in the 1800's who sets out on an expedition to bring the smallpox vaccine to the Spanish colonies around the world. Having discovered that the virus from which the vaccine is to be made must be transported live and cultured sequentially, he solicits young boys from an orphanage to be his first line of carriers. The rectoress of the orphanage agrees to let the boys go only if she is permitted to accompany them to care for them. Parallel to this plot is a modern day story of Alma Huebing, a Latina novelist for whom the 200 year old story becomes a source of inspiration. Her husband Richard, not unlike Dr. Francisco Balmis, goes off to work in a health center in the Dominican Republic, dispensing AIDS medication. While the stories are not equally compelling, it's interesting to see the influence that Dona Isabel's life has over Alma's. This is a well-crafted novel that kept my interest in both plot lines alike.
A Bit of a Disconnect
By A3EMFNL4B10QOS on 2007-01-13
I too scooped up this book eagerly pleased Alvarez had a new release.
The stories both captivated me. However only the story of Isabel kept my interest and rang true in a romaticized way. Alma's story, while a page turner (almost like a car wreck so painfully awful to read but you can't help but not turn away), started to a little too overly dramatic and silly. And when her story climaxed I was left thinking "That was it?" Some of the lose ends with Helen, Mickey and Hannah could have been tied up a bit better--or developed more to make the ends that they did have seem more statisfying.
And after reading Alvarez's other books, I was a bit disheartened by what I perceived as a disconnect from the DR.
- a noble attempt but falls short
By A1H3VPTAGDFSXW on 2007-07-03
If you've read Ahab's Wife and liked it then this if for you. However, if you read Ahab's Wife and thought it unbelievable, pretentious etc... then don't bother reading this book. I admit it; I was hooked to start. Alma a woman approaching or in the throes of menopause struggling to write a book, a married to Richard who works for a do-good corporation that helps unite the down-trodden with the means to provide a sustainable future entertaining. Throw in some kooky friends (Tera - the vigilante, the peace riot organizer) and the good neighbor, Helen, who is dying and it was okay. Then we have the story of Isabel, the historical figure who accompanied the Royal expedition to rid the New World of Small Pox. A noble and highly successful endeavour. Initially Isabel is fine, she is informative, prehaps a bit overdramatic about her loss of faith, her disfigurement etc...but entertaining. Then she becomes like Ahab's wife, the sustainer of the mission, the one who can calm the children, or still the director's violence and his self-importance so the mission is not lost. She deplores slavery and reaches out to the slaves they purchase to insure their mission carries on, she knows how to read, how to write, she is a diplomat behind the fiery director, the mother to the motherless orphans, securing them all homes, falling ill herself so the mission will continue. It all becomes too much to the point that you wish to say enough, enough. I am reminded of a quote from a famous author who said at times he struggles to keep reading when the story is so poor, the character so self-important. And midway through the book this is the case, Isabel is so full of herself and Alma too so wrapped up in her misery (which is of her own creating) that I just wanted it to end so I could say - I finished, it's over.
- Author of Returnable Girl
By A2VZ4S5096WGDY on 2006-07-12
I LOVED this book. Mostly because it is historical fiction interwoven with a present-day tragedy. The relationships felt very real to me, and stories that speak about grief, loss and the power to move through these experiences and heal from them. Bravo Julia! Well done.
- Alma
By ASS3ESPSSMQX8 on 2007-06-18
If only this book had skipped the Alma chapters, I would have given it an A+. The writing becomes so disparate as Alvarez switches between the modern world (Alma) and the historical world of Isabel.
The chapters about Alma have potential, but are choppy and it is hard to become immersed in them. On the other hand, the Isabel chapters are beautifully written and you want them to go on and on.
It's my first Alvarez book, and I'm going to try one or two of the others that the other reviewers suggest.
This is a good book for a plane ride. : )
- History and adventure combined for a good read
By A21NVBFIEQWDSG on 2007-08-16
Author Julia Alvarez sets up two parallel stories in Saving the World. In the 21st century Alma Huebner, a successful novelist, is trying to write a long-promised novel, juggle family and friends, and decide how she really wants to live her life. In the 19th century, Isabel Sendales y Gomez wishes to leave the small world of the orphanage she oversees for the bigger world. Both women receive their chances to find a new life.
Alma Huebner has put off her editor and agent for more than two years, while beginning to research the story of the Balmis Expedition, which set out in 1803 to rid the world of smallpox. It carried Isabel Sendales y Gomez with it as the caretaker of 22 boys who are the live carriers of the coxpox vaccine. In Isabel, Alma finds a heroine, and a haven from the demands of her life. When her husband is offered an assignment in the Dominican Republic, Alma stays behind--ostensibly to make progress on her novel, but she finds it difficult to concentrate on anything outside her dying neighbor Helen, and the story of Isabel.
In alternating chapters, we learn Isabel's story of her journey from Spain to the New World, with stops in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Mexico, before she travels with the expedition to the Phillipines. Isabel finds the wide world to be exciting, a little dangerous, unpredictable, and surprising. Alma longs for some of the same, while staying in the safety of her Vermont home.
At times Alma's story stretches itself thin between the mundane and the fantastical, but her character is interesting enough to carry the reader along. Isabel, while dwelling in an inherently more dramatic atmosphere, is a steadier character who slowly carves out a new life in the midst of chaos. With each change in narrative Alvarez leaves the reader longing to know what is happening in that other world--a sure sign that that characters and the story line are strong.
Armchair Interviews says: If you're looking for a fascinating combination of historically based adventure and a story of modern dilemma, try Saving the World.
- BORING!
By A16F6VPZFUD7SH on 2007-09-12
I have never felt so inspired to write a review. I generally feel obligated to finish books that I purchase, but I am really struggling with this one. I am an avid reader and have probably read close to 8 books in the last 3 months. Some of them very enjoyable. However......
- Parallel story line does not work
By A2NPC5LWRGQLWI on 2007-09-21
I read this book in Spanish, not knowing it had been translated from English. After reading the first couple of chapters, I realized I was reading a translation. The translation was ok, but not great.
The parallel story line does not work well. Alma is self-centered and her concerns are trivial. Isabel's story, however, is gripping, particularly if you are a history buff. I wished that the author would have focused only on the story of the Royal Expedition. It would have made for a much more interesting novel. Every time I finished a chapter about Isabel,I felt disappointed that I would have to plow through a chapter about Alma before being able to continue Isabel's story.
- Fascinating and dull.
By A1O2HGHQGBMFQ3 on 2007-11-24
Saving the world combines two stories. One is the fascinating story of a woman carrying live vaccines in the fragile bodies of small children across the world, with the dull boring and tiring story of a writer. Isabel and Alma are two women separated by hundreds of years. On one side the story of Isabel, moving from an Orphanage in Spain all the way to Latin America and Asia and back to Mexico mothering vaccine carrying children, captures the reader and transports us to the times where `the sun in Spanish territory never sat'. On the other side, Alma, a writer with a blockage is so boring that you might as well skip the pages to figure out what Isabel is endeavouring. The rating of the book should be sepparated into a 5 for Isabel's story and a 1 for Alma's.
- Saving the World
By APBN3OZATPQAB on 2008-03-10
I absolutely love this book. I am half way through and I can't get enough of it! I would recommend this book to anyone. I am a fan of Julia Alvarez and have had the opportunity to hear her speak. When she spoke of this book and the research she did in order to write the book, I was intrigued and had to buy it. Wonderful book that intertwines two stories of strong and amazing women who are struggling in their life experiences. The book is an inspiration.
- Parallels are engaging!
By A26P5OIE3ZDXKW on 2008-03-26
This book kept my attention by cleverly switching between the lives of two women in different centuries, but with analogous stories. I particularly liked the story of Isabel (perhaps because historical fiction is my favorite genre)...It was eye-opening.
- Wonderfully Entertaining
By A6EMA9W1VUV67 on 2008-08-09
I loved this book. I thought the alternating chapters between the centuries worked well. I found both stories equally riveting.
I would say however, that I did not feel that the stories were really connected. Before I read the book, the reviews seemed to indicate that both women were involved in ridding the world of disease, one of small pox and the other of AIDS. I would classify it more as a modern writer who becomes fascinated with a story. A story that she was researching while going through what could be described as a midlife crisis. The only similiarity that I could see was that both women had "children" though neither had given birth.
Overall, the fact that the stories didn't seem connected didn't have a negative impact on the fact that both stories were well written and compelling.
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