Were you surprised by the reader for the cigar factory in the first chronological section? Some of the historical details were new to me. I appreciated their inclusion.
Created: 04/26/21
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I liked the fact that there were books read at the cigar factory. I'm sure most of the workers were illiterate, so this was a wonderful experience for them. It provided an escape and another world of possibilities to focus on. I've visited a cigar factory in Central America so I identified with this part of the book.
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I loved the chapter about Maria Isabel. I had no idea there were readers in the factories, but what a wonderful idea -- that someone destined to do such a boring repetitive job as rolling cigars all day could hear a good book at the same time. I wish she had her own book and we would find out more about her life and the cigar factories, etc of her time.
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I wasn't surprised at all. I knew about this cusm of having a reader in factories from "Ana in the Tropics." I saw productions of that in both English and Spanish, and enjoyed it. I remember thing what a civilized custom it was to have a reader in a factory.
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I was pleasantly surprised by the reader in the Cigar factory. I thought it was a great perk for the workers because it challenged them to think and engage in the story as they rolled cigars. I think rolling cigars all day would boring. The reader gave the workers something to think about and lift them from the mundane to the plane of imagination.
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A lector is definitely not something that is used today - however - it might offer some unused advantages. The reading of the newspapers I understand. Many people working in those cigar factories were illiterate and this was probably the only method of learning the current news. I am not really sure why the lector read books to the workers - to keep them calm, to keep them distracted from their work, to make the work seem rote and habitual and make the day move quicker. I'm not sure.
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