NOTABLE BOOKS ABOUT MEXICO
STONES FOR IBARRA (1984)
by Harriet Doerr
CONSIDER THIS SEñORA (1993)
by Harriet Doerr
Doerr clearly spent much of her early years in Mexico and she wrote these two remarkable books late in life. Her writing is clear and uncluttered, rich yet spare, and her economy of word is often startlingly on target. Her descriptions of mid 1950s to mid 1960s Mexican village life bring the people fully alive – their feelings, their backgrounds, their hopes, their fears, their contradictions. “Stones for Ibarra” was once made into a passable, if terribly simplistic, TV movie. These books are far better and far more intelligent than the movie. —PRW
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QUATRO NOVELAS de la REVOLUCIÓN:
(Excerpted and paraphrased from a review by Javier Munguía in the Sunday, November 14, 2004 edition of “El Imparcial,” from Hermosillo, Sonora.
LOS DE ABAJO (1916)
(The Underdogs)
by Mariano Azuela
This is perhaps the most celebrated novel of the Mexican Revolution. Serialized a year before publication as a book, by 1925 Azuela’s seminal work was rediscovered as an important critique of conditions before the Revolution. While he denounced the poverty and persecution that drove thousands to engage in armed struggle, he also denounced the rape and opportunism of many of the revolutionaries, and the violence committed in the name of ideals that, in many cases, the fighters themselves did not comprehend. (Available in English.) . —PRW
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LA SOMBRA DEL CAUDILLO (1929)
(The Shadow of the Caudillo, or Military Leader)
by Martín Luis Guzmán
Guzmán denounces the ‘institutionalization’ of the Revolution. The figure of the Caudillo (Alvaro Obregón, although his name is never mentioned) appears as an omniscient entity who resorts to violence and assasination against those who refuse to obey his mandates. He becomes, paradoxically, equally as or more tyranical than the dictator originally deposed by the Revolution: Porfirio Diaz. . —PRW
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CARTUCHO (1931)
(Cartridge)
by Nellie Campobello
While “Cartucho” consists of a series of reports on the struggle in northern Mexico, concentrated in Chihuahua, it can also be read as a novel. We see the tenderness, the solidarity, the filial bonding demonstrated by the revolutionaries amidst the horrors of the war, all through the eyes of a little girl. (Available in English.) . —PRW
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DESBANDADA (1933)
(Disbandment, also Confusion, Disorder)
by José Rubén Romero
This novel presents a disenchanted view of the Revolution. It contains ‘vignettes’ of distinct locations in the town of Tacámbaro, presented through the voice of one of the few educated inhabitants whose life was altered by the arrival of the armed struggle. . —PRW
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Other important works related to the Revolution:
LA MUERTE DE ARTEMIO CRUZ (1962)
(The Death of Artemio Cruz)
by Carlos Fuentes
Notes translated from the book cover: “On his death bed, Artemio Cruz remembers when he fought in the Mexican Revolution and how afterwards he lost his ideals, along with the only woman he ever loved. Married to the daughter of a landowner, he utilized family political connections to amass an immense fortune. Foul-mouthed, audacious, corrupt, opportunistic, Artemio Cruz represents the paradoxes of recent Mexican history.” (Available in English.) . —PRW
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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF PANCHO VILLA
by Frederick Katz
Everything you ever wanted to know about the compelling life of Pancho Villa (ne: Doroteo Arango) and his important role in the Revolution is included in this 800-page (!) book with extensive footnotes. Though long, it’s a fascinating tale that resembles the great myths. Humble beginnings, famous triumphs, catastrophic defeats, unbelievable recovery – all the elements of greatness and fatal flaw are there in this Napoleonic character. Villa demanded absolute loyalty from his followers, dealt harshly with those he felt betrayed him, and never really seemed to grasp the idealistic principles of the Revolution. Perhaps that’s one reason there are at least 29 villages in Mexico named after Emiliano Zapata, who was a true revolutionary, and only one (in the dusty, dry NW corner of the State of Chihuahua) named after Pancho Villa. (Chosen as a “New York Times” Notable Book in 1999. Available in English.). —PRW
