I was first attracted to this novel because of the author's reputation as the premier man of of Mexican letters, and Carlos Fuentes' accomplishment with this novel alone is monumental. How could Fuentes have known enough about life to have written it at the age of about 34? Wow! The novel should be read and reread--perhaps in different translations, as one reviewer has recommended. Other reviewers of this novel, The Death of Artemio Cruz, have summarized the plot and action for you; I want to say something about "who" Artemio Cruz is and why we should still care 47 years after the original publication date. Another way of saying it is this: The Death of Artemio Cruz is also the life of Artemio Cruz--and we've got to care because there is so much in this novel about Mexico that the U.S. government should learn, which we cannot learn from a documentary or statistics.
I can't pretend to be an expert on Latin American Literature, (and I've never traveled south of the border), but it seems to me that Artemio Cruz is Mexico--of course, it's more complicated than that metaphor--but you have to read all the way to at least page 267 to understand that Mexico is "a thousand countries with a single name." In other words, if Mexico is like Artemio's life then both are powerful and powerless, a success and a failure, extremely poor and extremely rich, loving and hateful, courageous and cowardly, dazzling and dizzying, quiet and explosive. For Artemio is all of those--and by analogy, so is Mexico, or Latin America. Fuentes had to develop a narrative structure and voice that would show us Mexico (and Artemio) in a comprehensible way. But how do you show chaos as logical and tragedy as a sign of hope? Fuentes does it here.
One reviewer of this novel didn't like the narration switching back and forth between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person, and another cited "wordy lyricism," but, Readers, this novel attempts to create order out the astoundingly beauty of all of Mexico. This novel comes forth like the Aztecs and the Mayans, Cortez and Maximilian, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Emiliano Zapata, and Pancho Villa all rolled into one. From this mix, a terrible beauty is born. No wonder we Puritan Americans--raised on Nathaniel Hawthorne and Emily Dickinson--can't understand Latin American literature.
A key line to understanding this novel can be found early: "Who is he? How did he rise out of himself?" (97) These questions come from inside his wife Catalina's consciousness; she's wondering how Mexico came to produce someone like Artemio because he's not at all like her fine aristocratic father. Catalina desires Artemio but is disgusted by his origins and suppresses her natural love. My question is: How did the world come to the surface in Artemio? What is Mexico that it brought the Artemios into existence?
Cruz has been corrupt in his career, but Fuentes is showing us the points at which a man goes either one way or the other. The author shows us that the sheer naked will to survive horrible life circumstances can drive a boy to become this type of man, to do almost anything to survive, and that men are born into circumstances not of their own making, and they make history while trying to overcome these terrible circumstances. Another reviewer says that though Cruz was corrupt, he is not a monster. True; I don't think that a monster would have enough of a consciousness to think of other people on his death bed. Cruz seems to be dying of a bilious stomach disease which has eaten him from the inside out all his life. As a man, he is aching for love; he's sad and lonely in his triumph. His dying wishes might not be fulfilled, but he will perish with one thought on his mind, a tragic accident early in his life which resulted in a loss that haunts him to his death.
Baixe o app Kindle gratuito e comece a ler livros do Kindle instantaneamente em seu smartphone, tablet ou computador - sem a necessidade de um dispositivo Kindle.
Leia instantaneamente em seu navegador com o Kindle para internet.
Usando a câmera do seu celular, digitalize o código abaixo e baixe o app Kindle.
Seguir o Autor
Algo deu errado. Tente fazer sua solicitação novamente mais tarde.
Clientes que compraram este item também compraram
Página 1 de 1 Iniciar novamentePágina 1 de 1
Sobre o autor
Siga autores para obter atualizações de novos lançamentos e recomendações aprimoradas.
Principais avaliações de outros países
T. M. Teale
A tour de force of Mexican life and the story-telling art
Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 30 de maio de 2009
Uzo Dibia
THE BEAUTY OF THE LONG NARRATIVE
Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 22 de janeiro de 2011
Wordsworth
Brilliant, innovative and powerful narrative
Avaliado nos Estados Unidos em 9 de agosto de 2008
