Mutiny and death in the Strait of Magellan, a book review

Grann, David. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (New York: Doubleday, 2023) pp. 329. The title of this book effectively summarizes the riveting story about sailing in the Strait of Magellan, the most turbulent and dangerous seas in the world, in the 18^th century.

All this takes place in 1740 involving The Wager, one of Her Majesty Queen of England’s ships and its sailors who were assigned to sack and plunder Spanish properties in South America. This ignoble charge was part of yet another war between England and Spain at the time. In the broadest sense, The Wager offers but one more example of the maddening competition that statesmen of all nations have engaged in the name of one flag against another, mine against yours, all of it leading to horrible maiming and astounding loss of life not to mention property.

In this well documented novel-like report, the English sailors die due to the perilous voyage itself and not at the hands of their Catholic enemy. The description of the roaring polar winds and the giant crushing waves is riveting at the same time that the depiction of the Patagonian landscapes is equally astonishing. And the portrayal of human beings making their home in this forbidding part of the world is simply stunning, especially when it is contrasted with the stranded sailors who could not survive the cold and relentless rain and ice storms.

The Wager is scheduled to become a movie.

Kidnapping by Pablo Escobar, a book review (see English below)

García Márquez, Gabriel. Noticia de un secuestro (Nueva York: Vintage Español, 1996) pp. 329. El poseedor del Premio Nobel de Literatura narra en este libro las experiencias de varios colombianos que fueron secuestrados por Pablo Escobar, el infame traficante de drogas, en la última etapa de su vida criminal.

En vez de escribir otra obra más de ficción, García Márquez se puso a trazar el recuento de uno de los rehenes que Escobar había capturado en 1990, Maruja Pachón Castro, perteneciente a la elite colombiana, que, en unión con su esposo, Alberto Villamizar, solicitaron al autor que escribiera sobre su experiencia inolvidable. Obviamente amigos, García acepto, pero pronto vio la necesidad de incluir otras personas que también habían sido apresadas en esos días.

Entonces el gobierno colombiano consideraba establecer un acuerdo con el gobierno de EEUU para extraditar criminales colombianos dedicados a la exportación de estupefacientes como la cocaína. Sintiéndose amenazado, Escobar ordenó el secuestro de los colombianos mencionados comenzando con Pachón Castro para utilizarlos como rescates o fichas para negociar.

Debido a que el autor entrevistó a las personas que sufrieron directamente como rehenes, así como también oficiales del gobierno involucrados en esta crisis, la obra ofrece detalles minuciosos relacionados al cautiverio. Estos incluyen como fueron transportados los apresados secretamente, las condiciones de las prisiones informales, como se relacionaban los rehenes con los guardaban, como se alimentaban, las condiciones en las que dormían, como fueron tratados, etc.

Mas allá de estos detalles, la impresión más fuerte que recibí de esta obra fue el peso político que logró ejercer Escobar en contra al gobierno de César Gaviria. García Márquez dibuja a Escobar desplegando la misma fuerza o casi la misma fuerza política que Gaviria. Este contrapeso político no aparece en el caso mexicano, tan notorio como lo es, pues ninguno de los jefes de los cárteles de drogas parecen haber ejercido el poder personal que García Márquez atribuye a Pablo Escobar.

Es más, el autor nos ofrece un mejor entendimiento de los pormenores que atendieron el fin de Escobar, acribillado a balazos después de todo por la policía colombiana en 1993. [December 2023]

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The winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature narrates in this book the experiences of several Colombians who were kidnapped by Pablo Escobar, the infamous drug trafficker, in the last stage of his criminal life.

Instead of writing another work of fiction, García Márquez began to tell the story of one of the hostages that Escobar captured in 1990, Maruja Pachón Castro, belonging to the country’s political elite. She and her husband, Alberto Villamizar, asked the author to write about this unforgettable experience. Obviously, friends, García accepted, but soon discovered the need to include other people who had also been apprehended in those days.

The Colombian government was then considering an agreement with the U.S. government to extradite Colombian criminals dedicated to the export of narcotics like cocaine. Feeling threatened, Escobar ordered the kidnapping of the aforementioned Colombians, starting with Pachón Castro, to use them as objects of ransom.

Because the author interviewed the hostages, as well as government officials who became involved in this crisis, he offers thorough details about their captivity. This includes how they were secretly transported, the conditions attending to their informal prisons, how they interacted with their guards, how and what they were fed, in what conditions they were able to sleep, how they were treated, etc.

The strongest impression I gained beyond these details, is the political weight that Escobar was able to exert against President César Gaviria. García Márquez shows Escobar wielding the same or almost the same political influence as Gaviria. This political counterweight seems absent in the Mexican case, despite its notoriety, because none of the drug cartel leaders appear to have exercised the kind of political weight that García Márquez attributes to Pablo Escobar.

“PATRIA” AND ETA, SPAIN’S TERRORISTS, A BOOK REVIEW

Aramburu, Fernando. Patria (Barcelona: Maxi Tusquets, 2016), pp.646. [See English below] Considero esta novela sobresaliente, humana y compasible a la vez. A grandes rasgos, se ubica en la región vasca de España y trata del impacto que el terrorismo de ETA ejerce sobre las vidas de personas ajenas a la subversión.

El autor dibuja la vida de dos familias vascas que fueron amigas en un tiempo, pero las que se apartan y se ahuyentan de sí mismas cuando surge el ETA que busca la independencia de Vizcaya, parte de España, presionando su objetivo a base de actos sangrientos y destructivos. El hijo de una de las familias se vuelve abertzale o “patriota, partidario de una patria vasca independiente” y dispuesto a lo que sea necesario. Éste asesina al padre de la otra familia. He allí la trama. ¡Argumento excelente!

Además, el autor demuestra una capacidad impresionante de describir no solamente el entorno urbano cercas de San Sebastián, no lejos de Bilbao, sino también los pormenores personales y familiares de las dos familias y sus amigos y allegados. Su representación de las jefas de las dos familias, por ejemplo, Miren y Bittori, su manera de ser y de expresarse, su perspectiva hacia ETA, son contundentes y persuasivas, la hija que cae de un derrame cerebral, todo elocuente y creíble. No hace falta ser vasco para aceptar las características humanas de los personajes en esta novela.

Encontré la manera de escribir amena y libre de expresiones complejas y distintiva también, porque contrae la narración con el dialogo de un modo singular y relajante.

Aramburu es ganador de varios premios nacionales e internacionales y han llevado el libro a la pantalla de televisión.

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This novel is outstanding, humane, and compassionate. It takes place in the Basque region of Spain, and it addresses the impact that ETA’s terrorism had on the lives of people unrelated to the subversion.

The author describes the lives of two Basque families who were friends at one time, but become estranged when ETA arises, seeking Basque independence and presses its objective by committing murder and destruction. The son of one of the families becomes an abertzale, meaning a patriot supporting an “independent Basque homeland,” and he is willing to do whatever is necessary. He murders the father of the other family. And there you have the plot. Excellent story line!

The author demonstrates an impressive ability to describe not only the urban environment near San Sebastián, not far from Bilbao, but also the personal details of the two families and their friends and relatives. His depiction of the maternal heads of the two families, Miren and Bittori, for example, is persuasive; the way they behave and express themselves including their views towards ETA, the daughter who suffers a stroke, and so on. I found it all eloquent and credible. You don’t have to be Basque to appreciate the characters in this novel.

I found the author’s writing enjoyable and free of complex expressions. I also liked the way he blends the narrative with the dialogue in a unique and relaxing way.

Aramburu is the winner of several awards, national and international, and his book has been converted into a television series.

Blood Meridian, a Book Review About Ethnic Cleansing in the West

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West (New York: First Vintage International Edition, 1992) pp. 351.  Considered an American classic, this novel tells the story of racial and ethnic cleansing in western America and northern Mexico in the 1850’s, and it employs a writing style that is both unique and frustrating, to say the least.

The reader learns, well into the story, that certain governors in northern Mexico engage a veteran American officer in the U.S.-Mexican War to lead a corps of ruthless cowboy tramps to find and kill Indians in the Texas-Arizona-Chihuahua region, Apache in particular. All 351 pages are devoted to this bloodstained enterprise that encourages an equally gory response from the Apaches themselves. The collection of dried out scalps becomes the proof of a job well done. Each pursuer collects his own grisly scapulary.

In following the trail of these hired murderers McCarthy offers an unending description of the land they cross and the sky that looks down on them, giving the author plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his unstinting writing ability. I concluded that he must have traced their pathways in order to recreate the details he presents.

The author does not flinch in presenting the gruesome depictions of people killed, be they Indians, Mexicans, or Americans. Sorry to say, the entire scenario in this novel corresponds with information about the region provided by historical research which confirms the bloody contests that finally came to an end about the time that this novel covers.

La biblia de barro / The Clay Bible, a book review about Iraq

Navarro, Julia. La biblia de barro (Buenos Aires, Plaza Janés, 2005) Este cuento de 767 páginas refleja el conocimiento de la autora sobre temas antiguos los que trata en otras obras y que también he leído con gran satisfacción. Pero aquí juegan un papel limitado pues la gran parte del libro enfoca sobre relatos contemporáneos y muy extraordinarios, vale la pena decir. [La biblia de barro is translated into English.

See English version of this review below]

Los acontecimientos principales en esta novela se llevan a cabo en el Iraq de Saddam Hussein en los días previos a la invasión norteamericana cuyo propósito fue, como sabemos todos, el derrumbe del dictador ya mencionado y la matanza de miles de iraquíes y la vil destrucción de propiedades.

Estos sucesos proporcionan un fondo a la frenética búsqueda de la supuesta biblia de barro que se cree contener el relato de la creación del mundo del mismísimo profeta Abraham. Dicho descubrimiento promete una fortuna, por supuesto y en eso radica la trama que involucra a personajes muy disimilares. Pero esta búsqueda también resulta ser una artimaña enredada para ejecutar un robo de proporciones asombrosas que por sí vale la pena contemplar.

Esta obra merece su lectura pues la encontré amena y apasionante a la vez.  [March 2023]

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This 767-page story confirms the author’s knowledge of the ancient world about which she has written elsewhere and which I have also admired. But here it plays a limited role, because most of the book centers on the world we live in today and it also involves some very extraordinary stories.

The main events in this novel take place in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in the days before the US invasion whose purpose was, as we all know, the overthrow of the aforementioned dictator and the killing of thousands of Iraqis and the despicable destruction of properties.

These events provide a background to the frantic search for the putative clay bible believed to contain the account of the creation of the world by none other than the prophet Abraham himself. Said discovery would promise an indisputable fortune, of course, and therein lies the plot that entangles a large handful of unlikely characters. Moreover, this quest also turns out to be a complicated ruse to pull off a heist of staggering proportions that is itself worth contemplating.

The Clay Bible plot merits the time and effort to read. I also found it very entertaining and exciting at the same time.

Refugees from the Spanish Civil War persevere in Chile, a book review

Allende, Isabel. Largo pétalo del mar (Nueva York: Vintage Español, 2019), Segunda edición, pp. 378.  Este libro trata de una relación de amor entre los protagonistas españoles, Víctor y Roser. Pero más que nada, nos hace consciente de lo que es ser un refugiado. Ellos llegan a ser refugiados de la guerra civil española, él un médico republicano y ella una arrimada que le cae del cielo. [See English below]

Es más, aquí entra el papel de Pablo Neruda, poeta chileno, quien, según la autora, arregla el rescate de cuantiosos españoles perseguidos por los franquistas, ellos también refugiados que llegan a Chile descrito por el poeta como “el largo pétalo del mar.” Esta actuación del famoso poeta fue inesperada para mí y reconfortante a la vez porque le confiere un aspecto más trascendental aún.

Los pormenores que atienden a la guerra civil y el golpe militar resaltan dramáticamente pero no fueron nuevos para mí, aunque sí aproveché de ellos una sensibilidad personalizada que me ayudó a comprenderlos mejor. Este libro representa otra obra excelente por parte de la escritora.

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Allende, Isabel. A Long Petal by the Sea (New York: Ballantine Books, 2020) Tr., pp. 370. This book is a love story between the main characters, Víctor and Roser, both Spaniards. But more than anything, it serves to remind us of what it is to be a refugee. Victor and Roser become refugees from the Spanish civil war, he a republican medic and she a guest who falls on his lap, so to speak.

It is at this point in the story where Pablo Neruda, the famous Chilean poet, comes into play. According to the author, he arranges the rescue and transfer to Chile of many Spaniards who were being persecuted by Franco’s soldiers. This is where Neruda refers to his country as “the long petal of the sea.” I did not know about this accomplishment on his part which I confess I found reassuring because it gives his life an even more transcendental glow in my eyes.

The details surrounding the civil war and the military coup though not new to me were presented dramatically, nevertheless. They helped me understand these events more so because they provided a personalized feeling about them. This book is another excellent job by the writer.