RaveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksFor anyone who grew up in Los Angeles, as I did, reading L.A. Weather is like a visit home. María Amparo Escandón captures brilliantly the sights, sounds, and scents of the metropolis — each enclave with its own language, music, foods, and customs ... the power of this novel stems less from the Alvarados’ ordeals than from the tremendous love that binds them — a love that makes itself felt in countless actions big and small ... Escandón’s portrait of L.A.’s Hispanic communities is especially rich and nuanced. While many authors depict Mexicans and Mexican Americans as uniformly poor and marginalized, she belies the stereotype ... Escandón evokes the best of the city — the vibrant ethnic communities, the diverse food cultures, the multilingualism, and the broadmindedness (although the corruption, materialism, and traffic don’t escape her attention). In the Alvarados, she portrays a strong Mexican American family in crisis — a family so invincible that even L.A. weather can’t destroy it.
Scholastique Mukasonga, Trans. by Jordan Stump
RaveWashington Independent Review of Books... five heartrending stories ... Mukasonga’s superbly crafted stories leave the reader with a deep sense of desolation, thanks, in part, to her deft use of metaphor ... Yet these stories are not devoid of joy and hope. The fortitude and perseverance of the Tutsi women; the bonds that unite neighbors, who put aside grudges and pull together in times of need; the beautiful milking rituals of the Tutsi farmers; the willingness of one woman to raise another’s child, should it be necessary—these particulars leave the reader with profound appreciation for the resilience and generosity of the Tutsi people ... a wonderful and important book, one that will expose most Western readers to unexpected new worlds.
Hebe Uhart
PositiveWashington Independent Review of Books... nothing much happens. Rather than full-fledged narratives, these vignettes capture the feel—the sounds, sights, and scents—of everyday life in one of Latin America’s great cities and its surrounding areas ... The wonder of Uhart’s writing is that, in spite of the loneliness pervading the stories, reading them does not leave us sad. Even the characters who lead the dullest lives often find delight in everyday things ... Uhart’s stories, filled with peculiar but familiar characters, are like wildflowers by the side of the road—easy to overlook if you’re not paying attention, yet delicate and beautiful.
Salman Rushdie
PositiveWashington Independent Review of Books...while Cervantes provides a panoramic view of Spain’s transition from feudal to mercantile (and the questioning of traditional hierarchy that accompanies it), Rushdie focuses more pointedly on a particular group: Indian immigrants in an America he depicts as a uniformly vacuous, racist, consumption-obsessed, opioid-drenched nation ... Although Quichotte starts out with a bang (the portrayal of the television-obsessed Ismael Smile is truly hilarious), in the end, it is not completely satisfying, not because it deviates so radically from Don Quixote, but because it fails to live up to its own potential ... After the brilliant first few chapters, Quichotte too often slips into silliness ... Although elements of the novel can be off-putting, Quichotte is nevertheless a thought-provoking and at times highly entertaining book. It is perhaps not Rushdie’s best, but it is worth a read.
Marie Arana
RaveThe Washington Independent Review of Books... beautifully written, meticulously researched ... a must-read for anyone struggling to understand Latin America’s tumultuous past and our fraught relationship with our southern neighbors. Arana has done us a service with her clear, even-handed treatment of the subject.
RaveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksIn The Sound of Things Falling, Juan Gabriel Vásquez captures magnificently the feel of Bogotá — its neighborhoods and rhythms, its sounds and smells and the terror of its inhabitants during the years of drug violence … The Sound of Things Falling is not really the story of one man and his involvement with the cartels. Instead, it is an exploration of how the cartels impacted thousands of people of Laverde’s generation who in one way or another were drawn into the trafficking business — people like Laverde, who were not hardened criminals but saw drugs as a product they were supplying to an eager market, and Elaine, a do-gooder caught up in anti-Vietnam war protests and anti-establishment rhetoric. As Yammara remarks, these people were not innocent; they were innocents, naïve youngsters who never examined the moral implications or possible consequences of their actions.
Anuk Arudpragasam
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksSuch precision and thoroughness make for slow, tedious reading, but that is deliberate. In fact, that is the point. Because he could die at any instant, Dinesh must draw as much juice as possible out of every microsecond that he is alive ... Anuk Arudpragasam has written a poignant novel that conveys the devastating psychological impact of war. Yet the book is not without flaws. The author’s constant repetition of phrases becomes tedious ... Still, The Story of a Brief Marriage is a worthwhile read.
Derek Palacio
RaveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksDerek Palacio may well be one of the best narrators to come out of the Americas since Gabriel García Márquez ... Members of Palacio’s Encarnación clan grapple with everyday issues in recognizable ways, yet possess a kind of otherworldliness — an amalgamation of the ordinary and the extraordinary, reminiscent of the best Latin American magical realism ... The breadth of themes and the use of names steeped in symbolism give The Mortifications a mythical aura as well as a sense of universality.
Sebastian Junger
PositiveThe Washington Independent Review of BooksFor the most part, Junger’s arguments are sound and convincing. My only quibble concerns his idealization of tribalism ... In spite of this caveat, Tribe is an important, thought-provoking book that encourages us to see veterans and American society in a new light.