Tag Archives: Literature

Huatulco

Sneak Preview 2025: A Few New Gems by Our Favorite Writers

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

The end of the year creates a wondrous feeling of bookish anticipation that helps move us through the post-holiday doldrums. To whet your appetite for our upcoming reading pleasure, here’s a brief preview of new books by several favorite authors, both fiction and nonfiction. Publication dates are, as always, subject to change.

Fox: A Novel, by Joyce Carol Oates (July 2025)
Lolita for feminists! In yet another of her original novels, the prolific and amazing Joyce Carol Oates this time takes on Vladimir Nabokov’s classic Lolita (1955), shifting the perception to that of the woman in the tale, a temptress schoolteacher named Frances Fox.

I try to read everything Joyce Carol Oates creates. Despite writing more than 100 books, she still finds new, varied, and creative paths to entertain and captivate her readers.

Flashlight: A Novel, by Susan Choi (June 2025)
Susan Choi won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2019 for her novel Trust Exercise: A Novel (2019).

Her newest novel, Flashlight, tells the story of Louisa and her family after her father disappears when she is ten years old. By focusing every other chapter on a different family member, complicated stories are revealed through time, patience, and memory.

Sounds challenging and intriguing.

The River Is Waiting: A Novel, by Wally Lamb (May 2025)
We eagerly await new novels from this skilled writer of the best sellers She’s Come Undone (1992) and I Know This Much Is True (a Novel) (1998).

Advance press for Lamb’s new novel refers to a great deal of pain created by the protagonist’s own mistakes. He goes to prison, where, pondering his errors, he wonders if he can ever be forgiven. Is there a possibility of atonement for the unforgivable?

Fever Beach: A Novel, by Carl Hiaasen (May 2025)
With 14 novels and many best sellers – Skinny Dip: A Novel (2004), Sick Puppy: A Novel (2000), and Squeeze Me: A Novel (2020), among others – under his belt, Hiassen returns with two unique characters who continue yet another laugh-out-loud adventure story in the author’s home state of Florida.

Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie, by James Lee Burke (June 2025)
Burke, who spent most of his life in the US South, is one of the most popular mystery writers of our time. Currently splitting his time between Montana and Louisiana, he says the greatest influence in his life was the 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

His latest takes place in Louisiana and New York City and is told through the eyes of 14-year-old Bessie Holland. Holland finds solace in her mentor, a suffragette English teacher who encourages her to always keep fighting, but the challenges presented at the beginning of the 19th century seem almost insurmountable.

Warhol’s Muses: Artists, Misfits, and Superstars Destroyed by the Factory Fame Machine, by Laurence Leamer (May 2025)
Bestselling biographer Leamer explores the lives of 10 superstar women Andy Warhol manipulated for his own artistic benefit while also revealing the mysteries of Warhol’s turbulent life and work. Surely meant to sensationalize!

Leamer is the author of Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era (2023), Hitchcock’s Blondes: The Unforgettable Women behind the Legendary Director’s Dark Obsession (2023), and The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family (1996).

Men in Love, by Irvine Welsh (July 2025)
This much-anticipated sequel to the 1993 cult classic Trainspotting joins the two existing sequels, Porno (2005) and Dead Men’s Trousers (2018), but this new novel takes place immediately after Trainspotting.

Recall the characters in Trainspotting (Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Begbie) were heroin users in Edinburgh. In this new novel, the crew is dispersed to Scotland, London, and Amsterdam where they try to substitute love for heroin. The author tells us he has never stopped writing about these strange, beloved characters from Trainspotting.

Three years after Trainspotting was published, Danny Boyle converted it into a successful movie starring Ewen McGregor, Robert Carlyle, and Johnny Lee Miller.

Vianne, by Joanne Harris (May 2025)
We know Joanne Harris for her multi-million-copy bestselling Chocolat (1999). Vianne is the story that takes place six years before the famous chocolaterie opens.

It appears this newest novel is equal to its predecessor both in its sensuality and its ability to provoke thought.

Mark Twain, by Ron Chernow (May 2025)
Ron Chernow is the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer who has tackled the challenge of relating the varied and exciting life of the famous journalist, satirist, and performer Mark Twain.

We know Mark Twain for his two novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), but there is much more to his life and story that comes via his thousands of letters and unpublished manuscripts.

Samuel Langhorne Clemens adopted the moniker Mark Twain and thus gave the world hundreds of hours of entertainment in his vast library of writing. More than a hundred years after his death, Twain, who travelled the world and wrote about it, is still voraciously studied in schools worldwide.

His clever use of words, description, and phrases is still quoted. Some of his most famous aphorisms include, “A classic is a book that people praise and don’t read.” Then there’s “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education,” as well as the popular, “Never put off until tomorrow what may get done the day after tomorrow just as well.”

Speak to Me of Home: A Novel, by Jeanine Cummins (May 2025)
Cummins is the author of the Oprah Winfrey-recommended and highly controversial novel American Dirt (2018), in which a woman and her son must escape their home in Acapulco when they are pursued by narcos. The journey through Mexico and the doubts arising from the purpose of their adventure are the basis for the book.

This new novel takes place in Puerto Rico and the US, telling the tales of fifty years and three generations of immigrants. It is ultimately a story of mothers and daughters and the decisions they face and are haunted by.

This is only a sampling. Many more book recommendations forthcoming over the next few months.

Happy Reading New Year 2025!

Huatulco

Capturing the Art and Importance of Storytelling: My Ten Favorite Reads of 2024

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.
— Alan Bennett, The History Boys (2004)

The long hours I spend reading and thinking about reading are certainly disproportionate to my other daily activities. What I remember most about a book is not so much the plot or even the characters, but rather the way I felt while reading it: the compulsion to keep reading, the heightened emotions evoked by a character’s glance or the fevered pace of a city or a raging river.

I’m convinced that treasured book memories are made from good stories. As Brian Doyle, author of one of the books listed below, so eloquently put it, “The best way to celebrate a people is to share their stories. Stories are who we are, what we are made of” (Chicago: A Novel, 2016).

Long Island Compromise, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner (2024). This chronicle of a New York family is disturbing, realistic, and so vividly frightening at times that the reader may actually share the physical pain of the characters.

The ability of the author to describe the suffering of a drug addict, the lack of self-confidence from uncertainty, or a young sibling’s disgust at the actions of her wealthy family are all brought fully to life in this wide-ranging story.

Brodesser-Akner was the author of the popular novel Fleishman Is in Trouble (2019) which was made into a TV mini-series with Jesse Eisenberg (2022-23). From my point of view, both novels can be categorized as unputdownable and emotionally draining.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin (2023). This emotionally packed novel has been lauded by young and old alike. And even though I’m in the latter cohort, I can attest to the brilliant rendering of the book’s three young gamers over the decades this novel spans.

Perhaps you, as was I, are not current on the lives of gamers or of gaming in general. How can I read, let alone praise, a book whose subject is alien to my experience of life (though isn’t this part of what drives us to read)? That was my initial response to a friend who recommended this book. She encouraged me to try it and I’m grateful I trusted her judgment and followed her advice.

In this book, deeply engrossing characters and their friendships grow over time. Their astute thought processes so enchanted me that I immediately read more novels by this young author.

Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014) should be added to this list of favorite books. I challenge a lover of reading to find fault with this little treasure about a small bookstore on a small island.

Tomás Nevinson, by Javier Marías (2023). This is, sadly, Marías’ final novel. His illustrious writing career was cut short at the age of 70 after a case of pneumonia. Marías’ lengthy sentences and attention to detail consistently delight serious readers and grammarians alike. There is no other writer like him.

One wisely will read the penultimate novel, Berta Isla: A Novel (2019), first, as it sets the stage and plot for this thriller. The duality of two terror organizations, Ireland’s IRA and Spain’s ETA, provides all the color necessary for a tense plot. The characters, as always in a Marías novel, are finely honed.

Praise also goes to Marías’ loyal and constant English translator Margaret Jull Costa, in whom he had the greatest belief. Marías himself spoke excellent English and yet he entrusted this brilliant translator with his creations.

Palimpsest: A Memoir, by Gore Vidal (1995). For many of us, Vidal holds a special place on the bookshelf as a prominent writer of novels, journalist, magazine contributor, political observer, and bon vivant of society in the last half of the 20th century. His wit has consistently transported him to the front of any event or issue.

Vidal, famous for his strict care with words and phrasing, most definitely describes this book not as an autobiography, but as a memoir – a book of memories. Throughout, as one memory sparks others, he precisely recounts the adventure of his talented and privileged life and the famous and prestigious people with whom he rubbed elbows.

There is no greater pleasure than a sentence or phrase penned by Vidal.

Erasure: A Novel, by Percival Everett (2001) looks at societal judgements from a different perspective.

Everett’s main character feels misunderstood not by the white majority but by those in his own community who accuse him of “not being black enough.” Indeed, the subject matter and style of the literature he creates are thought by his fellow people of color not to be typical of them, and thus a betrayal.

What follows depicts the sad state of the publishing industry and a conundrum for our protagonist. How to change his image within his community and what price fame? His daring attempt to address the issue in a freshly written book – complete with twists, turns, humorous surprises, and the public’s response – will stun you.

Everett’s most recent work, James: A Novel (2024) has just won the National Book Award for this year. James was also shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.

Snap, by Belinda Bauer (2018) was a surprise choice for the long list by The Booker Prize committee the year it was published.

“It’s the sort of commercial fiction that tends to outsell the rest of the longlist put together but which the Man Booker judges are supposedly too snotty and set in their literary ways to consider,” writes Johanna Thomas Corr in The New Statesman (August 29, 2018). Nonetheless, the committee proved her wrong and nominated Snap for the long list.

This compelling story is based on a true incident: the kidnapping and murder of Marie Wilks, 22, seven months’ pregnant with her fourth child, on the M50 motorway in England. The pace of the text, the heart-stopping emotion, and the rendering of the story of the children left behind places Bauer among the finest of crime writers.

The character depictions are spot on, the writing concise and colorful, and the plot suspenseful. A delightful surprise “find” for this reader.

Knife: Meditations after an Attempted Murder, by Salman Rushdie (2024). Special recognition must be accorded Rushdie, a prolific writer of fascinating stories, for his consistent courage in the wake of attempts to restrain his literary pursuits.

The world watched and lived with the years-long fatwa imposed on the author by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after publication of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses (1988).

More recently, Rushdie narrowly survived a knife attack in Connecticut. Knife is the elegantly rendered story of that attack and Rushdie’s unexpected recovery in the midst of his family and dear friends, many of whom are prominent writers and to whom he pours out his sincere emotion and thanks.

This most personal and desperate of stories is deservedly on many best-book lists this year.

Chicago: A Novel, by Brian Doyle (2016). I brimmed with pride while reading this highly personal story of a young man who spends just five seasons in the Second City.

Chicago is the city that owns me. It is my identity, and this book allows the Windy City to shine, if sometimes through the smog, rush-hour traffic, and the usual disruptions of big city living.

Here’s a personal story of a young man who begins his working life at a Catholic magazine in Chicago’s Loop. The days and years follow him through the city’s neighborhoods and more intimately through life at his apartment building, which is filled with eccentric tenants.

The writing is personal, witty, and bursting with the conflicting emotions and excitement of a newcomer to a grand city.

For me, this book was the most satisfying surprise of my year’s reading.

Anita Monte Laughs Last, by Xóchitl González (2024). Here is a story that satisfies on many levels: artistically, politically, and socially.

It tells the tale of two women artists a generation apart, their similarities and differences within the art world and their relationships with men and society. I’m not a fan of magical realism, but González’ use of it in the second half of the book is cerebral, bitingly humorous, and pitch perfect.

If you haven’t read González’s first book, you’re in for a double treat. Olga Dies Dreaming (2021) is the story of a Puerto Rican family in New York that includes anarchist parents, a politically ambitious son, and Olga, who struggles with her own identity as a Latina professional woman.

Both books are richly entertaining while teaching us about our southern neighbors, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Death at the Sign of the Rook: A Jackson Brodie Book, by Kate Atkinson (2024). A reader’s first reaction to this book might be one of merriment. Many have told me that they laughed out loud while reading it.

Art theft, suspicious caregivers, and an old, privileged family are the entertaining elements that make this a rich and enjoyable read. A troupe of actors adds another humorous element. One friend, however, did share that although engaging and humorous, it was “a little too Agatha Christie” for her. That may intrigue you.

Repeat readers of Atkinson’s novels know to expect the unexpected from her. Subject matter and tone vary from book to book, making each a delightful surprise.

Now we enter 2025, which we hope will deliver a bookbag filled with new novels to while away our hours. On that note, I leave 2024 thinking of Elif Shafak, the Turkish writer and essayist, who reminds us that “We are living in a world in which there is way too much information, but little knowledge and even less wisdom.”

Perhaps our world’s storytellers will rectify the balance in the future.

Huatulco

“You Say You Want a Revolution” — Literature That Imparts History

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

Revolution: A forcible overthrow of a government or social order, in favor of a new system.
— Oxford Languages

History written as literature is a popular genre, providing the reader with knowledge of the past in the context of fine writing. American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor Truman Capote created this new way of looking at actual events in his true-crime novel In Cold Blood in 1966.

The following books are among the best examples of this style. Some are recognized as historical fiction and some as nonfiction, but all are written with the style and flair that these well-established writers bring to a subject. Each covers a different and significant period and place in time. Reading them not only allows us to engage with the past, but also gives us the opportunity to reflect on its effect on our daily life and decisions.

Revolution, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (2022)
“All my life I heard at home the story of that friend of my great-grandfather, a mining engineer, who worked in Mexico in the midst of the revolution. That remote memory has brought me closer to my own relationship with adventure and has led me to write this story. It is a novel of initiation and learning and is, in some way, my own biography of youth. It is my Golden Arrow.” Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Revolution is among the 30-some Pérez-Reverte (1951 – ) novels that readers devour every year. His popularity seems easy to grasp. Since we all suspect that truth is stranger than fiction, his preferred genre, historical fiction, resonates with people of all classes and cultures worldwide. Pérez-Reverte combines plot and characterization to perfection, often including a dollop of humor.

The Revolution in question here is our own Mexican Revolution (1910-1921) in the time of Zapata and Pancho Villa. The focus is not simply on fighting and war, but rather on finding a treasure consisting of 15,000 twenty-peso Maximilian gold coins that had been stolen from a bank in Ciudad Juárez in 1911.

One reader praises the breadth of the book: Pérez-Reverte “takes us through important episodes such as the capture of Ciudad Juárez, the Ten Tragic Days, the battles of Zacatecas and Celaya. The narrative is so good that one is transported in places and times to understand a process as complex as the Mexican Revolution. Highly recommended reading.”

Pérez-Reverte is Spanish, born in Cartagena, Spain, and while many of his novels concern Spain and the Mediterranean, his books are read in more than 50 countries. As you celebrate the Mexican Revolution this November 20, crack open this important read!

Hilary Mantel (1952-2022) asserted that “We don’t reproduce the past, we create it.” In 2017, Mantel gave the Reith Lectures (the BBC’s annual lecture series featuring significant intellectual figures).  Addressing “the aims, ideals, constraints and critiques of historical fiction, and the challenges that writers face,” Mantel observed that readers are “actively requesting a subjective interpretation” of the historical evidence.  The writer’s job is “to recreate the texture of lived experience: to activate the senses, and to deepen the reader’s engagement through feeling”
Many of us deeply enjoyed Mantel’s three novels Wolf Hall (2009), Bring Up the Bodies (2012), and The Mirror and the Light (2020), which transported us, through the eyes of the ever-crafty Thomas Cromwell, into Henry the Eighth’s tumultuous kingdom.
Mantel’s sometimes forgotten novels live up to the esteemed reputation she enjoyed after the publication of the Cromwell trilogy. Among her earlier works and one of the most formidable, A Place of Greater Safety ensconces us in the French Revolution though the eyes of its three heroes. It is my favorite of her many powerful novels.
It’s hard to believe Mantel had trouble finding a publisher for this significant contribution to the literature of the French Revolution. By telling us the complicated history of the Revolution through the eyes of Georges Jacques Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre, Mantel humanizes the major players on both sides, allowing us to relate to them and to the Revolution itself.
“Hilary shares her strict adherence to historical facts; her frustration with the gaps in the historical record; and her preoccupation with French 18th-century drawing room wallpaper. She explains how familiar events from history can be transformed into surprising new dramas when a point of view is changed; and how the unknowns – what her characters think or feel – is where her creativity did its work” (author Katie Ward, “Hilary Mantel was my mentor. Here are seven things she taught me about writing – and life,” The Guardian [September 19, 2024]).

Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024)
Most of us recognize Zakaria (1964 – ) as the face of CNN’s popular show Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square). You may also have read his popular column in The Washington Post or seen his profile on the jacket of his books. Zakaria inspires trust, and his faithful admirers look to him for guidance in our complicated world.

This significant book covers five centuries of history to explain the world’s current state of affairs. It advises us to understand how the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the American Revolution affect our current situation.

Evelyn Waugh wrote in Brideshead Revisited: “We possess nothing certainly except the past.” And it is this from which we must learn, although it doesn’t appear we are doing a very good job of it.

Another Day of Life, by Ryszard Kapuściński (Polish edition 1976, English translation 1987)
There is nothing more satisfying than discovering an author whose creations spark curiosity about the conditions of other cultures. For years the Polish journalist, writer, poet, and essayist Kapuściński (1932-2007) gave us a wealth of knowledge and, more importantly, a glimpse into the suffering of “the other.”

He could also be correctly crowned the king of revolutions, having reported in his lifetime on 27 revolutions, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

In 1975 Kapuscinski reported on the civil war following independence in Angola. His book Another Day of Life describes the “sloppy, dogged and cruel war.” An animated film was made from the book. Both book and movie demonstrate the abysmal effect of war on the populations that suffer through them.

Kapuscinski is best known for The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (1978), the story of the 40-plus year reign of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. Observations related to Kapuscinski by those who worked for Selassie or lived during his rule describe a man who lived like a king among the neglected population that served him.

In another gem, the story of the infamous Shah of Iran is told in his best-selling Shah of Shahs (1992), which assesses the reign of the Shah of Iran and his exit from the country.

In Ryszard Kapuściński, the Nobel Prize committee once again missed the opportunity to recognize an important writer who traveled and reported on world areas in the turmoil of revolution.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe (2019)
The Irish Revolutionary Army dominated the world news for years in the 1980s and 90s, though its many factions and rumors of the era can be confusing. Through a main story and its accompanying sidebars in this marvelously crafted piece of literature, Radden Keefe sets up and describes this era from a variety of perspectives, via the citizens involved as well as the hidden nuances that make up this history.

The true and brutal action begins on the first page with the kidnapping of Jean McConville, a mother of ten wee weans in Belfast, Ireland, in 1972. From there the story expands into a narrative that includes an explanation of the seemingly endless conflicts in Ireland.

Recognizable major players are highlighted in this long history of clashes between Catholics and Protestants, as well as the presence of the British government in the north of the island. Through the actions of Gerry Adams, Bobby Sands, and Dolours Price, the story of the various factions is told.

Radden Keefe (1976 – ) is well regarded for his accurate account of pertinent historical eras and the people behind the history. The book was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by both The New York Times Book Review and The Washington Post. It won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. Radden Keefe knows how to take facts and weave a story of grand proportion that kept this reader on the very edge of her seat.

Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021) received well-deserved attention more recently, as did the book-based Netflix series Painkiller (2023); both tell the story of how the pharmaceutical industry created a nationwide opioid addiction for its own profit.

¡VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!

 

Huatulco

From Book to Movie: The Best of Both Worlds

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

We often hear it said that a movie was good, but the book was better, the film version seldom exceeding or even equaling a book’s impact on us. Here I propose a few exceptions to the rule. Each of the books below depicts life in Mexico; each was written by an established literary author and has been carefully crafted into an entertaining movie that also illuminates the author’s original purpose.

Prayers for the Stolen, by Jennifer Clement (2020)
Film: Prayers for the Stolen (2021, written and directed by Tatiana Huezo)

Jennifer Clement is a name every reader of Mexican literature should know. Former President of PEN Mexico, as well as the first and only woman President of PEN International, Clement continues to investigate and dissect the culture, problems, history, and joys of this land, one of the most culturally diverse and mysterious, and yet friendliest, countries in the world.

At the same time, Clement is a woman of the world who has experienced life on both sides of the border. Clement’s themes are diverse, perhaps due to the adventurous and culturally rich life she leads. Her books are always recommended in this column, and she is a highly regarded citizen of CDMX.

Clement’s newest book, The Promised Party: Kahlo, Basquiat, and Me, is hot off the press (May 2024). It is her own story of her rebellious childhood (the only girl to get booted out of Girl Guides!) in Mexico City to her New York adventures with famous artists. Her antics take you to all the nooks and crannies of Mexico City and New York: a wonderful guide and history of these two preeminent cities wrapped up in a cleverly crafted memoir.

Prayers for the Stolen takes us from the remote hills of the state of Guerrero to the ritzy coast of Acapulco and ends in the magical megalopolis of Mexico City. It’s about a life lived under the shadow of the narcotraficantes that dominate and ruin the future of women they kidnap even if the girls are lucky enough to escape.

Clement’s depiction of and empathy with the seemingly hopeless situation are genuine. She has visited these women in Mexico City’s worst prison to hear the stories of the narco presence in their communities: the fear if they stay or the equally dangerous prospect of running away, sometimes only to an equal or even worse fate. Clement’s style is reminiscent of that of Truman Capote or Tom Wolfe, pioneers of a “new journalism” in which the author writes from the inside out instead of viewing the subject from afar. Her Widow Basquiat: A Love Affair (the 2014 “prequel” to The Promised Party) is a fine example of this.

The movie version of Prayers for The Stolen (Noche del Fuego) can be seen on Netflix. It has received more than 20 international awards: Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard, Honorific Mention; Best Director, Best Picture, Athens Film Festival; Best director, Stockholm International; Best Mexican Feature, Guanajuato Film Festival.

Battles in the Desert, by José Emilio Pacheco (1981)
Film: Mariana, Mariana (1987, written by Pacheco and Vicente Leñero, directed by Alberto Isaac)

Among my favorite Mexican stories is this novella written 43 years ago by one of the nation’s most treasured writers. The book is to Mexican culture what J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye (1951) or Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird (1960) is to American life. New York Times book critic Molly Young perhaps said it best: “How can such a tiny novella contain so many lessons on perception?”

The novel is set in 1948 in the now trendy Mexico City neighborhood of La Roma, Pacheco’s childhood home. Through the eyes of a young boy named Carlos, we experience a changing city, moving from the traditional values of his family to a global modernization of the culture and world around him.

The award-winning movie version, Mariana, Mariana, was filmed in part in La Roma. A commenter on MUBI, a site that specializes in art films, noted that “Literary films are difficult, but Isaac nails this one, and doesn’t hesitate to add some extra flourishes: Freudian psychotherapy…; the growth of the city and the demolition of the old Roma Norte; the 1985 earthquake; gringo invasion; the senescence of the Revolutionary state and its descent into dirty politics, embezzlement, and inequity.” Mariana, Mariana is available for viewing on Amazon Prime.

Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel (1989)
Film: Like Water for Chocolate (1992, written by Esquivel, directed by Alfonso Arau)

This is one title that probably came to fame first as a movie and afterwards as a popular novel, despite the book’s being published a couple of years before the film was made. The film proved to be a box office hit. Years ago, I was advised by my favorite Spanish teacher that my spoken Spanish would never improve without writing and reading. One of the first novels she assigned me to read in Spanish was Like Water for Chocolate.

Most dominant and significant in the learning process was my introduction to the subjective (not a tense, but a mood) in Spanish. Shadows of the book still cloud my mind when reading or speaking the subjunctive. I also recommend Leonora by Elena Poniatowska (2015) as a good tool for Spanish students. This novelization of the fascinating life of Leonara Carrington is unequaled and will compel you to master the Spanish.

The book and movie style of Like Water for Chocolate is magical realism in a nation at the beginning of the 20th century, a time of turmoil. Tradition and the family figure predominately, as does the Mexican Revolution.

The movie earned ten awards at Mexico’s Oscars, the Ariel Awards, including Best Picture, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Like Water for Chocolate was the highest-grossing foreign language film shown in the U.S. up to that time. It remains at #10.

The Old Gringo, by Carlos Fuentes (1985)
Film: Old Gringo (1989, written by Aida Bortnik and Luis Puenzo, directed by Puenzo)

Carlos Fuentes is undoubtedly one of the most influential and universally respected authors in Mexican literature. In his obituary, the New York Times described Fuentes as “one of the most admired writers in the Spanish-speaking world” and an important influence on the “Latin American Boom,” the “explosion of Latin American literature in the 1960s and ’70s.” Fuentes was often regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but sadly, as with Javier Marías and Philip Roth, an untimely death intervened.

The Old Gringo was more successful as a novel than the film, which starred Gregory Peck, Jane Fonda, and Jimmy Smits. Fuentes has said, “What started this novel was my admiration for [American journalist Ambrose Bierce] and for his Tales of Soldiers and Civilians [orig. pub. 1892]. I was fascinated with the idea of a man who fought in the United States Civil War and dies in a Mexican civil war.”

And that is exactly what Fuentes gives us in this exciting historical and tragic chapter in Mexican history.

Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo (1955)
Film: Pedro Páramo (1967, written by Rulfo, Carlos Fuentes, and Manuel Barbachano Ponce; directed by Carlos Velo.

Pedro Páramo is THE classic novel of Mexican literature; remarkably, it was Rulfo’s first novel.

“I came to Comala because I was told that my father, a certain Pedro Páramo, lived here. My mother told me this. And I promised her that I would come to see him as soon as she died.” Every Mexican knows these opening sentences of the novel.

Writers like Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Susan Sontag cite Pedro Páramo as one of the most significant works of literature of all time. A survey of writers and students worldwide by the Nobel Prize Institute of Sweden included it as one of the 100 works that constitute the core of the universal heritage of literature.

Gabriel García Márquez claimed he could recite the entire book cover to cover, demonstrating the importance of this short novel in his own writing.

The story appears to be straightforward: a man returning to a once-thriving city that now appears to be ghost town, along with the people who inhabit it. But it is Rulfo’s nonlinear style and form that capture the essence of the tale. You may find yourself confused – which characters are dead, which alive? Time shifts, as does the flow of memory, as we are absorbed into the world of Pedro Páramo.

Ironically, the book sold very few copies when published, and fame came only later. You can view the film on Netflix; to this day, it receives excellent reviews, though most viewers suggest you read the book first. A new version of the film has been produced by Netflix; written by Mateo Gil and directed by Rodrigo Prieto, it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. It will be released on Netflix later this year.

Hurricane Season, by Fernanda Melchor (2017)
Film: Hurricane Season (2023, written by Melchor, Daniela Gómez, and Elisa Miller; directed by Elisa Miller)

The death of a witch is a hell of a way to begin a novel. But Fernanda Melchor knows just where she’s going with a story that takes place in a small village in coastal Veracruz.

Written in a Faulkneresque style (Melchor abhors periods) with a touch of Chilean author Roberto Bolaño, the novel recounts in a “linguistic torrent” and hypnotic rhythm the story of how and why the witch lived and died in a desperately poor little Mexican town. Most reviews recognize Melchor’s command of the language in her use of rough language to describe violence and depravity and her ability to express pain and despair. Equal praise has been showered on her English translator, Sophie Hughes.

The story is told by four “unreliable narrators,” that is, people who have only a partial, often distorted, view of what’s going on as local citizens attempt to determine who killed the witch and how to handle the extreme evil lurking everywhere.

To give you an example of the popularity of this novel, I am currently on a 20-week waitlist for the English translation. You can view the equally regarded film on Netflix.

“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.” – Carl Sagan

Huatulco

Editor’s Letter

Leave a comment

By Jane Bauer

“What’s the point of being an Australian guy traveling through India if you are going to go to India to meet other Australians?”
Alfonso Cuaron

My first experience with movies in Mexico was when the traveling movie caravan came to Mazunte while I was living there in 1997. They set up a tent in the field by the elementary school and showed a double feature of an old Mexican black and white film and Die Hard. Everyone in the village came out since most people didn’t have electricity, let alone televisions. The chance to watch something was a novelty.

When the first theater in Huatulco opened at Plaza Madero in the early 2000s it felt like we were being vaulted into modern times. I love movies so much that when I was pregnant I would make the two-hour drive from Puerto Angel to Huatulco to rent videos- not DVDs- because the selection was better than what was available in Pochutla.

While many people love to immerse themselves in Mexican culture through tacos and tequila, film is often overlooked because of the language barrier. But I believe film is a wonderful way to begin to understand the nuances and attitudes of a culture.

In this issue our writers explore Mexican cinema and there are enough amazing films mentioned to keep you busy but I can’t resist recommending a few more.

La Caida (Dive) 2022
Beautiful cinematography contrasts the precision of profesional diving with the subtleties of grooming by a seasoned abuser. Inspired by the true story of the sexual and mental abuse allegations on the Mexican diving team. Karla Souza, the Mexican actress who plays the lead, trained for three years to portray the Olympic diver.

Güeros (Gueros) 2014
Filmed in black and white, the cinematography captures the wildness, chaos and freedom of youth in the 90s. I was hooked from the opening scene. Two brothers go searching for folk-rocker Epigmenio Cruz on the streets of Mexico City during the student strikes of 1999.

La gran seducción (The Great Seduction) 2023
This fun movie is about a big city doctor sent to a small fishing village that has suffered economic hardship. The residents think that if the doctor decides to stay it will improve their circumstances and set about to woo him. This is a remake of a Canadian film that was first made in 2003 and then again in 2013.

See you in November,

Jane

Huatulco

2024 Fall Festival of New Books

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

Autumn’s seasonal foods, weather shifts, and sports and cultural events are good reasons to look forward to the fall interval, but so too is the arrival of the new end-of-year books. Publishers traditionally present their most accomplished authors at this time, likely in anticipation of holiday gift buying.

This fall release list has some gems by current notable authors as well as some favorite popular fiction writers.

New Books from Current Notable Authors

Entitlement: A Novel, by Rumaan Alam (due September 17)
Many of us were frankly amazed by Alam’s last novel, Leave the World Behind: A Novel (2021), which addressed fears of an unknown future and the scientific/computer events that could throw our lives into chaos. Alam’s engaging novel was made into a popular Netflix movie starring Julia Roberts that was true to the book from which it came.

Alam’s newest is a novel that seems to be about money. It stars a young protagonist who needs a sense of purpose while making a difference in the world. She also wants to impress her mother, spend time with friends, and establish her independence. Securing a job assisting a billionaire gives her proximity to wealth, which moves us to the core of her transition.

Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich writes that this novel “should come with an undertow warning … I was pulled under. Rumaan Alam has mastered that eerie moment when an ordinary gesture has the potential for disaster.”

Death at the Sign of the Rook, by Kate Atkinson (due September 3)
Jackson Brodie fans, stand by! This is the next in Atkinson’s popular detective series. Not to worry if you haven’t read the others – you can enjoy each book individually.

This novel finds Brodie discontent in Yorkshire while investigating stolen paintings. He soon uncovers a string of unsolved art thefts that leads him down a confusing path to Burton Makepeace, a formerly magnificent estate now partially converted into a hotel hosting murder mystery weekends.

Fair warning: new readers may become hooked on Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie mystery series. If this describes you, we suggest you read Case Histories (2005), the first in the Jackson Brodie series, as well as Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel (1995), Atkinson’s debut novel and a Whitbread (now Costa) award winner. Atkinson has also written several other gems, among them the popular Life After Life: A Novel, winner of the 2014 Independent Bookseller’s Award, which gives us a window on the many lives we can possess.

The Drowned: A Novel, by John Banville (due October 1)
John Banville won the Booker Prize in 2005 for his novel The Sea, and is the bestselling author of 15 novels, a short story collection, and a mystery series written under the name Benjamin Black.

This latest is a mystery that takes place in rural Ireland in the 1950s. It concerns a missing woman whose husband thinks she may have taken her own life and the subsequent investigation. It is as much a mystery as an observation into our shrouded worlds. Detective Inspector St. John Strafford is aided by his pathologist friend Quirke (the protagonist of preceding novels in the series) in discovering what happened to the missing wife.

Banville has been described in many reviews as “the heir to Proust, via Nabokov,” but he himself cites W.B. Yeats and Henry James as the two major influences on his work.

The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story, by Olga Tokarczuk (due September 24)
Move over Thomas Mann. Nobel Prize winner Tokarczuk’s new novel is set in 1913 in a sanatorium at a health resort in the village of Görbersdorf in the Silesian mountains in Poland. Sound familiar? Esoteric evening discussions among the sanatorium’s residents center around the great issues of the day, accompanied by an hallucinogenic drink.

I will leave the description at that while noting that subtitle – A Health Resort Horror Story. Who could resist? Many of us have read and admired Torcarczuk’s well-known Flights (2018) as well as Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel (2019).

New Books from Notable Popular Writers
The following books are authored by the crème de la crème of their genres. Each author possesses stature in the field and thousands, if not millions, of loyal followers.

Blood Ties, by Jo Nesbø (due November 2)
Jo Nesbø is one of the world’s best-selling crime writers. By 2021 he had sold 50 million copies of his novels worldwide in more than 50 languages. (Nesbø also is lead singer of the Norwegian rock band Di Derre.) In his latest crime novel, Nesbø reunites two brothers, Carl and Roy Opgard, from The Kingdom (2020), who return to their small town in crisis as they find themselves fighting for everything they have – ill-gotten as that might be.

We Solve Murders: A Novel, by Richard Osman (due September 17)
Known for the popular The Thursday Murder Club series, Osman started a career in television, where he wore many hats. His book series about retirement home sleuths was an immediate success, and now in We Solve Murders he has gifted us with a new detective duo, the retired investigator Steve Wheeler and his ambitious daughter-in-law Amy. Osman reassures us, though, that his astute elderly crew from the Thursday Murder Club will return in the future. In the meantime, enjoy the new series.

The Grey Wolf: A Novel, by Louise Penny (due October 29)
This is the bestselling writer’s 19th mystery set in Three Pines, the fictional Quebec village beloved by all Penny fans. In The Grey Wolf, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the engaging detective and hero of the series, receives a phone call on a quiet Sunday morning that triggers rage and upsets his wife deeply. But this is just the first of the strange events that will unfold.

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel, by Alexander McCall Smith (due October 15)
It is hard to fathom that this is book 25 in the well-regarded No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. All our favorite characters – including J.L.B. Matekoni and Mma Makutsi – return to assist the amiable, competent, and stubborn head detective Precious Ramotswe. McCall Smith writes four or five novels a year, so there is never a worry about exhausting his selections.

Identity Unknown, by Patricia Cornwell (due October 15)
Cornwell sold her first Kay Scarpetta novel, Postmortem, in 1990, and the rest of the story is a thrilling history. Her experience working at the office of the chief medical examiner in Richmond, Virginia, launched Cornwell’s writing career and that of her beloved fictional medical examiner. Postmortem won the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity Awards, as well as the French Prix du roman d’aventures – the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year.

Cornwell’s newest brings the Kay Scarpetta series to 28 books. When summoned to an abandoned theme park to retrieve a body, Dr. Scarpetta realizes the victim is an old lover of hers … and he has left her a clue.

Cornwell has also written the definitive book on Jack the Ripper’s identity, as well as several cookbooks and a children’s book.

It certainly appears that end-of-year reading promises hours of intellectual and emotional stimulation. Enjoy every precious moment!

Huatulco

The Aztecs: Stories Behind the Legendary People

Leave a comment

By Carole Reedy

Two of the greatest civilizations on our planet originated in Mexico: the Mayan and the Aztec. The Mayan civilization of the present-day Yucatán area dates back as early as 2000 BCE. The Aztec civilization, centered around present-day Mexico City, emerged later, about 1325 CE until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s.

The Aztec people and culture are among the most recognizable, and yet most mysterious, subjects of today’s Mexican culture. Most contemporary people have heard the tales of fierce Aztecs, their magnificent pyramids, and a culture of sacrifice.

To understand more, a visit to Mexico City is essential. It will allow you to enter the core of Aztec life, enhancing your understanding of their society.

Start with a visit to the center of the Aztec city Tenochtitlán (our present-day zócalo). Here you’ll feel the open-air expanse of the ancient city, surrounded now by 16th century Spanish architecture.

Imagine the streets as canals and the somber 16th century Spanish Cathedral as a grand colorful pyramid. Visit the Templo Mayor, home of the Aztecs’ largest pyramid. A must-see museum packed with treasures accompanies the site.

Remarkably, the pyramid ruins weren’t discovered until 1978, when electricians, diligently working in the city center, happened upon the 500-year-old Aztec wealth. All construction immediately halted. Archeologists stepped in, and they have been excavating ever since. To this day they are uncovering riches of the Aztecs that help us understand their culture and daily life. For details of the actual discovery and excavation, read Life and Death in the Templo Mayor (1995) by Eduardo Matos Montezuma who directed the excavation project.

The Templo Mayor was destroyed in 1521 by the Spanish, the rubble and stones reused to build Spanish structures like the cathedral. This practice continued throughout Mexico after the Spanish invasion. The first item on Cortés’ agenda when conquering a city was to build a cathedral.

Storytelling is an effective way to pass on a people’s history. With a variety of viewpoints, we can synthesize facts, observations, and feelings to understand a culture not our own. There’s a wealth of information and many books, both fiction and nonfiction, in which to discover more about the enigmatic Aztecs. Here are several reading suggestions that dispel some myths and reinforce the importance of the Aztecs in the overall scheme of this most significant of countries and civilizations.

Most of the stories below come from the points of view of the Azteca, rather than the traditional Spanish versions we are accustomed to hearing.

When Moctezuma Met Cortés: The True Story of the Meeting that Changed History, by Matthew Restall (2018)
This is a well-researched and exquisitely written account of the August first meeting between the Aztec leader Moctezuma and the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Backed up by pages of reputable references, Restall paints a strikingly complex picture of the Aztecs and their encounters with the Spanish. Although the references are scholarly, Restall writes in an accessible style. He paints a vivid portrait of the Aztecs and especially the family of Moctezuma in their daily lives.

Beyond his focus on the meeting itself, Restall analyzes the tactics of the Spanish during their journey from Veracruz to Tenochtitlán (our Mexico City) as well as the long days they spent in the city. He also examines the outlying native societies and their relationship with both the Aztecs and the Spanish, providing a fresh look at exactly who defeated the Aztecs.

Restall also takes a closer look at Hernán Cortés, offering a different aspect of the man who enjoyed basking in the limelight. The views of the King of Spain and of other conquistadors, which can be found in Bernal Díaz de Castillo’s tome (see below), provide a more realistic profile of the conquistador.

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs, by Camilla Townsend (2019)
Camilla Townsend is a Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University. She is a winner of multiple prizes over the years for her impressive research and conclusions.

Fifth Sun is the story of the Aztecs in their own words. Before the invasion of the Europeans, these native people had their own history, which is related to us thanks to Townsend’s research and determination.

Also notable is Townsend’s The Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive (2016).

After receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, she began looking at the Nahua, one of the Aztec peoples, in their own language. Spanish friars had taught the Nahua the Latin alphabet so they could read the Bible, thus paving the way for their conversion to Christianity.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1568; tr. Janet Burke and Ted Humphrey, 2012)
This well-regarded conquistador’s account of his many years in North America must be considered despite its inaccuracies, since this is only one of two first-hand accounts of the overthrow of the Aztecs.

“We came to serve God and to get rich, as all men wish to do,” is the famous quote for which Díaz can take credit. Despite the intent, many of the conquistadors themselves did not walk away with anywhere near the riches they had hoped to attain.

Díaz wrote the memoirs 30 years after the conquest and later refined and expanded them. He found the biographies and other sources glorifying Cortés’s efforts to be highly inaccurate. His observations of the new land and its people are described in detail, which adds a much-needed human touch to the volume and this significant time in Latin-American history.

Díaz had participated in other expeditions, among them in Cuba and the Yucatán, before his lengthy time with Cortés. He lived a long life, dying in Guatemala in 1584 at the ripe old age of 92.

If you are learning Spanish, this is a good book to start reading in your new language. The prose is forthright, you know something of the subject, and the grammar is not complicated.

During your visit to the Templo Mayor be sure to stop and read the long quotes from Bernal Díaz and Cortés that are inscribed on huge slabs of concrete overlooking the ruins.

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico, by Miguel León-Portilla (1568; tr. Lysander Kemp, 2006)
Eyewitness accounts of the Aztecs told to Spanish friars in the 1500s make this one of the most significant resources for understanding Aztec society.

This book was first published in 1959 and has undergone several revisions and printings. It has been widely translated–into English, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, and Japanese, among other languages.

Leon-Portilla, a renowned historian and anthropologist, is known for his numerous books and research into the Azteca.

Huatulco

Exploring Mexico’s Top News Sources

Leave a comment

By Jane Bauer

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying informed is crucial. With a plethora of news sources available, it can be challenging to discern which ones offer reliable, accurate, and unbiased information. Whether you’re a local resident, a tourist, or simply interested in Mexican affairs, here’s a curated list of some of the best news sources in Mexico to help you stay up-to-date.

El Universal: Founded in 1916, El Universal is one of Mexico’s oldest and most respected newspapers. It covers a wide range of topics, including politics, economics, culture, and international affairs. With a reputation for balanced reporting and insightful analysis, El Universal remains a go-to source for many Mexicans seeking reliable news.
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx

Reforma: Renowned for its in-depth investigative journalism and comprehensive coverage of current events, Reforma is another prominent newspaper in Mexico. It has a strong online presence, offering multimedia content and opinion pieces alongside its news articles. Reforma is often praised for its commitment to journalistic integrity and accuracy.
http://www.reforma.com

Excélsior: Established in 1917, Excélsior is one of Mexico’s most influential newspapers. It provides extensive coverage of national and international news, with a focus on politics, business, and culture. Excélsior is known for its high editorial standards and objective reporting, making it a trusted source for many readers.
http://www.excelsior.com.mx

Animal Político: As a digital media outlet, Animal Político has gained popularity for its investigative reporting and coverage of social justice issues in Mexico. It focuses on political analysis, corruption, human rights, and environmental issues, often presenting stories from marginalized perspectives. Animal Político is widely regarded for its transparency and commitment to holding power to account.
http://www.animalpolitico.com

Proceso: A weekly news magazine renowned for its investigative journalism and critical analysis of Mexican politics, Proceso has been a staple in the country’s media landscape since 1976. It covers a wide range of topics, including corruption, crime, and human rights, often delving into controversial subjects. Proceso’s in-depth reporting and fearless approach to storytelling have earned it a dedicated readership.
http://www.proceso.com.mx

Milenio: Milenio is a multimedia news outlet known for its up-to-the-minute coverage of breaking news and events in Mexico. It offers a mix of articles, videos, and opinion pieces across various platforms, catering to diverse audiences. Milenio’s commitment to accuracy and timeliness has made it a popular choice for those seeking real-time updates on current affairs.
http://www.milenio.com

La Jornada: La Jornada is a left-leaning daily newspaper recognized for its progressive editorial stance and alternative viewpoints. It covers politics, social issues, culture, and the arts, often featuring opinion pieces from prominent intellectuals and activists. La Jornada’s commitment to social justice and grassroots reporting sets it apart in Mexico’s media landscape.
http://www.jornada.com.mx

CNN en Español: For those seeking international news with a Mexican perspective, CNN en Español offers comprehensive coverage of global events. With correspondents stationed across Mexico and Latin America, CNN en Español provides in-depth analysis and live reporting on breaking news, politics, business, and more.
http://www.cnnespanol.cnn.com

BBC Mundo: While not a Mexican news outlet per se, BBC Mundo provides Spanish-language coverage of global news and events, including those relevant to Mexico. Its reputation for impartiality and high-quality journalism makes it a valuable resource for Mexicans seeking a broader perspective on world affairs.
http://www.bbc.com/mundo

While this list is by no means exhaustive, these news sources represent some of the best options for staying informed about Mexico’s dynamic political, social, and cultural landscape. By diversifying your media consumption and critically evaluating sources, you can gain a well-rounded understanding of the issues shaping Mexico and the world.