- Perfect Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury; New edition edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0747543941
- ISBN-13: 978-0747543947
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 222 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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First Sentence
There is absolutely nothing of interest in Campazas. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
There is absolutely nothing of interest in Campazas. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Fragile Crystal,
By
This review is from: The Crystal Frontier: A Novel in Nine Stories (Paperback)
Carlos Fuentes is a major author in Mexican literature, with notable successes in history and fiction. In this book of 266 pages, he introduces us to the lives of a spectrum of persons living on both sides of the Mexican Border, particularly with Texas. He speaks with authority about the historical injustices involved in the American conquest of Texas, the War on Mexico, and our continuing hostile dependency on each other. The Americans need cheap labor and the Mexicans need jobs. In nine vignettes (chapters), he gives us a glimpse into the lives of various persons on both sides of the border. The Mexicans come North to go to school legally or to do menial work illegally or legally. The message in this book is quite clear. We want the Mexicans when we need them to do tasks cheaply that our own labor force will not do. We do not want the Mexicans when they become dependent on us and stress our social system for such things as health care or education. Carlos Fuentes points to the type of economic slavery that this creates, not much better than the era of slavery which Abraham Lincoln fought against. Fuentes achieves some balance in showing also the internal corruption of Mexico, and the many ways that they miss opportunities to improve themselves. The vignettes are funny, sad, passionate, and sometimes lacking in clear focus. Some characters fade into and out of various chapters creating a fabric of impressions about the life on the border. The reader has to relax and let the images flow past, with the poetic inserts by Fuentes about the various conflicts. This is clearly not his best book but in some ways it perhaps reveals more of his own most heartfelt conflicts which accumulated while he spent many years as a child and young adult in the USA. It is a particularly good book to read while you are traveling near the Mexican border and can get your own impressions of this SCENE.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insights from the Outsider,
By "pomorie" (New Haven, CT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Crystal Frontier: A Novel in Nine Stories (Paperback)
Fuentes does not bridge the gap between two colossal cultures, he defines that gap. As a gringo in his own country Mexico, and a foreigner in the US, he is qualified and capable to draw a honest and sensitive picture of these two countries and its characters. He uses the physical divide to draw a picture of what really matters to him - the poverty and impasse existence of myriads of people in Mexico. Luckily, there is only a hint of his (far leftist) politics, and we are allowed to enjoy his cultural insight, deep understanding of characters, compassion for suffering, and sense of humor. A powerful author, but short of the genius of friend and peer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Un libro muy bueno.,
By
This review is from: The Crystal Frontier: A Novel in Nine Stories (Paperback)
If you want to understand the complex relationship between Americans and Mexicans this is an excellent read. You'll get more out of it than any dry textbook on Mexican identity and relations with the US. It's not his best work but it is very good.
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