When I was standing in the tediously long UBC Bookstore line waiting to (at last) purchase my last book, I became bored flipping through the pages of magazines and looking at the grotesquely large price tags of the “UBC brand” merchandise. Subsequently, I decided to get a head start and look into the book, “…y no se lo tragó la tierra”, I was going to spend my money on. The first thing that struck me was “what kind of class did I sign up for where we are reading books about dragons? Is this some sort of Lord of the Rings and Dora the Explorer hybrid?”

Needless to say, I have enjoyed what I have read of Rivera’s book so far. Usually, I have the attention span of a six year old child when it comes to reading, and that attention span devolves into one of a four year old child when reading in a foreign language. However, I was rather captivated by Rivera’s work. It was easy to digest. Sure, at times it was difficult to follow who the narrator was (if there seemed to be one at all), and that the short stories seemed to be mixed quite a bit chronologically, I nonetheless enjoyed this book immensely. Perhaps Rivera keeps his main characters anonymous because their experiences could be those of anyone?

Something I found interesting about the book was the importance of religion. Perhaps it stood out for me personally because I feel that Latin-American cultures are more active in their religious beliefs that those of us in Canada or in the US. My family is one of those “twice a year” Catholic families that goes to church, well, twice a year. Once at Christmas, and once at Easter. This being said, the passage “Un Rezo” really struck me, and the apparent importance of religion really stood out. Also, the vocabulary words used seemed to be strongly religious at times, speaking about Satan and the Virgin Mary. To me, this religious dedication (er, rather recognition) is almost foreign. I was placed into a uniform wearing- nun-holding-ruler type of Catholic school, as were the generations before me, and still, I feel as if the only time my family prays is if we really want something or is something went really wrong. Sort of a “Catholic when it is convenient” type of deal.

Anyways, sorry I went off on that tangent. My main point is that I enjoyed the short-story like format of this book and I am really contrasting what importance religion plays in my life vs. the importance religion plays in the lives of the characters in Rivera’s book.