Uno de los abuelos de un amigo mexicano, que vivia en Washington, sabia desde que era muy pequeno lo que queria hacer con su vida. Quiera ser peluquero. Su familia le pregunto, “porque tienes un deseo tan fuerte de ser peluquero?”, y el les dijo que cuando era pequeno habia ido por un corte de pelo y habia esperado y esperado y esperado, mientras que el peluquero ayudaba a los otros clientes. Cuando le pregunto al peluquero porque tenia que esperar tanto, el peluquero le enseno el letrero en la puerta de la peluqueria:”No Mexicans”. Desde entonces, el queria ser peluquero.
Estuve muy sorprendida cuando vi la replica de esta historia en “…y no se lo trago la tierra”. Lo pense y me di cuenta de que estas experiencias han de haber sido muy comunes para los Mexicanos que trabajaban y vivian en los Estados Unidos hace medio siglo. No nos damos cuenta del sufrimiento que ocurria en ese mundo.
Este libro es un cuento de horror, de perdida de creencia, de ignorancia y desesperacion .
Los trabajadores de la historia viven en un lugar indeterminado, entre Dios y el Diablo, entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos, entre la pobreza y los suenos. Explotados por los americanos que los emplean y hasta por otros mexicanos que tratan de enganarlos por dinero, se sienten traicionados por la promesa de la vida y algunos por Dios mismo.
Las imagines del libro son muy fuertes; la de los ninos quemaditos, de los campos de trabajo y la enfermedad del sol, del Diablo, de los viajes de noche al norte en la parte trasera de un camion. Estas imagines son muy dolorosas, muy reales, a veces espantosas.
La ultima pagina, en la cual el narrador ve una palma en el horizonte y se imagina que alli hay alguien trepado viendolo a el, y agita sus brazos para que esta persona vea que el esta alli, es un consuelo final. Buscandose los unos a los otros y compartiendo su experiencia es la salvacion de estos Mexicanos perdidos (Chicanos), que les dara fuerza.

I found that Tomas Riveria’s book had a fairly interesting plot, and pretty unique literary aspects as well. I wish I had a better grasp of the language to catch some of the slang. I also thought that the lack of character names was different, I’ve never seen anything like that before. For example, I found the use of luego luego, and the use of apostrophes in some of the words to be pretty interesting. I really enjoyed how the plot explored aspects of migration and living in a different culture, and I think it did a pretty good job at describing that experience. I’m still trying to figure out whether or not this is meant to be a children’s book. The narration was a bit complicated at first, but once the reader gets to know the characters better it clears up. This has been one of my favourite reads in this class so far.

I’m having a much better time with Rivera than I had with Marti. Both I believe to be good writers, yet I much prefer Rivera’s writing style. His small short-story-ish vignettes are so simple, yet beautiful (and great for us those of us with extremely ADD reading habits). He is succinct and to the point, which makes sense as it is largely written from the perspective of a child.

The passion with which Rivera writes is contagious. I particularly enjoyed “Un Rezo.” A parent’s love is so sweet and pure. It saddened me how desperately the speaker wanted to see their son again. That they would offer up their own heart in exchange for their son’s. Some of the subject matter is quite sad but I’m enjoying the occasional humorous bits. I’ve also enjoyed the odd occasion on which Rivera makes subtle social criticisms that reminded me of Ruiz de Burton’s writing. Rivera draws the reader’s attention to the idealistic vision the Latino immigrants have of the United States in a somewhat heartbreaking manner, as it is from the perspective of an innocent, young boy.

I noticed that many classmates seem to be finding it confusing, but I think you just need to be patient when reading this style of literature. I have faith it will all come together soon. Overall, quite a good read. I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Well done, Rivera.

“The Mexican kid got in a fight and beat up a couple of our boys….” (P23) Aquí deferencia el “our” y “mexicano” de una manera muy fuerte. Que horrible, oír dos adultos hablar así. Me imaginaria hoy día con el tema de inmigración no se permitiría hablar así sobre un extranjero y se trataría los problemas de inmigración de una manera diferente. Que horrible debe ser la escuela para el niño. Empecé a llorar leyendo los primeros paginas porque el autor escribe muy bien, y se exactamente come se siente el niño. Nunca estuve detenido por enfermeras y por tener piojos en la cabeza, pero me puede relacionar perfectamente con el sentimiento de no poder leer en la clase como los demás, y la maestro partiéndome desde la clase por no entender el juego. Inmigración es dificilísimo y los primeros anos son los más oscuras de la vida.

La mejor parte del dia siendo volver para casa y como describe el paisaje, los pajaritos, y el campo de golf. El niño tiene sensaciones muy fuertes es sensato y me gusta como observa cada ambiente, escuela, el campo, su casa… me gusta esta observación muchísimo: “Lo que me da mas miedo e cuando vamos saliendo de un entierro y veo para arriba y leo en el arco de la puerta las letras que dicen no me olvides……. Yo creo que por eso aquí la gente cuando entierra a alguien ni llora.” La observación que hace el narrador aquí, es interesante, porque el habla de la gente, pero cal tipo de gente. Creo que se veo aparte de esta sociedad, y cuando habla de gente habla de gringos, y el frió que son, que no lloran por sus muertos, que o sienten, que no tienen emociones. No se pero me hace pensar esto.

Se nota el “ spanglish” muchísimo, que es el lenguaje típico chicano, una lenguaje y cultura híbrido. . Ie.. “ les podía decir que se me perdió la report card.” P24

Hay que prestar atención a la naturaleza. El sol pega fuertísimo y el labor en el campo es un trabajo desagradable. El sol y la sed puede matar a los trabajadores. “ El sol se puede comer a uno” (p47)

The book tells stories in a non-linear manner. It was almost as if I could pick any given chapter and rearrange the book. Then I realized that each anecdote is placed in that particular sequence because each one relates to other, similar to a chain. The last sentence of “El año perdido” introduces the next story by mentioning the things the protagonist sees and hears before he sleeps and the untitled second story picks it up by mentioning spirits. Perhaps it parallels to the ghosts that the protagonist of the first story hears. The second story mentions a glass of water and “Los niños no se aguantaron” pivots on the loss of water and life. The connections between them are very subtle and it is almost as if Rivera wants the readers to make these connections on their own.

Perhaps each character’s personal struggle relates to another’s or maybe their struggles affect each other in ways they do not realize. A few things are left ambiguous. It seems as if the things that are not mentioned are the most powerful ones. Some anecdotes remain untitled. The table of contents identifies them by the first few words of the opening sentence but they do not function like a real title. It seems like a conscious decision on Rivera’s part to also make these anecdotes shorter than the titled ones to distinguish its importance.

Many characters remain nameless almost like a blurred memory or the loss of something so basic. The first story preludes to it with the title pertaining to loss and the loss of words on the protagonist’s part. In a way, the book reflects the lack of precision when it comes to memory. Sometimes things are forgotten like the untitled story of the soldier’s mother on page 13. Her son “está perdido en acción.”

The book’s lack of chronology allows the readers to empathize with the characters. There were times when I felt confused because of the book’s lack of sequence and the unnamed characters. I was not sure who was doing what. Perhaps the migrants felt the same way, disoriented and insignificant.

Perhaps the lack of chronology also mimics something that adults find insignificant- the act of collecting. As young children, we collect various objects, such as rocks, shells, etc. to familiarize ourselves with the landscape. Similarly, the various stories function as a collection that help the readers identify the land seen through the migrant workers’ children.

Like most of you, this book is leaving me very confused and unsure about what is going on with the story, or even if there really is a story at all. With that said, I find it interesting that a book that touches on many themes of immigration, labor exploitation of migrant workers, and societal institutions could be written in such a poetic manner. All of these topics can be explored in a very concrete style, but Tomas Rivera chooses to explain them as a mosaic of fragmented memories and seemingly unrelated and scattered stories. This could be a reflection of the ways in which the human mind actually stores and processes experience and memory. Like the majority of the books we have read in class, this book is not really meant to be taken for face value, or even literally, but rather as a means to create a general impression of the times on the reader. One thing to remember is that it is written largely from the mind of a child, and for that, is poses situations and experiences without following up on them, or providing cohesion and answers.
It is interesting for me to read the accounts of Latin American workers coming to the U.S. because I lived 18 years in California and was exposed to Latin migrants my whole life. To see and understand their experiences and impressions, hopes and desires, is very interesting because in so many ways I have seen how they are judged as the “other.”I have been exposed to great bias and prejudice against these people by Americans, so actually seeing getting a glimpse into their perception and experiences has proved very interesting. It in a way fills in the blanks of the other side of the story from the very voices that for many reasons have been silenced.

Like some of you I am half way through this book and I am half clueless as to what is going on.  From what I take from this book is that it leads the reader in many different directions without guiding the reader in any sort of direct path.  I’m sure however, that there will be some sort of tie-in towards the end of the book. There are moments when I thought that I had figured out what was going on.  Then I started to read the next chapter and I had to start from scratch.  I was quite confused at some times as to who was talking to whom about what.  Maybe this is because not every character in this book has a name.

The first half read surprisingly at a quick pace.  However, there were certain points where I had to re-read some pages because the author threw a curveball every now and again.  It felt to me as though he was changing time and places rapidly in order to touch on many topics quickly.  This made the progression of the book a bit….choppy.  I prefer consistency when I am reading a novel.  He touched on some subjects I would like him to expand on; such as religion.  However I am only half way through and hopefully later in the book he will dive deeper into that subject.  But I see this book diving deeper into the problems of being a poor Mexican fighting for justice and equality in the United States.

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.

Before reading this book, I skimmed through a couple of pages and I thought that this would be an easy read. The book cover and big font mislead me; the narrative of the story was confusing at certain points because it kept changing from first person to third. I am a little more than half way through the book and the name of the young boy, as well as many other characters, remain unknown! Also, there were pages in between chapters where fragments of conversations took place without stating any name, place or purpose. Although the point of the story was hard to follow, it revealed the harsh realities of agricultural migrant workers in the US after World War Two. The child’s description of mistreated campesinos were detailed and his sentiments about religion showed how confused he was himself during his ‘lost year’.

I also liked how this book was written very informally. There were numerous slangs in this book such as “pos” and “m’ijo”. Also the author frequently mentioned the words “verguenza y coraje” and ended many sentences with “luego, luego”. So far the short stories in this book have been pleasing to read but their significance as a whole has yet to be outlined for me.