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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I also read Signs before this one, but this novella has a much stronger ending. It is a perfect noir story set during a pandemic with utter indifference to what the pandemic is about, and that’s why it’s the best “pandemic” story I’ve read. It is a full world, and yes, you have to get past a few noir tropes, but the author is consciously playing with them. It also has one of the most visceral openings I’ve read. It might be 2020 that’s making me bump it up to a 5, but Herrera weaves such a compelling story, I’m okay with it.
4.5 stars, I think. I loved so many things about this story - the stream of conscience writing, the alias names, the Romeo & Juliet inspired political aspects. Such a great short read.
This is the second book of Herrera's I read this Fall and Signs Preceding the End of the World is the more crafted story, a meaningful plot with some well-developed individual scenes. But Herrera seems to have little affinity for his heroine in 'Signs', a fact that is made even more stark by his obvious joy in his Redeemer hero in 'Transmigration'. But he so wound up in his Redeemer's inner dialogue that the plot, the other characters and the actual scenes of the book are neglected.
I will read a third Herrera book as Herrera's style and serious themes are promising, but let's hope that he can bring together more well-developed characters capable of seeing past their own egos to the world of meaning beyond themselves.
I will read a third Herrera book as Herrera's style and serious themes are promising, but let's hope that he can bring together more well-developed characters capable of seeing past their own egos to the world of meaning beyond themselves.
I am actually afraid that I didn't really understand this book, which might be why I didn't love it. Or maybe I just didn't love it because our main character was not a very sympathetic character for me.
The Redeemer is just trying to get by and do his job (an unusual and potentially hazardous vocation), and maybe get some play with the cute girl across the hall. Unfortunately for him, there is a (viral?) epidemic taking hold of the city, in addition to the signs of corruption and street violence that have always been there. Don't leave the house without your mask, your weapon, your second, and possible bribe money.
The language and (assumedly) the translation are brilliant. The characters all have nicknames (usually without a given name told to us), and the wordplay and double meanings are crafty. The tone and mood are sufficiently noir-ish throughout, and there's a lot that happens and is left to ponder in just a hundred pages.
Passages about mask wearing, and being afraid to leave your house certainly rang true this year, but I didn't care for or about many of the characters. I was left feeling despressed and alone at the end of the book, without really understanding what I was supposed to take away from the story.
The Redeemer is just trying to get by and do his job (an unusual and potentially hazardous vocation), and maybe get some play with the cute girl across the hall. Unfortunately for him, there is a (viral?) epidemic taking hold of the city, in addition to the signs of corruption and street violence that have always been there. Don't leave the house without your mask, your weapon, your second, and possible bribe money.
The language and (assumedly) the translation are brilliant. The characters all have nicknames (usually without a given name told to us), and the wordplay and double meanings are crafty. The tone and mood are sufficiently noir-ish throughout, and there's a lot that happens and is left to ponder in just a hundred pages.
Passages about mask wearing, and being afraid to leave your house certainly rang true this year, but I didn't care for or about many of the characters. I was left feeling despressed and alone at the end of the book, without really understanding what I was supposed to take away from the story.
A hard boiled tale of a pandemic where a face mask is as essential to a private dick as a left cross and a Teflon liver. Set in a hallucinational Mexico a fixer stumbles awake to find the world has been broken. He is named the Redeemer, which suggests some divine underpinning, something almost absurd in these circumstances. After satisfying most of the his genre requirements he is presented with his task. The execution thereof is laced with the expected levels of violence and decadence. It is also alleged to be philosophical but somehow ethical arguments couched in hard-boiled argot aren't the most persuasive, despite being fun. This was a lower gear diversion and I respect it for such, especially the timely touches, though I fear everyone should have spent more time washing their hands.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Second Yuri Herrera after Signs Preceding the End of the World. So far what I can gather about Herrera is that he is exceedingly good at writing titles but, at least for my interests, he fails at developing his ideas profoundly enough for them to be anything more than literary dalliances. I enjoyed Signs more but my problems with it have carried over to this novella: there just isn't enough here. Of course, length doesn't always equate with quality but if I look at Cesar Aira or maybe a better comparison, Barry Gifford, there is a match in scope between the content and form. With Herrera, although he can turn a phrase here and there, the overall ideas in these novellas aren't interesting enough to be all he has to say. They seem more like starting points for a more interesting narrative, one that he seems to have no interest in pursuing.
I can't exactly articulate why I feel this way. The stories do have a beginning, middle, and end, but they feel so small as to be barely significant. I wonder if I'd feel the same if I read an omnibus collection of his novellas. At least then they could be mapped against something more coherent and hefty. On their own, these novellas don't contribute enough to stand on their own.
I can't exactly articulate why I feel this way. The stories do have a beginning, middle, and end, but they feel so small as to be barely significant. I wonder if I'd feel the same if I read an omnibus collection of his novellas. At least then they could be mapped against something more coherent and hefty. On their own, these novellas don't contribute enough to stand on their own.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
really gripping, loved the coarse vernacular and the tightness of the plot/how the characters' histories intertwined. just wish it was a bit longer because it felt like it was over very quickly, when it was properly getting going
