Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Please allow any and all spoilers below to discourage you from reading this novel.
The more distance I get from this one the more it pisses me off. Boyle's again playing with split narrative, oscillating between the privileged gabachos hiding behind their walls and flimsy liberalism and the unthinkably down-trodden illegals who are "camping" in a canyon below. It's an obviously political book, and Boyle does a good job of ratcheting up the complexity of the issues without settling for simple solutions (though the novel's final image may well be a fully-cheesed hint at how he thinks we can solve things).
The trouble here is that he fails to build sympathy for any of his characters. The naturalist writer, with whom he presumably expects his audience to uncomfortably identify, is the target of gradually increasing satire until he devolves into an indefensibly embittered maniac whose choices lack all the echoes of truth Boyle develops in his more effective works. While he hopes we will involve ourselves emotionally with the illegals (whether through sympathy, empathy, or pity is unclear), he fails to involve himself with them. They bear the brunt of unceasing misery and have so few moments of levity or elation that their story becomes oppressive. They are struck by cars. They contract syphilis through rape. They have their shanty destroyed by a mudslide. They are beaten an mugged. Their infant child is swept away in a muddy deluge. It's a parade of miseries that becomes unbearable and seems to serve no revelatory thematic point. I get it TC: America beats the crap out of its illegal immigrants, who are victims of misery the likes of which sheltered middle-class Americans could scarcely imagine. There is a lesson to be imparted there, sure, but in Boyle's hands it's a trite point that rings hollow as he creates not characters but victims--cheap targets for his own abusive version of fate.
All writers are to some degree manipulators; the better ones just hide the puppet strings. Here, Boyle's tangling up all his wires and pulling back the curtain to show us the pedantic man at the lever board. I usually dig me some Boyle, but this one is clumsy, ham-fisted, and ultimately discardable.
The more distance I get from this one the more it pisses me off. Boyle's again playing with split narrative, oscillating between the privileged gabachos hiding behind their walls and flimsy liberalism and the unthinkably down-trodden illegals who are "camping" in a canyon below. It's an obviously political book, and Boyle does a good job of ratcheting up the complexity of the issues without settling for simple solutions (though the novel's final image may well be a fully-cheesed hint at how he thinks we can solve things).
The trouble here is that he fails to build sympathy for any of his characters. The naturalist writer, with whom he presumably expects his audience to uncomfortably identify, is the target of gradually increasing satire until he devolves into an indefensibly embittered maniac whose choices lack all the echoes of truth Boyle develops in his more effective works. While he hopes we will involve ourselves emotionally with the illegals (whether through sympathy, empathy, or pity is unclear), he fails to involve himself with them. They bear the brunt of unceasing misery and have so few moments of levity or elation that their story becomes oppressive. They are struck by cars. They contract syphilis through rape. They have their shanty destroyed by a mudslide. They are beaten an mugged. Their infant child is swept away in a muddy deluge. It's a parade of miseries that becomes unbearable and seems to serve no revelatory thematic point. I get it TC: America beats the crap out of its illegal immigrants, who are victims of misery the likes of which sheltered middle-class Americans could scarcely imagine. There is a lesson to be imparted there, sure, but in Boyle's hands it's a trite point that rings hollow as he creates not characters but victims--cheap targets for his own abusive version of fate.
All writers are to some degree manipulators; the better ones just hide the puppet strings. Here, Boyle's tangling up all his wires and pulling back the curtain to show us the pedantic man at the lever board. I usually dig me some Boyle, but this one is clumsy, ham-fisted, and ultimately discardable.
I thought I would really enjoy this book, but so far I have been bored. It is too full of lengthy descriptions that don't leave too much to the imagination. I only got 30 pages into it. I am disappointed because I am fascinated about anything Mexico, but this book hasn't delivered.
Not the best of Boyle's novels, but still enjoyable. If you're new to Boyle, start with the Road to Wellville or Drop City.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was so invested in the story, but it was a really depressing read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation
A growing fear of immigrants and desire to wall off property...could have been written this year instead of over 20 years ago. A good look at the view from both sides of the wall.
T. C. Boyle's The Tortilla Curtain is not a very good book, overall. The characters, and especially the female characters, are caricatures, the plot is heavy-handed, and the symbolism is a little too obvious. It does have a few good aspects, such as the remarkable ability of Boyle to create a setting. (The only other book of his I've read also shared that strength, but also the same weaknesses.)
Dramatic tale that follows the lives of a struggling Mexican couple & a wealthy CA family. Good stuff.
Tortilla Curtain is a very topical story of a Mexican couple and an American couple. Candido and America survive several horrendous events in order to beg for work every day and live in a hovel in the woods behind a rich neighborhood in a canyon outside of Los Angeles. Delaney and Kyra live in that neighborhood with their son and are key personalities in the neighborhoods conflict to raise a wall around their homes to keep poverty and crime out. T. C. Boyle has some interesting points to make on both sides of his argument, or maybe he blatantly sides with the immigrants...
An uncomfortable read throughout, but great for post-read discussion!