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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Hate crime, Grief, Death of parent
Probably should have guessed the resolution of this book when it opened with a quote from THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
T. C. Boyle's "social novel" follows Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher, a white couple who live in a new-ish development above Topanga Canyon, and Candido and America Rincon, a Mexican couple camping at the bottom of it. The spatial metaphor there is about as subtle as the book gets. Delaney is a naturalist working on a column about invasive species - he writes about mustard flower, starlings, Russian olive trees, even as his subject is relentlessly himself. (Add to self-awareness that he also lacks an editor: the few writing samples we see of Delaney's are hilariously overwritten.) Kyra is a real estate agent; America doesn't have a home. And Candido, our stand-in for the undocumented migrant workers of Southern California, fades into the background of those scenes as so many men like him do in real life: there he is on the side of the road waiting for work, in their backyard building a fence, in the very same grocery store on Thanksgiving, with the Mossbachers not knowing him from Adam. Or, perhaps more accurately, from Job.
To his credit, Boyle doesn't take any easy ways out. But as rapists are wrongly accused, white collar criminals get off scott-free, and teenagers act like little turds, one wonders how boldly we need to underline the question, Who are the real threats to society??? And for a book where bigotry is so ugly and pervasive, the racism is a little too sanitized to be believable.
Not all bad, but bad enough that here I'm willing to ditch the baby with the bathwater.
T. C. Boyle's "social novel" follows Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher, a white couple who live in a new-ish development above Topanga Canyon, and Candido and America Rincon, a Mexican couple camping at the bottom of it. The spatial metaphor there is about as subtle as the book gets. Delaney is a naturalist working on a column about invasive species - he writes about mustard flower, starlings, Russian olive trees, even as his subject is relentlessly himself. (Add to self-awareness that he also lacks an editor: the few writing samples we see of Delaney's are hilariously overwritten.) Kyra is a real estate agent; America doesn't have a home. And Candido, our stand-in for the undocumented migrant workers of Southern California, fades into the background of those scenes as so many men like him do in real life: there he is on the side of the road waiting for work, in their backyard building a fence, in the very same grocery store on Thanksgiving, with the Mossbachers not knowing him from Adam. Or, perhaps more accurately, from Job.
To his credit, Boyle doesn't take any easy ways out. But as rapists are wrongly accused, white collar criminals get off scott-free, and teenagers act like little turds, one wonders how boldly we need to underline the question, Who are the real threats to society??? And for a book where bigotry is so ugly and pervasive, the racism is a little too sanitized to be believable.
Not all bad, but bad enough that here I'm willing to ditch the baby with the bathwater.
This book was intense -so intense that I felt anxious reading it.
no words
Okay - words: ANGRY; a book for the present day; juxtaposition of privileged vs. immigrants trying to survive.
This is not my typical read. I like a book with love and redeemable characters and happy endings. This book was painful to read, sad, and literally so many descriptions of hate —- ugh it was hard hard read. But still worthy of reading and discussing.
This book paints a very real picture of wealth and access and class, and places it in the closest proximity to indescribable poverty, barriers, and the will to survive.
Again - ANGRY. I felt so much for America, Soccoro and all that she endures.
Okay - words: ANGRY; a book for the present day; juxtaposition of privileged vs. immigrants trying to survive.
This is not my typical read. I like a book with love and redeemable characters and happy endings. This book was painful to read, sad, and literally so many descriptions of hate —- ugh it was hard hard read. But still worthy of reading and discussing.
This book paints a very real picture of wealth and access and class, and places it in the closest proximity to indescribable poverty, barriers, and the will to survive.
Again - ANGRY. I felt so much for America, Soccoro and all that she endures.
Wow. Another novel about illegal immigrants, and clearly describes the horror and humiliation they are subjected to while trying to work. They are definitely not a drag on our social systems, rather they are easy prey for those trying to cheat or abuse them (some of whom are white,others not).
This novel contains a parallel storyline about a white couple whose lives unintentionally intersect those of an immigrant couple. We watch the husband move philosophically from liberal progressive to angry American in his suburban community which both profits by the cheap labor of the illegals and resents their presence.
Complicated issues with no clear answer.
This novel contains a parallel storyline about a white couple whose lives unintentionally intersect those of an immigrant couple. We watch the husband move philosophically from liberal progressive to angry American in his suburban community which both profits by the cheap labor of the illegals and resents their presence.
Complicated issues with no clear answer.
3.5 stars
While I don't love a white author trying to depict the reality of Mexican immigrants, this book is saved by the brilliance of Delaney's character. Boyle depicted the hypocritical liberal humanist perfectly through Delaney, and the neighboring Cherrystones were likewise an accurate white American family.
Reading this from a Gen Z perspective, it was chilling to read about the neighborhood petitioning for a wall to be built in order to keep them safe. I loved the detail of Jack Jr. being the one to vandalize the wall. The theme of the invasive coyote was poignant and hilarious, and was further made funnier by the fate of Dame Edith the cat. Boyle is overall a wonderful nature writer.
The storyline around Dominic Flood seemed superfluous to me, and I was disappointed by the ending. However, I loved the narration, and this book will prompt me to seek out more Boyle.
While I don't love a white author trying to depict the reality of Mexican immigrants, this book is saved by the brilliance of Delaney's character. Boyle depicted the hypocritical liberal humanist perfectly through Delaney, and the neighboring Cherrystones were likewise an accurate white American family.
Reading this from a Gen Z perspective, it was chilling to read about the neighborhood petitioning for a wall to be built in order to keep them safe. I loved the detail of Jack Jr. being the one to vandalize the wall. The theme of the invasive coyote was poignant and hilarious, and was further made funnier by the fate of Dame Edith the cat. Boyle is overall a wonderful nature writer.
The storyline around Dominic Flood seemed superfluous to me, and I was disappointed by the ending. However, I loved the narration, and this book will prompt me to seek out more Boyle.
A truly thought provoking and devastating look at the relationship between the average American family and illegal immigrants in the country and how each affects the other. As more tragedies pile up for Candido (evoking that other collector of sorrows, Candide) and his pregnant wife America, I could not help but feel incredible sadness for them. But, at the end of the novel, I identified more with Delaney and his wife Kyra, the Upper-middle income American family, whose household is being invaded by nature and illegal immigrants with less noble intentions than Candido and America. Yet, despite all the miseries that both couples endure, despite all the hate and rage that the two men feel about each other, and both nearly act upon, there is that moment of understanding between the two men in the very last sentence of the book. Too tragic for me to give it 5 stars, but a book that should be read and discussed nevertheless.
I think Boyle has managed to capture the various feelings, concerns, and misunderstandings between the citizens in the U.S. and the Mexican immigrants who go there. Both sides make assumptions, get angry, do things they normally find unacceptable as the novel intensifies. By the end of the audiobook, which is read beautifully by the author, I was emotionally in tangles.
Boyle also cleverly adds in moments that shows the hypocrisy of the characters. Coyotes function as metaphor for immigrants. They're invasive and kill house pets, but Delany, the white male protagonist who is a nature writer, pens an article about how humans are encroaching on the coyotes' land and need to respect that. But when Mexican immigrants are found in the U.S., he can't see the parallel. Delany's wife, Kyra, makes a huge scene in public and pulls out all the stops to save a dog that has been shut inside a car on a temperate day. However, she makes calls to the authorities when she sees "too many" immigrants gathering outside a store to get work. It's interesting that husband and wife have more respect for canines than humans.
One thing that peeved me to no end is how Boyle lazily uses "fat" to signify greedy and bad. When he says the word, he emphasizes it as if it were in bold and italics (again, this is the audiobook version), meaning there is no mistake in the author's intentions with "fat." I am repeatedly disappointed by the cliched use of a fat villain.
That ending is going to irk loads of readers, and probably has, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's unclear exactly what happened or what will happen, which the ending leads readers to think this is a large slice-of-life novel instead of a fully arced plot.
Boyle also cleverly adds in moments that shows the hypocrisy of the characters. Coyotes function as metaphor for immigrants. They're invasive and kill house pets, but Delany, the white male protagonist who is a nature writer, pens an article about how humans are encroaching on the coyotes' land and need to respect that. But when Mexican immigrants are found in the U.S., he can't see the parallel. Delany's wife, Kyra, makes a huge scene in public and pulls out all the stops to save a dog that has been shut inside a car on a temperate day. However, she makes calls to the authorities when she sees "too many" immigrants gathering outside a store to get work. It's interesting that husband and wife have more respect for canines than humans.
One thing that peeved me to no end is how Boyle lazily uses "fat" to signify greedy and bad. When he says the word, he emphasizes it as if it were in bold and italics (again, this is the audiobook version), meaning there is no mistake in the author's intentions with "fat." I am repeatedly disappointed by the cliched use of a fat villain.
That ending is going to irk loads of readers, and probably has, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's unclear exactly what happened or what will happen, which the ending leads readers to think this is a large slice-of-life novel instead of a fully arced plot.
Got a bit extra on the diff pov and not much sympathy for all the characters.
Judging from the time it took to listen to the audiobook I quite liked it.
This book is not just a simple description of the life at the border between Mexico and the United States.
The realism suffers a bit from metaphors, symbolism and coincidences.
3,5 stars
This book is not just a simple description of the life at the border between Mexico and the United States.
The realism suffers a bit from metaphors, symbolism and coincidences.
3,5 stars