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A review by bahareads
Puerto Rico: A National History by Jorell Meléndez-Badillo
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Admittedly I know little about Puerto Rico's history as a whole. Much of what I know comes from activists attachment to other freedom movements and historical fiction I've read (DR and Cuba from Racial Migrations: New York City the Revolutionary Politics of the Spanish Caribbean and The Taste of Sugar). I have read War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony for a class, but the professor had a negative attitude towards the book which affected the way I read it. Puerto Rico: a National History is exact what the title says it is; the book covers the island from indigenous times to the present day.
Puerto Rico flows. It is a smooth read. It didn't read like an academic book from an academic publisher. I'm sure Meléndez-Badillo wrote his book with both an an academic and non-academic audience in mind. The jargon is kept to a minimum. The work is concise and clear; its a short book - just above 200 pages!
Meléndez-Badillo is a Puerto Rican so that adds another layer of care and thoughtfulness to the narrative of the work. He includes personal stories into the narrative. He talks about desperately waiting from his grandmother after Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico and the relief when a neighbour phoned him to let know that she was indeed okay. I did start crying at this point. He also talks about guilt around that - but I'll talk about that in another post. He does not go into heavily into a detailed narrative of Hurricane María and the aftermath, utilising Saidiya Hartman's method of not retraumaizing these people (read: historical actors) just to advance the narrative.
Meléndez-Badillo relays the subjection and terrorisation of the Puerto Rican people but also the victory and triumphs of them as well. He end with the text talking about Bad Bunny's track El apagón and some of the lyrics Gabriela Berlingeri sings towards the end of the song. The last two paragraphs are his contemplations and the collective hopes for Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans. I also cried during this part.
Highly recommend reading. The font is amazing; its very visually stimulating.
Thank you to the publisher (Princeton University Press) for sending me a free copy!
Puerto Rico flows. It is a smooth read. It didn't read like an academic book from an academic publisher. I'm sure Meléndez-Badillo wrote his book with both an an academic and non-academic audience in mind. The jargon is kept to a minimum. The work is concise and clear; its a short book - just above 200 pages!
Meléndez-Badillo is a Puerto Rican so that adds another layer of care and thoughtfulness to the narrative of the work. He includes personal stories into the narrative. He talks about desperately waiting from his grandmother after Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico and the relief when a neighbour phoned him to let know that she was indeed okay. I did start crying at this point. He also talks about guilt around that - but I'll talk about that in another post. He does not go into heavily into a detailed narrative of Hurricane María and the aftermath, utilising Saidiya Hartman's method of not retraumaizing these people (read: historical actors) just to advance the narrative.
Meléndez-Badillo relays the subjection and terrorisation of the Puerto Rican people but also the victory and triumphs of them as well. He end with the text talking about Bad Bunny's track El apagón and some of the lyrics Gabriela Berlingeri sings towards the end of the song. The last two paragraphs are his contemplations and the collective hopes for Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans. I also cried during this part.
Highly recommend reading. The font is amazing; its very visually stimulating.
Thank you to the publisher (Princeton University Press) for sending me a free copy!