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the_brooke_shelf 's review for:
Monstrilio
by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
Magos and Joseph have a son, Santiago; born with only a single underdeveloped lung, Santiago dies in childhood. Overwhelmed by grief, Magos cuts off a piece of his lung to keep, and when she begins feeding it, it grows into a small, furry monster that likes to kill and eat animals and suck human blood. But can the monster -- Monstrilio -- grow up to be a real boy? That is the question.
I view this book as an argument against impulse control. Monstrilio eventually grows into a young man, but he continues to have violent urges (he wants to kill and eat people, basically) which he struggles to restrain. The novel suggests that if a person tries to control or escape their own natural urges, they are essentially amputating an aspect of their true selves, and they will never be happy. (One might compare Freud's idea of repression as essential to society in Civilization and its Discontents.) The only route to happiness is to follow your natural urges, wherever they may lead.
I view this book as an argument against impulse control. Monstrilio eventually grows into a young man, but he continues to have violent urges (he wants to kill and eat people, basically) which he struggles to restrain. The novel suggests that if a person tries to control or escape their own natural urges, they are essentially amputating an aspect of their true selves, and they will never be happy. (One might compare Freud's idea of repression as essential to society in Civilization and its Discontents.) The only route to happiness is to follow your natural urges, wherever they may lead.