A review by larryerick
The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar Martínez

4.0

This book presents itself with a cover photo of a migrant on a freight car and says it's about "riding the rails". True enough, the book starts out in Guatemala and Honduras with the migrants working themselves into southern Mexico to start the migration up to the U.S. Like the non-documentary film, Sin Nombre, it does an excellent job of explaining why so many people feel compelled to flee their homelands and confront so many serious obstacles to reach America. The first part of the book could have been the basis for the film's screenplay. It's that similar. Both the book and the movie state very clearly that it's as much, if not more, of a factor of how untenable the existence is in Central America for migrants as it is how much America offers. Yet, about midway through the book, the author shifts focus to the vast Mexican border and the million and one obstacles that migrants face in crossing over into America. The U.S. Border Patrol is, in many respects, the least of those obstacles. This book covers the migrant experience is great depth. The feature that most distinguishes this book, however, is that this is almost entirely first person reporting. The author and a companion photographer place themselves throughout, in the midst of the migrants, their families, and those supporting or conflicting or merely observing those same migrants. This is not an historians perspective, nor that of a reporter showing up at an event and then rushing off to write a story. This is journalistic immersion. The reader will respect and admire what the author has done to tell this story. I very much look forward to reading his next work.