Scan barcode
A review by lornadoone14
The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar Martínez
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I saw a review that said "Read this instead of American Dirt" and thought it was very funny and very true.
This book is a compilation of articles written by Martinez between 2009 and 2010 where the author and his crew travel with (and face the same dangers as) migrants from the southern to the northern Mexican borders. Fourteen years later and there is now the added militarization of the southern Mexican border and the additional waves of migrants from Haiti and Venezuela. I can only imagine that the narco violence and physical dangers of riding the beast have increased.
I would recommend this book to people who want a testimony of what migrants face as they travel through Mexico to the United States. While the political landscape in the United States and Mexico has changed drastically in the last 14 years, including the "Remain in Mexico" policy that has trapped migrants on the Mexican side of the border, I don't think the average person has any idea the horrors and danger migrants face when they travel through Mexico. The book is engaging, well- written and relevant to understanding the immigration crisis of the last 20 years. It is definitely a niche subject however, and would require you to do more research, especially as the migration crisis continues to rapidly evolve.
This book is a compilation of articles written by Martinez between 2009 and 2010 where the author and his crew travel with (and face the same dangers as) migrants from the southern to the northern Mexican borders. Fourteen years later and there is now the added militarization of the southern Mexican border and the additional waves of migrants from Haiti and Venezuela. I can only imagine that the narco violence and physical dangers of riding the beast have increased.
I would recommend this book to people who want a testimony of what migrants face as they travel through Mexico to the United States. While the political landscape in the United States and Mexico has changed drastically in the last 14 years, including the "Remain in Mexico" policy that has trapped migrants on the Mexican side of the border, I don't think the average person has any idea the horrors and danger migrants face when they travel through Mexico. The book is engaging, well- written and relevant to understanding the immigration crisis of the last 20 years. It is definitely a niche subject however, and would require you to do more research, especially as the migration crisis continues to rapidly evolve.