A review by drkottke
Martín Fierro by José Hernández

2.0

Borges discusses Argentina's national epic verse in the first non-fiction essay in Labyrinth, and it occurs to me that in all my years of studying Spanish language and letters, this never crossed my radar. After reading through it, I can venture a guess or two as to why, particularly in Part 2, where the depictions of South American indians is particularly ... 19th century, shall we say? Both parts have significant issues with representation of non-white people, while the structure of Part 1 is a more cohesive narrative. It reads like an extended cycle of Mexican corridos with a mix of blustery bravado and lamentation over misfortune (though not self-pity; that would be unbecoming of the gaucho, I suppose). I'm curious to hear it set to music.