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Jun 10, 2009

brian rated it:

urrea wrote a terrific book on the same subject -- devil's highway told the true story of 26 mexicans who attempted to cross the american border by passing through the hellish region known as the devil's highway. from a selfish perspective i say open the borders and let mexicans flood the place: i eat their food about once a day, their women are gorgeous, their music and poetry and art are alive in a way few things are, and, really, who the fuck am i to decide who can or can't go here or there? More...

32 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2011

Emily added it

After the density of Mary Wollstonecraft and the heaviness of Mariama Bâ (to be reviewed shortly), I was in the mood for something a little light, a little frothy, with a decided sense of humor. I've seen some reviews around the blogosphere critiquing Luis Alberto Urrea's Into the Beautiful North—a quest story about three teenage Mexican girls and their gay male friend who sneak across the US/Mexican border in order to fetch back some Mexican men to repopulate their threatened town—for being li More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 10, 2012

Suzanne rated it:

I've been hanging on every word from the very beginning, which is unusual for me on audiobooks. I love these characters so far. ***Note: This review contains teasers, (not really spoilers.)*** The book is vivid because the various settings are so familiar to me, yet I was seeing them through very different eyes. I kept waiting for something horrid to happen, and was delighted that this author chose to make his characters encounter more of the Good Americans than the bottom feeders when it ma More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 15, 2009

Michelle rated it:

I just spent a lovely cloudy, cuddly day finishing this wonderful book by Luis Urrea. The characters of this modern-day quest novel are so unforgettable and entirely loveable. For some reason, the casts of Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat come to mind. The brave, dompe warrior, Atomiko, in particular, seems as though he would fit right in with the chivalrous misfits that made their homes in abandoned warehouses and giant unused boilers... they who were completely content with jug of More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 21, 2011

Kathleen added it

I'm just finishing this book and I'm loving every minute of it. There are so many sub-cultures and interesting juxtapositions in the novel. Let me back up and talk premise:

Three 19 year old girls live in a very small town in Central Mexico. One day, they realize that there are no men left in the village -- they have all gone North to the United States to find work... many no longer contact the families they left behind. The town is dying, and the banditos (from the local drug cart More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

May 30, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

What a kick in the booty! A lighthearted way of approaching the Mexican immigrant situation. Lots of silliness, but we like silly.
For awhile I was annoyed because it seemed like the author was stereotyping all Americans as dumb rednecks who pick on Mexicans. Then I got over myself and I could see that pretty much *all* of the characters are deliberate caricatures. He stereotypes the Mexicans too, and it's all in fun. Tacho the gay taqueria owner gets the best role. He made me laugh More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Adam rated it:

"Into the Beautiful North" is a wonderful book that is both light-heartedly humorous and serious with subtle social commentary. It is a refreshingly different type of story than you typically read of the border and undocumented migration and is very much a coming-of-age tale of its main character Nayeli who travels north from Sinoloa to Kankakee, Illinois in search of her father. Her father left their home in Tres Camerones years earlier to find work in the United States (Yunaites), so More...

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Feb 26, 2011

switterbug (Betsey) rated it:

Urrea is a playful, generous writer who clearly loves life, women, and prose. Although this novel is not as sprawling as The Hummingbird's Daughter, it is a lively and sensory mini-epic about the love of a village in Mexico and the chance of a dream that extends into America--into the beautiful North--and back.

Nineteen-year old Nayeli shimmers and sways when she walks. She dreams of better things than working at the taco stand in Tres Camarones, the remote village of her birth in Sin More...

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Sep 26, 2010

Ravi rated it:

"Quest novels announce their purpose in a straight-forward manner: Colorful, memorable characters prepare for and embark on a journey of immense significance" - from the San Diego Union-Tribue review, back cover blurb.

In this case the quest is to bring back the men who have migrated North - to the US - from a small Mexican town near Mazatlan, in order to protect the town from local drug bandidos. The novel is a bit too transparent in its political correctness - the princ More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2010

emily rated it:

I was weirdly confronted on the subway while reading this book. Here's the situation: I'm on the R train at like 7:30, when I notice the man sitting near me learning halfway across the aisle to look at my book. He glares at it for a minute or so, gives me a big eye, and then turns to his wife, friend, whatever and declares slowly and portentously "people . . . have lost the ability . . . to transport themselves . . . through TIME. People . . . do not read . . . Victorian novels!"
More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 05, 2010

Chuck rated it:

48 out of 100 for 2010 . . .

Book People in Austin is the largest independent bookstore in the world. Everytime I stumble into there (less often than I'd like, maybe once every year or two) I grab hold of the books recommended by the staff, or copies of books signed by authors who visited the store. Doing this has led me to many great books that I never would have run across in the local Barnes and Noble (and no, I don't bash BNN and am glad I finally live in a town big enough to h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 24, 2010

Heather rated it:

I immediately connected with the main character and the storyline. I found author Luis Alberto Urrea's writing style very easy and engaging-- something really necessary for me. I've said before that I am not a "book club" kind of girl. I don't want reading to be a challenge. I don't want to spend my time trying to interpret a bunch of symbolism. I simply want to be engaged and entertained, and perhaps have my eyes opened a little wider (in either enlightenment or surprise).

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 17, 2010

Kara rated it:

One of the most timely novels written on the issue of post-9/11 immigration policy, U.S.-Mexico relations, and border control. Urrea manages to tackle all of these issues while making the novel highly entertaining! Think of the films El Norte (Gregory Nava) meets Karate Kid, with a twist of Homer's Odyssey. The characters were unique, well-developed, and delightfully unexpected: the protagonist Nayeli, a karateka and soccer star, sets out to cross the border to find her father and bring men back More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2010

Hester rated it:

This is exactly my type of book. Luis Urrea took a serious issue, the US-Mexico border, and wrote a comic, terrifying, uplifting book about it. The suspense was a little much for me, but it was leavened with humor and the author's obvious love for both countries.

The men of Tres Camarones, a small town in Sinaloa, have all gone to the States for work, leaving their home vulnerable to drug lords. Inspired by Yul Brynner and "Estip McQueen"'s performances in "The Mag More...

1 comment like

Oct 31, 2009

Beth rated it:

Truly, it’s the journey, not the destination on this lovely book about a young women whose impoverished town in Mexico has lost all it’s menfolk, including her padre. Their leaving in search of a better life has afforded the women of the town many non-traditional opportunities. When her aunt, now the Mayor, recognizes that without some men around, the town, threatened by drug lords, may become extinct. Nayeli, the flower of her community, also recognizes that it has been a long time since anyone More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Sep 12, 2009

Wendy rated it:

I love LAU's work. That's putting it too mildly. I worship at the altar of his writing. I feel that I have to say that before I say this: I did not like this book. Perhaps that was in part because I listened to the audiobook while on a long car trip, rather than reading it, and the woman who performed it (1) doesn't have a goddamned clue how to pronounce Mexican Spanish and (2) absurdly overdramatized the text. So, that might have colored my experience of this book. Still, I must say that I foun More...

2 comments like

Aug 17, 2009

Ariela rated it:

“Into the Beautiful North” tells the story of 19-year-old girl named Nayeli, who lives in a small Mexican village named Tres Camarones and works in a taco shop called “La Mano Caida.” Nayeli has friends and family in Tres Camarones, but she dreams of America, where her father went to find work three years ago. She keeps a tattered postcard from him in her knee sock. It has the picture of a “wild turkey gazing with deep paranoia out of a row of corn stalks” on the cover and Nayeli looks at it whe More...

1 comment like

Jul 27, 2009

Maria rated it:

I love the basis of the novel, the strength and conviction of the characters, the authors attempt at this story. Urrea was able to bring me into the book and sneak me under the boarder with the jovenes of Tres Camarones. The part of the novel that I loved is that Urrea was able to paint the scenery moment by moment.

The majority of the characters are teenagers easy to identify with but need more depth. Nayali is still a teenager with a highly tuned sense of community. She notices that More...

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Jul 10, 2009

Billy rated it:

I really did not think I'd like this book. A quick skiming of the book leaf told me it was the story of a girl from Sinaloa's search for her father who had left years before for the US and never returned.

I felt that I'd already read this story before a couple of times. But, I was wrong. I really enjoyed/almost loved this book.

First of all, the story is a bit more complex. An important ingredient is that almost all the men of the town (Tres Camarones) have left, and th More...

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Apr 04, 2011

Marty rated it:

I think I would like it more if I re-read it. I think I would notice a lot more of the artistry of the writing. I read it too fast to really appreciate the writing. I think it would be a good book for a high school class to study. What I did like and notice was the authentic slang and voice. The author uses a lot of Spanish slang. I liked the description of the small Spanish town - very authentic, and the description of the sleaziness and poverty of the border in Tijuana. The story is about a sm More...

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Aug 25, 2009

Mary rated it:

Early in the book, 19-year-old Nayeli looks around the small Mexican village of Tres Camarones, and realizes that it's nothing but old men, women, and children - all the men have gone to el Norte. Bandidos (in the form of a low-ranking drug cartel member and a corrupt government official) come to town at around the same time as a screening of The Magnificent Seven at the local theatre. And Nayeli hatches a plan.

She, her girlfriends, and the owner of the taco shop where she works (a More...

0 comments like

Jul 06, 2009

Kathy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like

Oct 29, 2011

Willner9 rated it:

While reading this book, I laughed out loud so often that I must have seemed crazy. Urrea does a beautiful job of juxtaposing farce with social commentary, what can be the ugliness of the American people with the beauty of the American landscape. Urrea's portrayal of a band of "illegals" from Sinaloa coming to the US to bring their countrymen back home provides a dark mirror for Americans: we rarely forget the point of view of Mexican immigrants, that most immigrants come from beauti More...

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Oct 03, 2011

Judy rated it:

This novel made five stars on my list because it has it all. I look for two things; I want to learn something new and interesting about the world, and I want to learn thru the invisible otherworldliness and transcendent experience of a great story. My favorite stories ride on the shoulders of plot, characters, and the author's writing style.

The book, “Into the beautiful North,” was written by a gifted storyteller. It is a tale about three Mexican girls, and their male gay friend, w More...

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Nov 15, 2009

Kate rated it:

I kept waiting for this book to get more heavy-handed, more black-and-white about the alleged evils of American immigration law. But these kids are charming, and not everyone they meet in America fits a stereotype. They don't just dream the American dream; they want to bring their men back to Mexico, and they think it really will happen.

A reader looking for social commentary in this book will find plenty of encouragement for the belief that Americans' views on immigration are myo More...

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Oct 25, 2011

Danna rated it:

I have thoroughly enjoyed two of Urrea's other books, so I was excited to find this book marked down at a Borders closing sale. The story is about a group of young women and their friend Tacho, who were raised in Tres Camarones - a small, rural town in Mexico. Almost all of the men have left the town for the US to get work, very few to return or be heard from again. La Nayeli, the protagonist of the story, decides that they should cross over to the US and find a group of men to come back and More...

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Aug 08, 2009

Kathleen rated it:

Into the Beautiful North is a beautiful story about the lengths to save what we love and reclaim what we've lost, even if it means leaving the comfort and safety of everyday life and facing the unknown.

After seeing the Magnificent Seven, Mayeli hatches a plan to save her pueblo from the bandidos who threaten to take over everything Nayeli holds dear. So she and her Aunt Irma gather up some of Nayeli's friends and off they go to the Beautiful North (the United States) to recruit their More...

1 comment like

Jul 30, 2010

Carolyn rated it:

What a wonderful story - and so timely, as well! I am so aware of the Immigration issue for a couple of reasons - my friend Doug Jaques, who was convicted of hiring illegal aliens, and had to pay a large fine; my lovely swarthy student at Notre Dame - Amanda - who came in with a placard on her chest "Illegal?" when the issue was just heating up this spring; and the Hispanic teller at 1st Source whose card was in English and Spanish when I changed the signers on my class reunion accoun More...

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Jul 08, 2011

Ina rated it:

The One Book-One San Diego book vote for 2012 has just opened, and this was one of the three choices. Of the three, this was the one book that was on the shelf where I was working, so I checked it out. Based on the descriptions, it was also the one that would have been my #3 choice. If that is true, then the people of San Diego are in for a great treat. I loved this book. The book focuses on the several of the residents of a small coastal Mexican town, whose description made me want to move More...

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Nov 12, 2009

Beth rated it:

Now I know how to slip into the US from Mexico. Nayeli talks her teen girlfriends into a scheme to go from Mexico into the USA to bring back men since all the eligible men in town has left for the US as has her Daddy. They bring along a gay guy. The group persues its goals with energy and no looking back. We feel their pain as their luggage is gone and they get caught by the border patrol but keep on to their goal. They pick up various characters along the way and find their "Tia's" More...

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