The Old Gringo: A Novel
by Carlos Fuentes
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Read in November, 2007
An utter waste of my time, except for one passage:
"...perhaps this man had been able to do what no one was supposed to: he had come home again, he was trying to relive one of the oldest myths of mankind, the return to the lar, the earth, the warm home of our origins.
That cannot be done, she told herself, and not only because very likely the place won't be there anymore. Even if it were, though, nothing could ever be the same: people age, things break down, feelings change. You can...more
"...perhaps this man had been able to do what no one was supposed to: he had come home again, he was trying to relive one of the oldest myths of mankind, the return to the lar, the earth, the warm home of our origins.
That cannot be done, she told herself, and not only because very likely the place won't be there anymore. Even if it were, though, nothing could ever be the same: people age, things break down, feelings change. You can...more
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Read in June, 2008
Fuentes' more-realism-than-magic magical realism follows the speculative death of Ambrose Bierce (remember An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge?) during the Mexican Civil War. Fuentes' experimental style of The Death of Artemio Cruz is significantly subsumed, but a sing-songy chorus of observers, echoed quotes from no clear author give the text something for fans of his early work. Fuentes takes an essay-ish turn near the middle by musing on Bierce's atavistic death wish and its effec...more
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In these pages, a sea of beautiful abstractions. In this sea, islands (and maybe a few peninsulas) of concrete action. Memory, consciousness, and borders, linked by resurfacing passages, helpful for orientation: "Now she sits alone and remembers."
This is the kind of book that, just when it's made you feel completely blockheaded, offers up a glowing passage, a shot that comes through so beautifully and truly that you think you have readerly superpowers-- only to swiftly remind yo...more
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Read in September, 2008
كارلوس فوئنتس در (گرينگوي پير) در عين حال كه روايتي از انقلاب مكزيك به دست ميدهد، در قالب رابطهاي سه گانه ميان شخصيتهاي رمان بسياري از جنبههاي رواني آدمي را به استادي و با زباني كه مثل بيشتر آثارش گاه با شعري ناب درآميخته ميشود، پيش روي خواننده مينهد
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Of all the books about Ambrose Bierce (and I've read a truckload of them), I think this might be the best. Short and dense, like Bierce’s stories, but even more melancholy in the hands of a great Mexican writer. This is not just a novel about Bierce’s last days, or about the Mexican revolution; it’s really about the border, and the impassable divides between people. If you’re interested in reading Fuentes, this is not a bad place for a gringo to start.
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Read in July, 2007
I have long held a sense of admiration for Ambrose Bierce, in part for him as a writer, and also because he went to Mexico during its revolution, ultimately disappearing without a trace. Fuentes' novel gives a wonderful romanticism of his disappearance and death that is moving and realistic. Who knows in what way Bierce died, but I would like to think it happened something like this.
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I was kind of disappointed in this book. Although the writing was at times engaging, I found the characters a bit empty and plot rather pornographic in nature. It was supposed to be some kind of strong political statement, but I thought that this book rather served as a playground for Fuente's sexual fantasies.
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این کتاب کارلوس فوئنتس توسط عبدالله کوثری با نام "گرینگوی پیر" ترجمه شده و انتشارات باغ آینه آن را منتشر کرده است. از روی این اثر یک فیلم سینمایی نیز ساخته شده است.
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about a civil war vet and former muckraker who went to Mexico in a time of revolution to die, the revolutionary who killed him, and the woman who loved them both. I was alternating between boredom and fixation through this short novel.
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Read in February, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone!
Not as good as "Death of Artemio Cruz," but a good read anyway. The book itself is easier to understand. Plus the book brings in characters from history who were involved in the Mexican Revolution. Good times!
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Read in January, 2007
This is one of those books that you have to read and ponder on hidden messages. Even if you don't though its a pretty good story. Definitely helps to have knowledge of the Mex. Revolution.
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wow what a book. nearly perfect in the same way, the sun also rises, is nearly perfect. i want to have lunch with this man, carlos fuentes.
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A cool little book about, of all people, Ambrose Bierce and his adventures in Mexico during the revolution.
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Read in February, 2006
Fuentes let me down with this one. I found it boring, depressing, and not worth my time.
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I just got back from Mexico when I read this, so I'm sure that's why I loved it so much.
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