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Modelo Antiguo: A Novel of Mexico City
Mexico City, 1980s--a young man drives an old woman into the Mexico City of her youth.
- GenresFiction
160 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 22, 2011
I had high hopes for this book because I'm crazy about anything set in Mexico, particularly Mexico City, where I used to live. And the plot is brilliant: a dying woman wants to be chauffeured around the metropolis so she can relive her past and die on the streets of the city she spent her life in.
Alas, the dying woman and her chauffeur--the central characters--are not especially appealing. Crass, hostile, paranoid... Since this is literature, not airport fiction, I expected they would have some hinted-at depths, but that expectation was consistently foiled.
I'd have to admit, the unrelenting hostility and suspicion between these two was more tiresome than amusing. Ditto the conceit about lip-reading. It was obvious they would end up with each other, and I felt like the author went too far in showing the distance between them in the beginning. They go from utter hatred to bed in a very short book.
It has an incredible cover, though, and I give it an extra star simply for that! Fact is, this book has to be read when you are in a particular mood because it defeats expectations at every turn. I would like to like it more than I did; in fact, I wish some other author--Marquez, Bolano--could have made off with this plot structure and given it more humanity.
Alas, the dying woman and her chauffeur--the central characters--are not especially appealing. Crass, hostile, paranoid... Since this is literature, not airport fiction, I expected they would have some hinted-at depths, but that expectation was consistently foiled.
I'd have to admit, the unrelenting hostility and suspicion between these two was more tiresome than amusing. Ditto the conceit about lip-reading. It was obvious they would end up with each other, and I felt like the author went too far in showing the distance between them in the beginning. They go from utter hatred to bed in a very short book.
It has an incredible cover, though, and I give it an extra star simply for that! Fact is, this book has to be read when you are in a particular mood because it defeats expectations at every turn. I would like to like it more than I did; in fact, I wish some other author--Marquez, Bolano--could have made off with this plot structure and given it more humanity.
September 9, 2015
This is a wonderful surrealistic view of Mexico City in the early 20th century interwoven with modern day D.F. I had a city map out while reading and could follow the streets, new and old hotels, cinemas, and parks. It's a confusingly, seductive read. Well worth the time.
November 13, 2008
Love transcends all barriers.
I enjoyed the writing style.
I enjoyed the writing style.
May 27, 2015
Made me want to read this in Spanish!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews