What do you think?
Rate this book
Light Action in the Caribbean: Stories
Moving from fable and historical fiction to contemporary realism, this book of stories from Barry Lopez is erotic and wise, full of irresistible characters doing things they shouldn't do for reasons that are mysterious and irreducible.
In "The Letters of Heaven," a packet of recently discovered 17th-century Peruvian love letters presents a 20th-century man with the paralyzing choice of either protecting or exposing their stunning secret. When some young boys on the lookout for easy money get caught with a truckload of stolen horses, thievery quickly turns into redemption. For a group of convicts, a gathering of birds in the prison yard may be the key to transcendence, both figurative and literal. And, with the title story, Lopez enters a territory of unmitigated evil reminiscent of Conrad. Here are saints who shouldn't touch, but do; sinners who insist on the life of the spirit; a postcard paradise that turns into nightmare.
Light Action in the Caribbean has already been hailed by Russell Banks as "tough-minded, emotionally turbulent, and always intelligent." E. Annie Proulx describes these stories as "subtle and mysterious" and says that a reader "cannot leave Lopez's fictional territory unchanged." This is a book that breaks exciting new ground for Barry Lopez.
In "The Letters of Heaven," a packet of recently discovered 17th-century Peruvian love letters presents a 20th-century man with the paralyzing choice of either protecting or exposing their stunning secret. When some young boys on the lookout for easy money get caught with a truckload of stolen horses, thievery quickly turns into redemption. For a group of convicts, a gathering of birds in the prison yard may be the key to transcendence, both figurative and literal. And, with the title story, Lopez enters a territory of unmitigated evil reminiscent of Conrad. Here are saints who shouldn't touch, but do; sinners who insist on the life of the spirit; a postcard paradise that turns into nightmare.
Light Action in the Caribbean has already been hailed by Russell Banks as "tough-minded, emotionally turbulent, and always intelligent." E. Annie Proulx describes these stories as "subtle and mysterious" and says that a reader "cannot leave Lopez's fictional territory unchanged." This is a book that breaks exciting new ground for Barry Lopez.
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2000
29 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
Barry Lopez
104 books917 followersBarry Holstun Lopez is an American author, essayist, and fiction writer whose work is known for its environmental and social concerns.
Lopez has been described as "the nation's premier nature writer" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In his non-fiction, he frequently examines the relationship between human culture and physical landscape, while in his fiction he addresses issues of intimacy, ethics and identity.
Lopez has been described as "the nation's premier nature writer" by the San Francisco Chronicle. In his non-fiction, he frequently examines the relationship between human culture and physical landscape, while in his fiction he addresses issues of intimacy, ethics and identity.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
June 7, 2016
Another brilliant collection by Lopez - two books in, and he is swiftly becoming a favorite of mine.
This collection seemed to have less of an overarching theme than the book I read last month (Field Notes: The Grace Note of the Canyon Wren), but some central threads - old/forgotten manuscripts and letters, and characters caught in illicit situations.
Lopez has this beautiful calm tone, and each story is cerebral and contemplative without being overwrought... which is why the titular story, Light Action in the Caribbean, was such an outlier. It was clear that Lopez was veering into new territory immediately, the writing was very different. The story was shocking and horrific - and although it was so different than the others, I liked seeing this side of Lopez too - flexing his literary muscles and experimenting.
Story highlights for me:
Letters of Heaven
Emory Bear Hands' Birds
The Mappist
This collection seemed to have less of an overarching theme than the book I read last month (Field Notes: The Grace Note of the Canyon Wren), but some central threads - old/forgotten manuscripts and letters, and characters caught in illicit situations.
Lopez has this beautiful calm tone, and each story is cerebral and contemplative without being overwrought... which is why the titular story, Light Action in the Caribbean, was such an outlier. It was clear that Lopez was veering into new territory immediately, the writing was very different. The story was shocking and horrific - and although it was so different than the others, I liked seeing this side of Lopez too - flexing his literary muscles and experimenting.
Story highlights for me:
Letters of Heaven
Emory Bear Hands' Birds
The Mappist
July 30, 2013
I recently read an essay by Barry Lopez titled The Rediscovery of North America. In the essay, he suggests a way that we, as participants in the landscape of our continent, can look directly at the lusts that shaped our history and decide that they will not define us. The essay is bold, brief, and clear,and the thought he develops is a rich one. But I don't feel that the essay finishes it. It names examples, but doesn't go all the way to humanizing the idea.
Light Action in the Carribean meets his ideas as they appear with touching clarity in the lives of horse thieves, scholars, fathers, sons, craftsmen, saints, and lovers. Each story is elegant and clear. There are certainly echoes of Borges and Stegner in here, but I could identify most of the stories as works of Lopez without being told. Their ideas are consistent, and they ring out clearly in the prose, characters, cultures, and landscapes of these wonderful stories.
Light Action in the Carribean meets his ideas as they appear with touching clarity in the lives of horse thieves, scholars, fathers, sons, craftsmen, saints, and lovers. Each story is elegant and clear. There are certainly echoes of Borges and Stegner in here, but I could identify most of the stories as works of Lopez without being told. Their ideas are consistent, and they ring out clearly in the prose, characters, cultures, and landscapes of these wonderful stories.
July 30, 2015
Barry Lopez's stories are wonderfully delicate. Not in the sense of being soft or sentimental or flowery, but its like they have a highly textured and fragile surface. The characters in his stories recognize that their life, all their hopes and dreams, depends upon the careful balance of this surface and the lightness of their tread upon it, and they are drawn into a profound respect, and deep reverence for its harmony. In this way his stories are usually heading toward the intersection of the physical and the spiritual. I like the ways his characters are seeking, the intentionality with which they move.
For this reason, the title story comes as an extra shock. It follows the trajectory of characters heading the opposite way, a direction he does not usually go. And because of this the story was so profound and unsettling.
A worthwhile read, and really works as a counterpoint to the Flannery O'Connor book of essays I just read, and the different ways that authors use violence. I would like to listen to a conversation between them.
For this reason, the title story comes as an extra shock. It follows the trajectory of characters heading the opposite way, a direction he does not usually go. And because of this the story was so profound and unsettling.
A worthwhile read, and really works as a counterpoint to the Flannery O'Connor book of essays I just read, and the different ways that authors use violence. I would like to listen to a conversation between them.
August 1, 2019
The title story will make your jaw drop--especially since all the other stories are so pastoral and poetic. No one writes like Barry. There are authors who weave in science (e.g. Andrea Barrett) but Lopez has such a beautiful aura about him. Barry Lopez should be The Official Poet Laureate of Planet Earth.
August 23, 2008
Read: Emory Bear Hands' Birds
June 22, 2011
i'd give it five stars for the story "The Mappist" included here, which is beautiful. The rest of the collection, however, veers wildly from simply boring and overwrought to truly horrifying.
June 19, 2017
Highlights: Remembering Orchards, Thomas Lowdermilk's Generosity, The Construction of the Rachel
December 30, 2016
A nice selection of short stories. Lopez writes both fiction and nonfiction in beautifully crafted prose.
September 25, 2024
3.5 ⭐️ Good stuff here. The titular story was unexpectedly disturbing.
Content warning for sexual assault.
The Mappist
""Of course, but nobody has the time for this kind of field work anymore."
"That's unfortunate, because this information is what we need, you know. This shows history and how people fit the places they occupy. It's about what gets erased and what comes to replace it. The maps reveal the foundations beneath the ephemera."
"What about us, though?" I blurted, resisting his pronouncement. "In the books, in City of Aspic in particular, there is such a palpable love of human life in the cities, and here—"
"I do not have to live up to the history of Venice, Mister Trevino," he interrupted, "but I am obliged to shoulder the history of my own country. I could show you here the coming and going of the Mandan nation, wiped out in eighteen thirty-seven by a smallpox epidemic. I could show you the arrival of German and Scandinavian farmers changed the composition of the topsoil, and the places where Charles Bodmer painted, and the evolution of red-light districts in Fargo—all that with pleasure. I've nothing against human passion, human longing. What I oppose is blind devotion to progress, and the venality of material wealth. If we're going to trade the priceless for the common, I want to know exactly what the terms are."
I had no response. His position was as difficult to assail as it would be to promote.
"You mean," I finally ventured, "that someone else will have to do the maps that show the spread of the Wal-Mart empire in North Dakota.”
Content warning for sexual assault.
The Mappist
""Of course, but nobody has the time for this kind of field work anymore."
"That's unfortunate, because this information is what we need, you know. This shows history and how people fit the places they occupy. It's about what gets erased and what comes to replace it. The maps reveal the foundations beneath the ephemera."
"What about us, though?" I blurted, resisting his pronouncement. "In the books, in City of Aspic in particular, there is such a palpable love of human life in the cities, and here—"
"I do not have to live up to the history of Venice, Mister Trevino," he interrupted, "but I am obliged to shoulder the history of my own country. I could show you here the coming and going of the Mandan nation, wiped out in eighteen thirty-seven by a smallpox epidemic. I could show you the arrival of German and Scandinavian farmers changed the composition of the topsoil, and the places where Charles Bodmer painted, and the evolution of red-light districts in Fargo—all that with pleasure. I've nothing against human passion, human longing. What I oppose is blind devotion to progress, and the venality of material wealth. If we're going to trade the priceless for the common, I want to know exactly what the terms are."
I had no response. His position was as difficult to assail as it would be to promote.
"You mean," I finally ventured, "that someone else will have to do the maps that show the spread of the Wal-Mart empire in North Dakota.”
January 28, 2021
A few of these stories really stood out to me. More than anything I wish I could hear commentary from Mr. Lopez about his experiences and resources he used as inspiration and direction.
I noticed, all of his lead characters of each story, who are seeking knowledge, answers, solace, he writes as first person.
The exception is in the title story Light Action in the Caribbean where his characters are meaningfully unlikable, unsatisfied, but still bully others around them and claim to have all the answers. I could feel Barry's distaste in writing people of that mindset, and his refusal to place himself as first-person within them. With purpose, he did need to be third-person by the end of that story. Whether this is good or bad I wouldn't know, only that the difference in storytelling was impossible for me to ignore. It will sit in my mind for a long time.
I noticed, all of his lead characters of each story, who are seeking knowledge, answers, solace, he writes as first person.
The exception is in the title story Light Action in the Caribbean where his characters are meaningfully unlikable, unsatisfied, but still bully others around them and claim to have all the answers. I could feel Barry's distaste in writing people of that mindset, and his refusal to place himself as first-person within them. With purpose, he did need to be third-person by the end of that story. Whether this is good or bad I wouldn't know, only that the difference in storytelling was impossible for me to ignore. It will sit in my mind for a long time.
May 8, 2020
Lopez’s writing is lovely on a sentence level but his stories were either short meditation on an academic subject or all build up for a spark of action. The Title story “Light action in the Caribbean” was my favorite story. It is centered on a woman who has learned to dive for an all expenses paid Caribbean vacation with her money flashing boyfriend. As she gets ready for the dive she begins to realize that he is a douche. The ending was shocking and quite thought provoking. I wish the rest of the stories had provided the same interest.
October 27, 2020
If a book of short stories has at least one exceptional story, I give it 5 stars. In this case, two of the stories were exceptional: "Remembering Orchards" and "In the Great Bend of the Souris River." Several others were interesting in good ways and only one was so incomprehensible that I stopped reading it halfway through. But maybe sci-fi fans will like that one.
November 30, 2020
Paperback.
Some stories of interest here. Not a fan of the title story 'Light Action in The Caribbean.'
Stories of note:
In The Garden of The Lords of War
Emory Bear Hands' Birds
There's a short story here that is several large footnotes, "Ruben Mendoz Vega..." which is interesting.
Some stories of interest here. Not a fan of the title story 'Light Action in The Caribbean.'
Stories of note:
In The Garden of The Lords of War
Emory Bear Hands' Birds
There's a short story here that is several large footnotes, "Ruben Mendoz Vega..." which is interesting.
December 27, 2020
The writing is beautiful, but I had a hard time connecting to most of the stories. Sadly, I was just finishing up this collection when I saw news that the author had passed while I was in the middle of it.
March 24, 2021
I really enjoyed reading the book for it’s beautiful writing, vivid plots and meditative pace. There were some darker scenes but they were well balanced with the overall mood. It made me want to go for a one way trip somewhere far
October 14, 2022
Love Barry Lopez. One of the stories was wildly dark and violent at the end, which was a surprise. I love the story about the Saints. I'm glad I read this, not his best work but still well worth reading.
December 16, 2022
I loved the collection of stories when it comes to the characters themselves. I liked the Afro Cuban pov to all of these as well. But the stories were just kinda one note. Some were good others not so much.
December 18, 2017
Lopez is one of my favorites.
June 9, 2018
Arctic Dreams is a masterpiece.
This is the second time I've tried reading Barry Lopez's fiction (both short story collections) and they both have been awful. Quite disappointing.
This is the second time I've tried reading Barry Lopez's fiction (both short story collections) and they both have been awful. Quite disappointing.
November 18, 2018
I hated every single short story in this collection. Technically this is well written but the stories are boring and pointless. I received and took nothing from this book.
December 3, 2018
I almost gave up on this book (rare for me), but am glad I persevered until The Mappist. That one was worth it all.
April 13, 2020
uneven. but a couple are almost masterpieces.
June 12, 2020
Three or four excellent stories that are worth the cost of the book.
January 15, 2021
A couple stories in the collection were ok, but two others contained such horrific details, I very nearly became sick. Not my cup of tea.
May 12, 2021
Will be thinking about Letters of Heaven and The Mappist for quite a while
Want to read
May 14, 2021Mia edizione in italiano: Lettere dal Paradiso e altre storie, Neri Pozza Narrativa , 2002
March 11, 2022
An intriguing, varied collection. Enjoyable, and surprising.
February 20, 2025
Not what I would have expected from Lopez, the setting surprised me.
Beautifully written.
Beautifully written.
March 15, 2020
The best word I can find is “bizarre.” The titular story starts off promising and ends in total chaos—a deus ex machina if ever I saw one. I understand that the author is known for his environmental writing, and I can see that his descriptions of nature and the natural world are adept, but these stories just didn’t really do it for me. As others have noted, the tale of the mapmaker was a highlight, but I unfortunately can’t recommend this un-cohesive collection.
September 27, 2016
There's something a little magical about these stories, and as always it's really delightful to spend time in a brainspace like López'.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews