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Dreams of the Centaur
Dreams of the Centaur brings to light for the first time in fiction the tragic enslavement of the Yaqui Indians by Porfirio Diaz's regime at the turn of the last century. Through the lives of the Durcalsa Mexican family who has created a ranch out of the desert Montserrat Fontes vividly brings to the page a time when a horse is worth more than a man's life. When his father is killed in a gambling incident, Alejo Durcal avenges his murder and is put in the notorious prison pits for his crime. His strong-willed mother, Felipa, who shares a special bond with this, her oldest son, perseveres for his release, only to have him "freed" to march the Yaquis to slavery on henequen plantations. In order to save their own souls, Alejo and Felipa will bring all their spirit and courage to saving others' lives.
349 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Montserrat Fontes
4 books8 followersMontserrat Fontes is a distinguished writer whose first novel, First Confession, has been widely praised as a major contribution to Chicana fiction. Her work is often taught in the CSLA U.S. Ethnic Literature course. Her second novel, Dreams of the Centaur, is currently being translated into German and French.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 28, 2018
12/28/'18
If you want to read a Wounded Knee type novel set in Mexico ... this under-rated book might appeal - What life like for Mexican "natives" not so long ago. Maybe related to BS, Border Security.
***
... hoping for something like Fontes' tale, I went internet surfing ...and came upon this academic article.
http://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewco...
"Crossing Laterally into Solidarity in Montserrat Fontes's Dreams of the Centaur Abstract
"Fontes's novel begins with a corrido announcing typical themes of murder and revenge. But the novel has from the outset been inter implicated in a history of the persecution of the Yoeme (Yaquis) at the turn into the twentieth century. Its three main protagonists become mavericks on the border, as they cross ultimately not only into safety in Arizona but into solidarity with the oppressed. Such crossings are existential, resulting in new identities that eschew racial or ethnic purity but instead embrace mixed ethnicity, or mestizaje (to borrow key concepts from Anzaldúa). Such crossings are lateral, non-hierarchic. But Fontes does not allow refuge in some romantic vision: even as one crosses over, one retains one's membership in the group that oppresses. Instead, Fontes's mavericks—and Fontes herself— become tellers of a story too little known, too horrible to be obliterated. United in a kind of spiritual force, they become potential "drops of water that penetrate and soften the land," leaving prints for others to follow."
A voice vibrates through me. "Return to your country. Be priests of this vision, and you will be men of action, be men who move without doubt to turn Sonora into a land of generosity. Tell them what you saw here. When they enslave men there, they enslave us here. Tell them. That is why you have been saved. Be drops of water that penetrate and soften the land. Leave prints for others to follow."
-Montserrat Fontes, Dreams of the Centaur
"In the recent film, The Mask of Zorro, there occurs a remarkable visual event. An American audience witnesses a truth that has been occluded from its consciousness: the enslavement of Indians to work the mines of Mexico. Three centuries of such enslavement is a history not well
known, even denied. In the spring of 1998 (just before the Zorro film was released) on the
American Indian list serve a scholar protested that, since slavery was officially outlawed by the
Spanish crown, it could not have existed.'
"In her remarkable novel, Dreams of the Centaur, Montserrat Fontes tells part of this history, the enslavement of the Yaquis at the turn of the twentieth century.' Hector Durcal, the intellectual
younger brother of the protagonist Alejo Durcal, voices the shock of those who would deny such
enslavement if they could: "Slavery is against our Constitution. To sell a human being is ..."
***
(If you appreciate the destruction of "Natives" in the "Wounded Knee" context/realm, this story might for you, too, be long remembered.)
***
original review -- "Eye-Opening" ... looking back on Northern Mexico, just 100 years ago ... making slaves of the Yaqui, (Apache cousins) and shipping them to the jungle plantations of Southern Mexico.
From one of the most respected librarians review magazines
KIRKUS REVIEW
"Fontes returns to the Durcal family, introduced in her 1990 debut, First Confession. This prequel to the earlier work, which was set in the 1940s, takes place in the northern Mexico state of Sonora from the mid-1880s to the turn of the century, tracing the story of the founder of the family line, Jose Durcal--called El Centauro for his strength of character and body--and his equally determined wife, Felipa. Felipa gives him three sons, the oldest of whom, Alejo, will go on to enjoy a special bond with his mother. When Jose is killed by a jealous, politically connected friend, Alejo avenges his father's death with disastrous results, including a stretch in the subhuman conditions of a provincial prison, an equally punishing but brief stay in the army, and an involvement in unmasking the vicious trade in slaves by plantation owners in the Yucatan. For background--and, often, foreground--Fontes uses the corrupt and racist regime of Porfirio Diaz, which labored mightily to exterminate the Yaqui tribe. Alejo finds himself and his half brother enmeshed in an unsuccessful attempt to avert a huge massacre, an event that Fontes retells with breathtaking pace. Interwoven is the story of Alejo's love for his father's horse, Moro, a horse that almost no one else can ride. But in the novel's center is the relationship between Felipa and Alejo, and Fontes excels in exploring the complex emotional ties between these two. Alejo's travails in the army and after his desertion, told in the first person, drag a bit, Felipa's presence being sorely missed; but the final movement, reuniting son and mother under the most harrowing of circumstances, is satisfying entirely. Despite some longueurs, then: an effective, often exciting piece of storytelling with a powerful central female character."
If you want to read a Wounded Knee type novel set in Mexico ... this under-rated book might appeal - What life like for Mexican "natives" not so long ago. Maybe related to BS, Border Security.
***
... hoping for something like Fontes' tale, I went internet surfing ...and came upon this academic article.
http://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewco...
"Crossing Laterally into Solidarity in Montserrat Fontes's Dreams of the Centaur Abstract
"Fontes's novel begins with a corrido announcing typical themes of murder and revenge. But the novel has from the outset been inter implicated in a history of the persecution of the Yoeme (Yaquis) at the turn into the twentieth century. Its three main protagonists become mavericks on the border, as they cross ultimately not only into safety in Arizona but into solidarity with the oppressed. Such crossings are existential, resulting in new identities that eschew racial or ethnic purity but instead embrace mixed ethnicity, or mestizaje (to borrow key concepts from Anzaldúa). Such crossings are lateral, non-hierarchic. But Fontes does not allow refuge in some romantic vision: even as one crosses over, one retains one's membership in the group that oppresses. Instead, Fontes's mavericks—and Fontes herself— become tellers of a story too little known, too horrible to be obliterated. United in a kind of spiritual force, they become potential "drops of water that penetrate and soften the land," leaving prints for others to follow."
A voice vibrates through me. "Return to your country. Be priests of this vision, and you will be men of action, be men who move without doubt to turn Sonora into a land of generosity. Tell them what you saw here. When they enslave men there, they enslave us here. Tell them. That is why you have been saved. Be drops of water that penetrate and soften the land. Leave prints for others to follow."
-Montserrat Fontes, Dreams of the Centaur
"In the recent film, The Mask of Zorro, there occurs a remarkable visual event. An American audience witnesses a truth that has been occluded from its consciousness: the enslavement of Indians to work the mines of Mexico. Three centuries of such enslavement is a history not well
known, even denied. In the spring of 1998 (just before the Zorro film was released) on the
American Indian list serve a scholar protested that, since slavery was officially outlawed by the
Spanish crown, it could not have existed.'
"In her remarkable novel, Dreams of the Centaur, Montserrat Fontes tells part of this history, the enslavement of the Yaquis at the turn of the twentieth century.' Hector Durcal, the intellectual
younger brother of the protagonist Alejo Durcal, voices the shock of those who would deny such
enslavement if they could: "Slavery is against our Constitution. To sell a human being is ..."
***
(If you appreciate the destruction of "Natives" in the "Wounded Knee" context/realm, this story might for you, too, be long remembered.)
***
original review -- "Eye-Opening" ... looking back on Northern Mexico, just 100 years ago ... making slaves of the Yaqui, (Apache cousins) and shipping them to the jungle plantations of Southern Mexico.
From one of the most respected librarians review magazines
KIRKUS REVIEW
"Fontes returns to the Durcal family, introduced in her 1990 debut, First Confession. This prequel to the earlier work, which was set in the 1940s, takes place in the northern Mexico state of Sonora from the mid-1880s to the turn of the century, tracing the story of the founder of the family line, Jose Durcal--called El Centauro for his strength of character and body--and his equally determined wife, Felipa. Felipa gives him three sons, the oldest of whom, Alejo, will go on to enjoy a special bond with his mother. When Jose is killed by a jealous, politically connected friend, Alejo avenges his father's death with disastrous results, including a stretch in the subhuman conditions of a provincial prison, an equally punishing but brief stay in the army, and an involvement in unmasking the vicious trade in slaves by plantation owners in the Yucatan. For background--and, often, foreground--Fontes uses the corrupt and racist regime of Porfirio Diaz, which labored mightily to exterminate the Yaqui tribe. Alejo finds himself and his half brother enmeshed in an unsuccessful attempt to avert a huge massacre, an event that Fontes retells with breathtaking pace. Interwoven is the story of Alejo's love for his father's horse, Moro, a horse that almost no one else can ride. But in the novel's center is the relationship between Felipa and Alejo, and Fontes excels in exploring the complex emotional ties between these two. Alejo's travails in the army and after his desertion, told in the first person, drag a bit, Felipa's presence being sorely missed; but the final movement, reuniting son and mother under the most harrowing of circumstances, is satisfying entirely. Despite some longueurs, then: an effective, often exciting piece of storytelling with a powerful central female character."
January 25, 2019
This book was a beautiful, often heartbreaking and astounding journey through a place and time--Sonora, Mexico in the late 1800s. It's raw and tough and quiet and haunting. I learned a lot of incredible history, and I have mental images I don't think I'll ever shake. It's easy reading in the sense that the language and characters keep you interested and flowing through the story, but subject-matter-wise it's definitely no walk in the park. Still, utterly worth it. I came across it by chance, and I'm very glad I did.
May 5, 2013
DREAMS OF THE CENTAUR takes place at the turn of the 20th century, when Mexican President Porfirio Díaz was responsible for the deportation, enslavement, and slaughter of thousands of Yaquis Indians. Similar to Isabel Allende's THE HOUSE OF SPIRTIS, the epic family story is integrated with the history and politics of the times. In this novel, the events of the Durcal family is told through the voices of Felipa and her oldest son Alejo Durcal.
Long ago, wealthy hacendados had claimed the best land, José Durcal took what was left and labored eight years "burning the tenacious chaparral, breaking the sunbaked land, digging wells and irrigation ditches, planting oranges, wheat, alfalfa and hay." At first he works alone, later he hires Yaquis to live on his land and work for him. When he travels to Alamos, he eyes Felipa at her Aunt's mill. When he asks her to marry him, she is surprised that such a successful man would ask her, but Tía Mercedes points out that since José has no family history it is natural that he should also choose to start "his family with someone as new as the land he had claimed." José continues to dream that someday his three sons will be known as respected land owners.
It is another seven years before José travels to Guaymas to purchase animals, tools and furniture, raising the stature of his ranch. Ironically, the biggest obstacle preventing José from his shopping trip is a Yaquis called Cajeme. Although, José applauds Cajeme's efforts to thwart the Mexican troops, he also knows that being Mexican, he is a target. When he finally sets off for Guaymas, he goes with his long time friend, the son of one of the wealthy mining families, Estaban Escobar.
They are gone six months and return with many wonders, but the center of attention is Estaban's two year old Black Stallion that he calls El Moro. Apparently, José is the one that found the horse, but being richer, Estaban outbids him. This strains the relationship to the point that José decides to win back El Moro in a poker game. After winning El Moro, José begins an ill conceived plan to quickly increase the size of his ranch by continuing to gamble, until one evening he goes too far and is killed on Estaban's land. Estaban claims it is an accident, José's sons believe, and all physical evidence points to murder, but the law sides with the wealthy family. Young, angry and out of family honor, Alejo, José's oldest son, now seeks revenge, despite Felipa's will to prevent this.
The heart of this story is about injustice and explores it from every possible angle, especially the ease in which one moves from a just position to the humiliator. At one point Alejo says, "My instinct tells me that if we can imagine a worse place, we'll make sure someone ends up there. That must be how those evil places get started. That's how Yaquis got chained--someone thought of a worse situation than his own, then he created it." How quickly the dreams of one becomes the nightmares of another as we realize that the centaurs in this novel are herding humans like bulls.
Though the message is as harsh as the history it portrays, the novel itself is a well paced, entrancing read. Fontes talent is to make the Durcal family as real as the lands that they occupy.
Long ago, wealthy hacendados had claimed the best land, José Durcal took what was left and labored eight years "burning the tenacious chaparral, breaking the sunbaked land, digging wells and irrigation ditches, planting oranges, wheat, alfalfa and hay." At first he works alone, later he hires Yaquis to live on his land and work for him. When he travels to Alamos, he eyes Felipa at her Aunt's mill. When he asks her to marry him, she is surprised that such a successful man would ask her, but Tía Mercedes points out that since José has no family history it is natural that he should also choose to start "his family with someone as new as the land he had claimed." José continues to dream that someday his three sons will be known as respected land owners.
It is another seven years before José travels to Guaymas to purchase animals, tools and furniture, raising the stature of his ranch. Ironically, the biggest obstacle preventing José from his shopping trip is a Yaquis called Cajeme. Although, José applauds Cajeme's efforts to thwart the Mexican troops, he also knows that being Mexican, he is a target. When he finally sets off for Guaymas, he goes with his long time friend, the son of one of the wealthy mining families, Estaban Escobar.
They are gone six months and return with many wonders, but the center of attention is Estaban's two year old Black Stallion that he calls El Moro. Apparently, José is the one that found the horse, but being richer, Estaban outbids him. This strains the relationship to the point that José decides to win back El Moro in a poker game. After winning El Moro, José begins an ill conceived plan to quickly increase the size of his ranch by continuing to gamble, until one evening he goes too far and is killed on Estaban's land. Estaban claims it is an accident, José's sons believe, and all physical evidence points to murder, but the law sides with the wealthy family. Young, angry and out of family honor, Alejo, José's oldest son, now seeks revenge, despite Felipa's will to prevent this.
The heart of this story is about injustice and explores it from every possible angle, especially the ease in which one moves from a just position to the humiliator. At one point Alejo says, "My instinct tells me that if we can imagine a worse place, we'll make sure someone ends up there. That must be how those evil places get started. That's how Yaquis got chained--someone thought of a worse situation than his own, then he created it." How quickly the dreams of one becomes the nightmares of another as we realize that the centaurs in this novel are herding humans like bulls.
Though the message is as harsh as the history it portrays, the novel itself is a well paced, entrancing read. Fontes talent is to make the Durcal family as real as the lands that they occupy.
August 27, 2023
This is a stunning work. I found myself constantly wondering how this isn’t taught in schools. An intricately woven story of a mother’s love and the struggle of the Yaqui Indigenous peoples of Mexico during the Diaz regime. Heartbreakingly sheds light on a piece of Mexican history that isn’t discussed nearly enough. A must read, especially if you’re interested in Indigenous peoples, Mexico, or just incredible novels that will stick with you forever.
August 10, 2024
On a friend's recommendation I read this without having heard of the book before. She had recommended it because it is histroical fiction dealing with the Mexican campaign against the indigenous Yoeme or Yaqui and I knew little of Mexico's history prior to the Revolution. It was informative and entertaining. Better than what I had anticipated
June 27, 2008
I really enjoyed this book overall. Lots of drama, but really showed strong woman as characters.
Want to read
June 9, 2010A readalike for Hummingbird's Daughter? perhaps........
December 3, 2010
I TOOK ME TIME TO FINISH THIS BOOK BUT IT WAS AWESOME!!!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews