Glass Mountain

by R.M. Koster

When Carlos Fuertes looks in the mirror, he sees a dead man. Son of an assassinated Latin American president, Carlos found his calling in Vietnam going on lone raids north of the DMZ. Now he works out of Tijuana, Mexico, stealing children for the losing parties in divorce custody contests, his nerve and self-respect broken, a victim of terrifying hallucinations.



A phone call from the past offers a reprieve: an "op" is being mounted to kidnap a fugitive American financier from Central America. An authentic trial, Carlos decides, with authentic risk, is the only way back from death in life.



Through the grueling preparation stage and meticulous setup, Carlos begins to rediscover himself, even as he puts on the roles the operation requires. Only near its end, however, does he see his chance to repair his life fully.



Glass Mountain renders the details and tension of a covert military operation with riveting immediacy, then turns the excitement higher through a rescue and escape Carlos improvises on the fly. With mastery of form and language, R. M. Koster crafts an exhilarating novel on the classic American theme of redemption through violence—a fitting sequel to his acclaimed Tinieblas Trilogy.

Hardcover

First published May 1, 2001

About the author

R(ichard) M(orton) Koster is an American novelist best known for the Tinieblas trilogy—The Prince (1972), The Dissertation (1975), Mandragon (1979)—set in an imaginary Central American republic much like Panama, the author's home for many years. He is the author, besides, of two other novels, Carmichael's Dog (1992) and Glass Mountain (2001), and (with Panamanian man of letters Guillermo Sánchez Borbón), of In the Time of the Tyrants (1990), a history of the Torrijos-Noriega dictatorship. Koster's approach in the trilogy is post-modern magical realism, reminiscent of García Márquez in its sometimes fantastical content. In The Prince, for example, conflict over an American military base near the capital of Tinieblas causes a "flag plague" in which activists break out in stinging rashes of their national colors. As García Márquez's translator, Gregory Rabassa, has remarked, however, "Koster’s magical realism was direct, not an imitation of anyone. He was there in Panama so he just fell naturally into it." In its verbal and structural inventiveness Koster's approach is sometimes likened to that of Nabokov. The Dissertation presents itself as a doctoral thesis with contrapuntal stories in the text and notes. Each novel focuses on a larger-than-life protagonist around whom the action revolves, as in a concerto for solo instrument and orchestra. The author himself likens the books to the panels of a triptych, "since each of the three is complete in itself and since they need not be considered in the order of their publication." Major characters from one book appear as minor characters in the others, and vice versa. The unifying "character" of all three is Tinieblas itself. The Tinieblas trilogy may be seen as an imaginative response to the unrest that convulsed Central America during the 1970s and '80s, and as an extended reference to the work of Niccolò Machiavelli. Each protagonist is a political leader, in The Prince an adventurer on the model of Cesare Borgia, in Mandragon a charismatic like Savonarola. For the protagonist of The Dissertation pursuit of powern is a disease, yet he accepts leadership when it is thrust upon him. Throughout the trilogy the wages of power is death, and there are many incidents of grim violence and grotesque humor, often combined.The tiology received considerable acclaim, including a National Book Award nomination for The Prince. Overlook Press is currently reissuing it. The Prince reappeared in March 2013. The Dissertation will be published in October, 2013, and Mandragon early in 2014. Koster was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and has degrees from Yale and New York Universities. He went to Panama as a soldier in the 1950s and has lived there since. He taught
English at the National University of Panama, and from 1964 to 2001 was a member of the faculty of the Florida State University, serving at its Panama branch. He has lectured in English and Spanish at more than 20 universities in the United States and Latin America. In 2003 he was a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University. Koster has had parallel careers in politics and journalism. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee 1967-1996, served on many Democratic panels, and wrote presidential debate copy for Senator John Kerry in 2004. He has reported for the Copely News Service, Newsweek and the New York Times. Essays by him have appeared in Harper's, Playboy, and other magazines. Koster's work is deeply grounded in the western literary canon, though references tend to be playful not pedantic. In Carmichael's Dog (1992), which takes place in a parallel universe, characters quote the playwright Robin Speckshaft, creator of Malaspina, 'the gloomy duke' who had his dwarf strangled for making him smile. Koster's wife, Otilia Tejeira trained as a ballerina and later had a career as a human rights monitor. They have two children and three grand children.

Reviews

[Gerald Jerome · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was decent structure and plot-wise, Carlos was an interesting character and I liked following his development. I haven't read many stories of this sort so I found the setting and military themes rich and interesting. That being said, though the characters were less two-dimensional than most stories I've read, they still failed to be interesting outside of Carlos and Ape, maybe Claudio. There was just nothing distinguishing about any of them besides being props and plot movers. Lastly, I would've loved to have been more immersed in the story but I think this one suffered from a lot of telling rather than showing. It was also difficult to understand what was going on at times due to how the author described things and structured sentences. This seemed to be an issue more toward the beginning of the book than the end.

I'd be interested to read more from the author. Even through certain technical flaws, I like his style.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like many of Koster's books, there's an element of brutality -- but it serves a narrative function. Politics in many parts of the world is a grown-up activity that entails risks and choices that more mundane avocations may not offer.

[Leo W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Koster should be much better known.