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Quesadillas

Juan Pablo Villalobos

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Jul 22, 2013 Sam rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-translated, 1-contemp-literary, setting-latam-carib, young-person-protag, reviewed, read-2014

Villalobos has done it again. Just like in his first novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, in Quesadillas you get the zingy, zippy writing that takes you through the surreal situations that his characters find themselves in. In addition to the downtrodden family that’s the focus of the book, we also have corrupt politicians, cow inseminators, and (maybe) even aliens in the background. The comic observations the characters make and the hijinks they get into amidst the absurdities of modern life in Mexico Villalobos has done it again. Just like in his first novel, Down the Rabbit Hole, in Quesadillas you get the zingy, zippy writing that takes you through the surreal situations that his characters find themselves in. In addition to the downtrodden family that’s the focus of the book, we also have corrupt politicians, cow inseminators, and (maybe) even aliens in the background. The comic observations the characters make and the hijinks they get into amidst the absurdities of modern life in Mexico make it a breezy read (so you think).

The book is peppered with chuckle-worthy reflections of our teenage protagonist, Orestes, like this one that starts off the book:

“Go and fuck your fucking mother, you bastard, fuck off!”

I know this isn’t an appropriate way to begin, but the story of me and my family is full of insults. If I’m really going to report everything that happened, I’m going to have to write down a whole load of mother-related insults. I swear there’s no other way to do it, because the story unfolded in the place where I was born and grew up, Lagos de Moreno, in Los Altos, Jalisco, a region that, to add to injury, is located in Mexico. Allow me to point out a few things about my town, for those of you who have never been there: there are more cows than people, more charro horsemen than horses, more priests than cows, and the people like to believe in the existence of ghosts, miracles, spaceships, saints, and so forth. (3)

But the comic tone belies the sorry state of things, the desperation that’s simmering just below the surface of their lives and the story we’re reading. It's the combination of the crazy, funny, matter-of-factness of it all that makes Villalobos’ look at injustice, hardship, and class so devastating once you finish the book. I can’t really explain how he does it, but you just feel sucker-punched afterwards. There you are hanging out with the good-natured guys who are rolling with things even as they totally see how they’re getting screwed over left and right. But things are okay or will be okay because these guys seem to be so clear-eyed and smart, somehow they’ll rise above it all. Right? Right?? But then you realize that it’s a really fucked up world, and at the end you’re not so confident that the world won’t just continue to screw them over as it always has. The book is dark and madcap and kind of heartbreaking.
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Nov 19, 2013 Denise rated it liked it

Mar 16, 2014 Stacy marked it as to-read

Mar 09, 2018 Curlysue marked it as to-read

Mar 19, 2021 Lizzy Siddal (Lizzy’s Literary Life) rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2021

Jan 11, 2022 Crystal marked it as to-read

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