The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches From the Border in Around the World in 80 Books

Nov 11, 2019 Mansir rated it liked it

“Declare loyalty to human life over shifting and mutable laws and policies, and we must remain attuned to these loyalties so as not to return to indifference."
Dehumanizing policies

This book is about a guy who has perhaps a vague intention, which the leads to experiences that finally result in humanizing the tragedy that is our US Mexican border.

This book for me is very imperfect - it could have been so much more. There is good writing but it’s loose. At the end, he even says that the aim of h

“Declare loyalty to human life over shifting and mutable laws and policies, and we must remain attuned to these loyalties so as not to return to indifference."
Dehumanizing policies

This book is about a guy who has perhaps a vague intention, which the leads to experiences that finally result in humanizing the tragedy that is our US Mexican border.

This book for me is very imperfect - it could have been so much more. There is good writing but it’s loose. At the end, he even says that the aim of his writing is "to function as literature rather than reportage, to resonate more deeply within the soul than in the mind.”

It did resonate deeply - especially later in the book when we really get to know an individual. In the first part, when he does go into history and context, the book needs more of it. His experiences as an agent need all the context possible. I would have liked to have seen more photos, more interviews with agents, more details of the history of the border or even the border patrol as an institution. I want to know more about the relationship between illegal immigration and narco trafficking.

“Violence doesn’t come organically in our deserts at our borders. It has arrived there through policy." He does a good job of talking about the evils that institutions can do but I would liked more of a focus on that...

The first part of the book is an artful detailing of experiences that are scaring and numbing and the rest of the book is his attempt to process and rectify. One of the things If found most off-putting was his description of his dreams - it felt too indulgent to me and to far away from what mattered - the real people dying in the desert. But, later on, it becomes clear that to him processing his dreams is a way to heal and understand.

I like how mentions books within his writing but all in all I was hoping more reporting. I liked his sections on recommend reading how to get involved.

Part three redeems the book and gave me the impetus to finish it. It’s a beautiful detailed account of the author’s friendship with an undocumented immigrant. Through his story, we see him as human and start to see the path through which we can humanize and individualize all of those suffering below the border and desire a new life above it. We learn about the details of the crossing.

So as imperfect as the book is, if it gets the reader to start thinking about how we can humanize the border issue and make effective change in our border policy, then perhaps it will accomplish all that we could hope. ...more

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Feb 10, 2018 Alyson Zikmund rated it really liked it

Won this in a Goodreads giveaway! Quick read but thought provoking. Interesting personal take on an issue at the forefront of politics in the US these days.

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