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Book Reviews Espana Europe Intellectuals Moslems Philosophy, World politics Uncategorized World Affairs

A Christian hero warrior who lived among Arabs, a book review.

Pérez Reverte, Andrés. Sidi. Un relato de frontera (Miami: Alfaguara/Penguin Random House, 2019), pp. 371.

[Spanish below] El Cid Campeador, Spain’s favorite Christian warrior, appears here with the Arabic name that his own comrades in arms gave him, according to the author. And, indeed, it is a frontier tale, as the subtitle claims, referring to the imaginary line in the Iberian Peninsula that separated the Christian Goths from the Islamic Moors in the eleventh century, before Spain emerged.

The author warns us that Sidi “is a fictional story… that combines history, legend and imagination.” And, for me, that combination was satisfying because I think I can understand something of the past, trusting that he investigated enough before executing the final drafts. He relied on his understanding of the historical trends that slowly unfolded over centuries serving as a background for the actions of his characters. There is no doubt that integrating in the twenty-first century events from the eleventh century with legends embellished by the imagination demands certain caution for us readers. Worse in this case when historians warn of us of how little documentation remains of this warrior who continues to enjoy mythical glory. Perez Reverte includes gory descriptions of throat slicing and beheadings but medieval history in general confirms the enormous sacrifices of life that occurred often enough in the name of loyalty to man and god.

But the fact is that, despite the fiction woven into his tale, I have been able to confirm, for example, more than anything else, the social intertwining that must have existed between Christians and Muslims at that time. The fact that Pérez Reverte baptized his novel with the Arabic name of the famous warrior says a lot. I believe he hit the mark in choosing the title for his novel. I think that this social and economic intertwining represents the main argument in this book, better than a historical essay. It was a very good read. An English version is quite probable.

El Cid Campeador aparece aquí con el nombre árabe que sus propios compañeros en armas le pusieron, según el autor. Y, efectivamente, es un relato de frontera, como reza el subtítulo, la línea imaginaria en la península ibérica que separaba los godos cristianos de los moros islámicos en el siglo once, antes de que surgiera una España. Pérez Reverte incluye descripciones sangrientas de cortes de garganta y decapitaciones, pero la historia medieval en general confirma los enormes sacrificios de la vida que ocurrieron con bastante frecuencia en nombre de la lealtad al hombre y a dios.

El autor nos advierte que Sidi “es un relato de ficción donde…combina historia, leyenda e imaginación.” Y, para mí, esa combinación me ha satisfecho porque creo poder entender algo del pasado, gracias a este autor que investiga algo antes de escribir sus borradores finales. Confió en su haber entendido las tendencias históricas que se desenvuelven lentamente a través de los siglos y fungen como trasfondo en el comportamiento de los personajes. Es innegable que el compaginar en el siglo veintiuno hechos del siglo XI con leyendas embellecidas por la imaginación requiere exigir cierto cuidado para nosotros los lectores. Peor en este caso cuando poca documentación queda del domador de la frontera tal como nos avisan los historiadores, en contradicción a la gloria mítica que le asignan los españoles.  

Pero el hecho es que, a pesar de la ficción entretejida aquí, he podido, como lector, confirmar, por ejemplo, más que nada, el entrelazo social que debió haber existido entre los cristianos y los musulmanes en esa época. El hecho de que Pérez Reverte bautice su novela con el nombre arábico del insigne guerrero dice mucho ya. Intitular su novela de esta manera me parece una decisión acertada. Por último, pienso que ese entrelazado social y económico representa el argumento principal de este libro y de esto el autor ha hecho un excelente repaso, mejor que un ensayo histórico. Fue una lectura muy buena.

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Book Reviews Current Events immigration Uncategorized United States

A girl grows up in Brooklyn, a book review

Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (New York: Harper Perennial, 1943, 2001) pp.493.

This book is a masterpiece of Americana, written in a heartwarming, humanistic manner. Notice that it first appeared in 1943, the best the author ever wrote, kindly and fittingly rescued from oblivion and published anew.

Betty Smith and her book

It is a tender tale of growing up in America, in Brooklyn, in the first decade of the 20th century. The life of a penurious but respectable family is narrated by Francie, the pre-teenage daughter whose understanding of herself and her family evolves during a five year span. A portrait of her beloved Irish father who would rather sing in pubs than hold a proper job is heart rending as it is earnest, as is her mother who devotedly and efficiently holds the family together even after the death of her husband.

Still, the centerpiece is Francie’s growing up into an independently-minded young woman. Early Brooklyn is also portrayed with affectionate detail, the candy seller, the local tavern, the local school, while New York City lies far away, an alien country across the river that barely enters the picture. In an afterword we learn that the novel is autobiographic.

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communist u.s.-mexico border Uncategorized United States

“YOU ARE A COMMUNIST!”

“You are a communist!” This is what a white, middle-age woman driver said to me from her SUV, as she rolled down her window, stopping alongside my car at a light, not far from my home. Wearing a Trump cap, she had noticed my home-made “bumper sticker” that says: DUMP TRUMP—SAVE AMERICA. This prompted her to speak to me through her open window. I have had the sticker on my car for about two years.

In her mind I am a communist because I want Trump dumped in November. He is anti-America. In her little mind anyone who is anti-Trump is a communist, apparently. I doubt she could define communism. (If anyone is a communist, she is because she supports a president who does not defend our country against Russia!) We got into a brief shouting match and then went our way (I will avoid shouting matches from now on because there is no gain from them. I have always thought that, but it escaped me that day, somehow).

So, what does this mean? One, it means that national politics is heating up and people are beginning to pay more attention. This is common in all presidential elections, but 2020 is like no other. Absolutely like no other.

The other lesson I draw from this little 10 second incident is that some Trump supporters, like this lady (many?), are know-nothings who easily swallow words and thoughts from propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Graham. A seed of fear and anxiety fuels their embrace for a liar and a manipulator like Trump. What is it? How could we have elected a man like that to begin with!

Bottom line: we are at a crossroads in America. The upcoming election is a critical moment for us as a nation.

I’m Hispanic and I can say that Hispanic issues regarding immigration are completely secondary to the survival of America. You cannot have fair and intelligent immigration policies without fair and intelligent American leaders. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris represent that kind of American. Right now, people like them predominate the Democratic Party. Let’s support them!

 

REGISTER NOW!        BE READY TO VOTE!

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY MUST BE BROUGHT DOWN AS

AN ENABLER OF DONALD TRUMP WHO IS

ANTI-AMERICAN & ANTI-DEMOCRACY!

(DUMP TRUMP!    SAVE AMERICA!)

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Uncategorized World Affairs

THE ‘GIL’ SURNAME AND THE NAZI HOLOCAUST

Our Mexican-origin surname, Gil, appears in the Holocaust archives! Yikes!

I had the occasion recently to learn of the Arolsen Archives, in Germany, the largest repository of documents concerning the millions of Jews and other people who were killed by Hitler’s Nazi government  just for being who they were.  Remember the gas ovens? Most were burned to get rid of their bodies.

Apparently, all these documents (see the types of documents below), were scooped up by our soldiers at the end of World War II, after we bombed the Nazi’s into oblivion. Our GI’s gathered the papers and they were stored and placed into this archive and research organization.

Since I like archives, I went into the online collection, just to check it out, and decided to put in our surname, doubting I’d find anything, because it’s not a name normally associated with the Hitler era.

In just a few minutes of searching, up came the name, Antonio Accolti Gil. It seems he was an Italian with our surname (I don’t know whether the Gil is patronymic or matronymic). See a registration document about him below. He was picked up for whatever reason on February 5, 1944, and imprisoned at the Mauthhausen Camp, one of many built to hold these unfortunate people. He may have survived because the Germans were losing the war by 1944.

Prisoner’s Personal Card for Antonio Accolti Gil

I also searched with the word “Mexico,” and it produced about 50 results, to my surprise! These poor folks were Spaniards or Mexicans who had fought against the Nazis in Spain during its bloody and brutal civil war (about the time I was born) and the Germans picked them up and put them in the concentration camps, alongside the Jewish prisoners.

What does all this mean? 1) That the Holocaust (the genocidal elimination of millions of people by the German Nazis) was real, contrary to people who deny it today, unbelievably. The truth is hard to take, sometimes, and people can deny things all their lives. And, 2) it included many who were not Jews, like our Antonio Gil and the Mexicans and Spaniards mentioned.

Types of documents in the Arolsen Archive includes prisoner files of various sorts, documents about medical experiments on humans, testimonies from camp personnel and former prisoners, death registers, execution lists, deaths after liberation, Red Cross reports, and so on. Germans are expert record keepers, to this day.

 

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Book Reviews Humanities Washington Talks Uncategorized

EL CAMINO, A BOOK REVIEW (Life in a Spanish village in the 1940s)

[See Spanish below]

El Camino (Barcelona, Austral/Destino, 2009).  Delibes received several awards in his native land and, based on this novel, considered his best work, these honors, I think, are totally fitting. I discovered him to be an excellent writer and an authority of his fellow Spaniards (he died in 2010).

This 285-page book, edited by Marisa Sotelo, is divided into three parts. The first offers an introduction written by Sotelo concerning the author’s work, she an expert in Spanish literature. The novel itself occupies the second section, and the third takes the form of a curious “Reading Guide” alluding to Delibes’ work, conceived and written by Fernando de Miguel.

El Camino is about the life of three boys living in a northern Spanish village in the 1940s (I discovered a passage that refers to the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s). It unfolded so serenely that I began to judge it as a string of trivial though colorful portraits. Soon, I noticed, however, the way in which the lives of the young characters mirrored more profound reflections about small town life. I found that Delibes handled his written work with impressive mastery revealing both detailed knowledge and amusing portraits of the villagers, like the blacksmith, the priest, the cheesemaker, the godless man, the train station manager, and others.

Delibes did this by following the lives of the three little friends, Daniel, the Owl, Roque the Stooge, and Germán, the Scab, looking especially at their mischief and tomfoolery. This device allows the author to unveil the relations between the adults of the town. For this reason I place  El Camino inside the literary genre that owns the Hardy Boys in the world of English literature, but showing greater literary complexity. His style is simple but solid. It was a delicious read.

Delibes ha sido galardonado con varios premios españoles y, basado en esta novela considerada como su mejor trabajo, pienso que dichos reconocimientos están en lo correcto. Leyendo su libro descubrí que Delibes fue un excelente escritor y conocedor de su país (murió en 2010).

Este libro, de 285 páginas, editado por Marisa Sotelo, contiene tres partes. La primera ofrece una introducción que Sotelo escribe concerniente a la obra del autor. La novela ocupa la segunda sección, y la tercera toma la forma de un curioso “Guía de Lectura” alusivo al trabajo de Delibes, concebido y escrito por Fernando de Miguel.

El Camino trata de la vida de tres chicos, naturales de a una aldea española en los años cuarenta del siglo veinte (descubrí un fragmento que hace alusión a la guerra civil). Esta se desenvuelve tan plácidamente que me pareció, al principio, como un hilo de retratos pueblerinos triviales. Pero pronto me di cuenta de la forma en que dichas efemérides encerraban reflexiones profundas. Es más, hallé que Delibes manejó su trabajo escrito con una maestría impresionante revelando un detallado conocimiento de la vida de los vecinos, tales como el herrero, el señor cura, el quesero, el sin dios, las “guindillas” y las “lepóridas,” y otros.

Pero mas que nada, Delibe protagoniza a los tres amiguitos, Daniel, el Mochuelo, Roque el Moñigo, Germán el Tiñoso, y sigue sus picardías y pillerías, las que corren el velo a las relaciones entre los adultos del pueblo. El Camino pertenece al género de cuentos protagonizados en el mundo de literatura inglés por los Hardy Boys, pero ostentando mayor profundidad literaria. Su estilo es sencillo pero firme. Fue una grata lectura.  [October 2019]

 

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Book Reviews Uncategorized

AMERICAN LIBERATOR: SIMON BOLIVAR, A BOOK REVIEW

Arana, Marie. Bolivar: American Liberator (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2013). Arana took on a major job in writing this one-volume biography of Simón Bolivar, a truly amazing man. He unyoked northern South America (Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador) from Spain in the early 1800s, bringing the kind of independence to these countries that we celebrate in the United States on July 4th. It is a shame that Americans know little about him. By the way, the people of Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, also call themselves “Americans.” They began doing so in the late 1700s, like we did in the United States. (They chafe at our appropriating the word as we do).

Arana tells us that Bolivar was indefatigable in convincing a rabble of peasants and slaves to fight for their “freedom” and “liberty.” He persuaded them that this merited their being uprooted, leaving their families and, in many cases, dying or being killed. This is the biggest lesson to be gained from Bolivar’s life and from this biography: his unrelenting pursuit of independence and republicanism in the face of astonishing odds. Along these lines, too, Arana skillfully describes the astounding trek that he and his bedraggled warriors underwent in crossing the Andes mountains from east to west in order to surprise Spanish troops in Bogotá, and later Lima, and thus guarantee their expulsion from the continent, better than Hannibal and Alexander the Great. George Washington’s exploits, heroic as they might have been, don’t compare given the distances and geographic challenges.

Bolivar’s overwhelming disillusionment over the inability of his compatriots to adopt democratic republicanism is handled quite well by the author. She knowingly deals with the ironic triumph of caudillismo (strong man politics) and cites Bolivar’s own ironic recognition that he was the best example of caudillo rule. His famous phrase, “I plowed the sea,” refers to his failure to establish democratic republics; it fits in Arana’s narrative perfectly along with his famous “Letter from Panama” in which he sees into Latin America’s political future.

The details of Bolivar’s struggles are based on the voluminous letters and speeches he left behind, plus the ample history books written about his life and times. He is, of course, the George Washington of the countries mentioned. It is an easy to read book, for history buffs and scholars as well.

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Humanities Washington Talks Mexico Talks and other events Trump u.s.-mexico border Uncategorized United States

THEY LOOK LIKE ME….NEXT TIME IT MIGHT BE YOU OR ME

They look like me. In the victims and survivors of the Ohio and El Paso shootings, today, August 5, 2019, I saw people who look like me, or my relatives or my friends. The El Paso shooter was attacking “Hispanic immigrants.”

Well, that’s me, folks, even if I might feel safe because I’m not an immigrant. The psychos out there don’t know the difference between a Hispanic immigrant and one who is not an immigrant (most Americans can’t distinguish between a different-looking immigrant and an American born one). So, I say to my relatives and my friends, we can’t get too comfortable in our middle class homes and middle class cars, going to our middle class jobs. Why?

Because here is one more bit of proof that we must be forever vigilant. We run a great risk in dismissing these things because, who knows, the next time, it might be you or me.

We can’t be shocked. Mentally unstable people abound on our streets. Guns abound too; our gun laws encourage their being everywhere—even military type guns. And, we now have a racist president who openly attacks Americans of color.

So, there you have it. The psychos will pick up a gun or a knife and go after someone who looks like you or me because our simple-minded president mentioned it as an American problem. They’ll think they’re helping him out, like the El Paso shooter. It’s happened before.

What can we do?

1) Let’s be vigilant and avoid losing ourselves in the banality of our lives;

2) Let’s pay more attention to our leaders and what they do or don’t do,

3) And, keep score.

3) Our turn will come when we vote, when we fill out a ballot and give our support to a government leader who is not what we have today. Save our democracy, save our nation and save ourselves.

 

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u.s.-mexico border Uncategorized United States

PERHAPS WE OUGHT TO BRING DOWN THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!

This sorrowful photograph of Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his daughter, Angie Valeria, who drowned recently trying to cross the Rio Grande to enter the United States, published by the New York Times, triggered renewed sympathy for the migrants but criticism by others. 

Dad and daughter drowned
The New York Times, June 26, 2019

The critics viewed the photograph as “thoroughly humiliating [and] (disrespectful)…too…[for] transmit[ting] a message, perhaps convey pain and trauma, [to] make us feel shame and sadness, and thereby ignite change.” (See “’These Are Not Easy Images to Use,’” The New York Times, July 1, 2019, page A2).

Indeed, it ought to ignite change!!! How dare they! Hear ye, ye!

To condemn the photos as “disrespectful” is head-in-the sand nonsense!!! We need to change our country’s immigration policies to prevent the human crises that have been mounting at our southern border. If our reporters didn’t remind us of what is transpiring there, we would never care! Most of us Americans are too far from our own immigration experience, generations away, and we would care little if we weren’t reminded!

So, I congratulate the New York Times editors. I can believe they took a lot of pain and engaged in studied determination to publish this sad photo. And, they did right.

Our immigration policies do indeed require intelligent and humanitarian reform but all we seem to care about right now is to build walls and scare people away from the border by terrorizing them with gestapo tactics. How truly sad this is happening in America! Yes, we need to be reminded of all this! Perhaps these critics, along with our benighted president, should call to bring down the Statue of Liberty! What’s it up for, then???

Statue of Liberty
“Give me your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be freed…” (Emma Lazarus)

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Latin America Uncategorized United States

FIVE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER

  1. Claim: Trump says he is going to shut down the border. Fact: It would be nearly impossible to shut down the entire border. He had backed off this idea already as of 4/13/19.

 

  1. Claim: Building more wall will prevent drug trafficking. Fact: Most drugs from Mexico come through official ports of entry.

 

  1. Claim: More immigrants are illegally crossing. Fact: The number of illegal crossings is down—and has been down…[D]ata show apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped sharply since a 2000 peak. In other words, even with the crush of Central Americans, the broader picture is still a downward one.

 

  1. Claim: Most illegal immigration is coming from the Mexico border. Fact: More illegal immigration occurs through people overstaying their visas…In 2016, an estimated 320,000 visitors to the U.S….who had temporary visas overstayed them. Most of these arrived by airplane.

 

  1. Claim: Trump has been securing our borders by building more walls. Fact: Not one new linear mile of border wall has been completed under Trump as of April 9, 2019. Questions arise on whether the new constructions represent a fence or a wall, and how to classify them if the new construction replaced an old one.

 

This information comes from The Los Angeles Times, “Five misconceptions about the U.S.-Mexico border,” reprinted in the Seattle Times, April 9, 2019, as “Close Up.”  The words in italics are mine.

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Uncategorized

Young Mexican voters will settle for a “blank slate”

Young Mexican voters will settle for a “blank slate” in their presidential elections, on voting day, July 1st, according to the article linked below.

As I wrote in my recent blog, (https://carlosbgil.wordpress.com/2018/05/26/the-2nd-mexican-presidential-debate-may-20-2018-a-few-impressions/ ), Mexican citizens in general are turning to an independent presidential candidate who has promised to clean up Mexico’s “swamp.”

Maria, a student quoted in the article, reflected this sentiment: “We have gone out to the streets to protest, to demand change and answers about the thousands of disappeared people, the violence, and nothing changes. It feels like we have no control left over our lives.”

Indeed, she and her fellow citizens seem to be fed up with their traditional politicians. Mexico has long been afflicted with government officials, elected or otherwise, who do little or nothing for their constituents and prefer to kick back and collect their fat checks when they’re not involved in corrupt deals of one kind or another.

The independent candidate is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a 65-year-old politician, also known as AMLO (his initials), who relied on a simple, 2-point campaign slogan: 1) I will eliminate corruption along with the political mafia that enabled it, and 2) the corruption money will be used to pay for social programs.

AMLO has offered no details about how he’ll accomplish this.

And, Mexicans, young and old, appear to be so fed up with the status quo that they are reportedly intent on electing him, anyway, like saying, it’s better to start from scratch, from a blank slate. One person in the article below is reported as saying, I prefer to hold my nose for a while to see what happens.

Do you think a senior, independent politician, who has promised the world, will be able to do as he says? I have grave doubts. In any case, we’ll see.

Oddly, we, in the United States, find ourselves in the same situation. We elected an independent candidate who promised the world and we elected him blindly. Now, we are well into his first year running our country, internally and externally, and you can’t dispute the fact that it has been chaotic, puzzling, disheartening and downright frightening.

One major difference between AMLO and Donald Trump is that AMLO maybe an ambiguous populist who may lead Mexico into a series of crises but he is not the bruiser, racist thug that Trump is. God help us!