Assault on Paradise [Paperback]

Tatiana Lobo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

Assault on Paradise vividly depicts the Conquistadores and the Church invading Central America, impoverishing one world to enrich another. In a fast-paced, bawdy, swashbuckling adventure in Central America of the early 1700s, Costa Rican novelist Tatiana Lobo lays bare the dark legacy of the Conquistadores and the Church. Through the central picaresque story of Pedro Albaran, Lobo dramatizes the intrigues of politicians and the Inquisition and the bloody battles between the native people and the invaders, while simultaneously presenting a reverent poetic recreation of indigenous cosmogony and mystical values which the natives seek to use to drive out the invaders.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Pedro Albarán arrives in the Costa Rican city of Cartago a "cartoon of wretchedness," having fled the Spanish Inquisition with little more than the rags on his back. He finds the chaotic colonial city full of "gossipmongers, backbiters, and troublemakers"--but also a dizzying variety of women, "the color of molasses, of stewed quinces, of peaches in syrup...." Skeptical, suspicious of authority, with a decided weakness for the fairer sex, Albarán is a picaresque hero for the New World. This vividly imagined historical novel follows his misadventures among the colonial army, the Church, and the Mayan natives, as he dallies with women and witnesses the Mayan struggle against their colonial oppressors. Costa Rican author Tatiana Lobo vividly summons the sights and smells of the young nation in the early years of the 18th century, its idyllic setting as well as the squalor and brutality of its slave auctions. The title of the novel is a pretty fair indicator of this work's political intentions; Lobo obviously venerates Mayan culture and mythology, but in doing so she never loses sight of her immensely likeable rogue of a hero. The winner of the 1995 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize, this novel uses Albarán as a springboard for an eloquent and moving indictment of the conquistadors and their bloodthirsty legacy.

From Library Journal

On the one hand a hilarious swashbuckling adventure, on the other a bloody, bitter indictment of the Catholic Church in the colonizing of Central America, this novel deservedly won the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Prize in 1995. Pedro Albaran, first victim and then instrument of the Inquisition, arrives in Costa Rica in the first decade of the 18th century. In his tender love for a native woman, he embraces her culture without ever understanding it and then must watch his Spanish countrymen wreak havoc on her?and their daughter's?people. The novel is kept moving rapidly by its memorable cast of characters, including a sensuous tavern keeper, a deranged priest, and corrupt politicians. Born in Chile, Lobo has lived in Costa Rica since 1966. She has published five other books in Spanish; one hopes that they, too, will soon be translated into English.?Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Curbstone Books; 1st edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880684462
• ISBN-13: 978-1880684467
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #896,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent first novel from talented writer, July 12, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Assault on Paradise (Paperback)

Tatiana Lobo's Assault on Paradise is a deftly crafted exploration of colonial Costa Rica. From Juan de las Alas, who defies the Church and gravity, to Pedro and the child Catarina, the characters have depth and personality. In a story that is engrossing and entertaining, the author sheds light not only on a forgotten corner of colonial Latin America but also on the place of women, Indians, and heretics within it.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I could not get through this book, November 6, 2002

By 

kathleen means - See all my reviews

This review is from: Assault on Paradise (Paperback)

I selected this book because it was well reviewed and I wanted to "get to know" Costa Rica before I visited there. Unlike other historical novels I have read about other places before I travelled there, this one failed to give me a sense of place. In fact, I could not finish it.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad .... but echoing sentiments expressed before..., August 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Assault on Paradise (Paperback)

This is an interesting book; limited to one view of one episode in the development of this unusual part of the world; and a one-dimensional perspective on the Conquistadores; an already badrapped bunch at worst not too much fiercer than what they replaced; there's so few virgins in the world today, if the sacrificial practices in place prior to the Spanish occupation had survived into the present it would impose a critical crimp.

Which is not to overlook the Spaniards' own assassination rites in the form of the Inquisition -

so maybe it all balances out.

Paradise is under assault by Europeans again - and likewise Asians - ravaging the landscape under jungles of honeycomb hutch highrise, and loggers' seeming unending decimation of the rainforests. History repeating? Ongoing examples of human nature the spoiler, down through the ages...

It's likely that ASSAULT ON PARADISE accomplished a heightened focus of attention on Costa Rica. Perhaps A CAT'S FULL NINE, in its fusing of past and present - and its fantasy/fictional Perfect Crime gimmmick - will enlarge upon this effort.