Customer Reviews

Aztecs: An Interpretation

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Inga Clendinnen has written a definitive guide to the Aztecs that attempts to view this somewhat enigmatic peoples in a manner that doesn't attempt to classify the ritualistic society that emerged from the Mexica Empire, but rather understand the roles of each social strata within the microcosm. There is an inevitable tendency to look at the religious perspective, focusing acutely on the human sacrifice and also on the Spanish conquest but the author shifts away (whilst having an opinion on the role of the victim) from these well-trodden paths to discussing the greater mores and individual experiences of the society.
There is an extremely interesting chapter discussing the roles of wives, in particular the ascribing of fertility and maternal aspects and the circumscribing of any 'political' role. This, in turn, leads to a further discussion on the role of the mother and the 'growing' eidetism that permeates cultural perception.
The text concludes with a brief chapter on the final destruction of Tenochitlan rounding off a work that brilliantly analyses Aztec ceremony and the individual's place within this society at the end of an Empire.

A lot of books are available about Precolumbian civilizations, especially mesoamerican; Aztecs and Mayas are the most learned of all. BUT, we read always the same informations for a long time. Inga CLENDINNEN gives us "An Interpretation" : what kind of civilization has rizen on the plateau of Mexico-Tenochtitlan ? How to explain Aztecs's power in a region where so many people had developped cities and values such as Olmecs (in TEOTIHUACAN) or Toltecs (in TULA) ? We discover first the City and its meaning. Then, we enter the mentality of the peoples who entertain LIFE by their Death (the Victims), their Work (Warriors, Priests, Merchant) or their personal place in the society (Males, Wives, Mothers). Third, we enter the Sacred and we begin to understand how the Rituals may consolidate the society with the Fear of others... before being the plea of a revolt of vassal populations. AZTECS were strong by their military organization but weak by their believes : an entire world fearing the sun could not been able to born another day, organizing war to provide their temples with victims to their Gods, such a world had to find its limits. When the Spaniards came with their "magic"... Aztecs resist, but only two years. The Death of the Empire is to find in its structures self. The same, with other contexts, explains the fall of the Ancient Indian Worlds, facing the Spaniards, the French or the Englishmen. Understanding how to be strong meant to become weak, for Native Americans old civilizations, may permit the Renaissance of New Indian worlds; but here, I go beyond the Interpretation of the Author. The Book tells us how to enter in Aztecs Civilization Construction, as we visit an Architecture, a Mecanism... Thanks to Inga CLENDINNEN for this initiation (please, excuse the bad english of a natural french writer).

There is really no other book quite like this on the subject. To get into it, you should have already read a book about everyday Aztec life (Soustelle or Bray for example), and have a basic knowledge of the Aztec gods, who Montezuma II was, and about the Spanish conquest. If you now know the basic facts, Clendinnen's book will make the ancient city of Mexico come to life. She doesn't explain so much what the Aztecs did and said, but why. Human sacrifice, ceremonial cannibalism, a macabre pantheon- these alien aesthetics are given a human face. We begin to see the local young warrior carrying the same small-time glamor around his neighborhood as a high school quarterback. Refreshingly, as much ink is spilled over women and children as men. Certain insights of hers are unforgettable (e.g., unlike British boarding schools, Aztecs had no use for the gentlemanly loser, winning was all.) Her writing is above a high school level, but is generally clear and direct. If you know who Tezcatlipoca and Malinche are, you will love this book. If not, come back to it when you do, to take it to the next level.

This is an excellent study. the product was received as advertised, good condition and on time.

Here in Brazil, I read this excellent and definitive book, about the aztecs and their end.Are you a believer in frauds such as the good savage?
Oh, this book goes to the primary sources about Mexico's conquest.
Cortez was lookink for to exterminate the aztecs.Cortez was the leader of an indian war.The mexican indians together with smallpox wiped out an Aztec Empire canibalistic and genocidal, in an act of revenge.A terrible revenge, but not an unmotivated revenge.Cortez wasn't an opressor of indians, but their liberator.This conclusion is clear showed in this book by its author , the australian Inga Clendinnen.
Todorov and other false historians lies for you.This book tells you what really happened, during Aztecs' fall.

I found this a readable and scholarly outline of Aztec culture from the point of view (so far as we can recover it) of the Aztecs themselves. The focus is on what they thought and felt and how they lived. (De Winter's review below gives a description of the book's topic layout.)

The title refers to Aztecs, but the author calls them Mexica (pronounced meh-SHEE-kah) throughout because it's what they called themselves.

Especially appreciated are her reminders that we tend to see in conquered peoples what we want to see, and that many accounts of this people were written by Spanish colonizers.

OK, I'm not an academic, but I've read many books on Mesoamerican archeology and history. While there's good information here, it just about kills me to read more than a dozen pages in a sitting. The author's writing is filled with prose that adds little to the discussion. Check this out:

"Among their putative descendants the Mexica had marked themselves out by their early ferocity and their success in the savage game of war, but as the city grew they also, more tremulously, sought to identify themselves as the heirs of these men [Toltecs] who had made a world through art."

There's enough value here to fight my way through to the end, but it's going to take awhile. A lot more accessible text will be found in "Aztec Thought and Culture" by Miguel Leon-Portilla

I have read several books about Aztecs and other tribes in Central America and this book is one of the worst books on the subject.First of all, the narrative is very boring as the author tries to explain her findings and conclusions using way too many words.The author can not explain anything if she does not drowns it first in a sea of "sunday" words that takes away the fun on reading this book.Also the narrative is dull and "non-active".In other words, is a very boring book because not only you find yourself reading the same sentences over and over trying to understand what the author says but the subject is treated as scientific topic with little interest in the Aztecs as people.The book is just too "difficult" to enjoy and hard to read.