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To Bury Our Fathers: A Novel of Nicaragua

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Former Vice-president of Nicaragua Sergio Ramirez is one of the best Latin American writers in these current times. Here he writes about a variety of los nicaraguenses whose lives, or that of their relatives, have crossed paths over the years from 1930 to the early 1960's and their heart-wrenching experiences as the Somoza dy-nasty ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist (or two). It is humorous, sad, touching, disturbing and full of insight for anyone wishing a clearer picture and fuller understanding of the social, economic and political circumstances that led to the country's revolution in 1979. A must read!

This novel from former Sandinista Vice-President Ramirez, apparently the first Nicaraguan novel to be translated into English, is not an easy read. Preceding the novel are two pages summarizing "The Main Lines of the Story," and a four page "Chronology of Events" appears at the end. Readers will want to bookmark those pages, because there will be a lot of flipping back and forth to figure out when, where, and to whom things are happening. Ramirez has chosen to chop his narrative up into lots of shards and remix them back together into a chaotic jumble that's less than the sum of the parts. This is a shame because it serves no apparent purpose (other than literary experimentalism), and diminishes the individual parts, some of which are quite good. One is almost tempted to cut the book up and rearrange it in strict chronological order. It doesn't help matters that all three main characters go by different sets of names at different times.

The events of the book span 1930-1960 and in very broad terms, the book is about the Nicaraguan experience during the Somoza dictatorship, as seen through the eyes of soldiers, musicians, workers, whores, and so on. Most of the story revolves around three friends. One is the grandson of a populist reformer whose election to office was nullified by Somoza's regime. Another is the son of an itinerant worker, and eventually joins the National Guard, only to desert and turn traitor. The third is another former National Guard officer. Their stories intersect with those of many others, especially those of their families, two old bartenders, a National Guard colonel, and some prostitutes. It's a rather picaresque, kaleidoscopic read, and is probably best undertaken by those with a reasonable grasp of 20th-century Nicaraguan politics, especially the installation of the Somoza regime by the United States, the murder of Sandino, and the development of exile groups in neighboring countries. Each little section or vignette is quite vivid, and Ramirez is very good at assembling details to build a scene. However, when that scene is chopped up and scattered throughout the book, it loses much of its grip.

On the whole, this is probably best left to those with a strong interest in Latin American literature or Nicaraguan history. Others will likely grow frustrated with it.