Customer Reviews

Heart of Aztlan: A Novel

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rudolfo Anaya has a remarkable way of telling a stroy from the eyes of person that grew up in the southwest. Rudolfo's descriptions of the life and strugles of his characters always make reminds me of my child hoood while growing up in that culture. His books tell it like it is or was and the Heart of Aztlan is no exception. It is a plesure to read a book from an author who takes his characters from real life experiences. If you want to see life through a Hispanic growing up in the southwest read Heart of Aztlan.

This was a pretty good book. Anaya tells a shifting story about the Chavez family moving away from ther land in Guadalupe and adapting to an urban life in a 1950s New Mexico barrio. Anaya gives a fairly convincing account of chicano lifestlye in the barrio. He describes all aspects of the chicano culture, even a bit of superstition and magic. Beyond all this, Anaya's novel includes a kalediscope of happenings that make it very easy to just read without stopping. There's a lot more to it than simply reflecting on the barrio culture. It is interesting, enjoyable and definately worth reading.

Loved this. Reminded me of legends and superstitions I grew up with in Northern New Mexico.

This book shows how significant family can be. And the impact that economics and society has on youth. The bruja (witch) gives the mystical stories/feel to the book, similar in the authors other book Bless Me Ultima. I really think that you will like this book and tell others about it!

I know that when Heart of Aztlan came out it was pretty well bashed by the critics. Admittedly, it isn't up to the level of Anaya's best work (i.e. Bless Me, Ultima), and its flaws are pretty obvious. It's an unbalanced novel. So much space of the novel is spent following Jason and his struggles in a school that devalues him and his culture, and his story seems quite unfinished at the end of the novel. The magical realism is fine and important but is so suddenly introduced in the novel as to feel an intrusion. I've no problem with the presence or the shape of politics in this novel, but I did feel that Anaya was a little heavy-handed in its treatment. The beginning half of the novel is, to be honest, pretty dull.

And yet, despite these frustrations I have with the book, it has a lot of merit. There is a lot of heart in this story. The loss of land; the struggles of being caught up in the dehumanizing crush of work in the train yards and life in the city; the hopelessness and self-hatred that can be acquired in the schools; the strains that being poor, powerless, and marginalized can press upon a family; the sad plight of the family who is ostracized from even their own community--each of these struggles is vividly and compassionately depicted in the novel. And working against these forces is Clemente's rising consciousness, and the myths that he is coming to embody and invoke. When I get to the novel's ending (I won't give it away), it feels really right and really feels like something has been said in this book. The ending feels artistic, mythically charged, and you leave the novel with a sense of urgency, the desire to work toward a more just world.

So, it's not a perfect novel, not for everyone's taste, but it is, ultimately, a worthwhile novel, with something to say.

I've read two other books by Rudolfo Anaya: Bless Me, Ultima and Alburquerque. I read the first one because I'd always heard it was good so I checked it out. And I read the other for a paper I did in college. I thought they were both good. Bless Me, Ultima, especially, has a very dreamy, poetic feel to it. It is a basic "boy grows up" novel told from a Chicano perspective. On the other hand, Alburquerque is more contemporary in setting and tone. It is a pretty straightforward novel with a protagonist who is a writer in Albuquerque, NM.

Both those novels have something to recommend them. So I have nothing against Rudolfo Anaya. But Heart of Aztlan has some big problems. I found myself constantly wishing it would end.

Quick plot summary: the story is about a Hispanic family who move from the rural areas into the barrio in Albuquerque. The time is the 1950s or early 60s. The main character is a young boy learning how to live life on the streets in the barrios and his dad is also a major character who becomes emasculated, so to speak, by his new environment.

First problem: the characters engage in dialogue which is unrealistic. If Anaya had written a masque or an epic he might've been able to get away with the really cheesy, stiff language some of his characters speak. It seems to me, the author had a socio-political agenda in writing this novel. Consequently, he makes the characters oftentimes speak set-pieces, not realistic dialogue. It's fine to have any kind of agenda you'd like but a novel or short story require verisimilitude. This is one of the major flaws in the novel.

Also, I had a problem with the cheesy "mythological" passages. Throughout the novel Anaya refers to an ersatz, Aztec-like mythology which is supposed to give some of the characters spiritual depth. For one thing, I think it would've made more sense to have them inspired by Catholic dogma and ritual. Considering the time, place, and culture it would make more sense to have people in the barrio seeking spiritual answers in the church, or even curandera-like superstitions, if you're going to write a realistic novel. But also, I just find that whole "Aztlan" mythology/ideology espoused by many in the Chicano movement very silly. But that could just be my own personal taste.

I felt like Anaya was trying to get some political/social/cultural ideas across in this novel. I say, write an essay. It is hard to incorporate political ideas in a work of fiction without immediately sounding foolish. But there are good writers out there who have done it: George Orwell (of course!), Jonathan Swift, etc. Anaya doesn't seem to be the kind of writer who can successfully incorporate political ideas into his fiction. He is trying too hard to make us think about political issues and not trying hard enough to get us involved in his story.

Now I think I'll have to go back and read the other two books of his I've read to see if I was in error in thinking them any good.

Itd be nice to read a Chicano writer that can actually write? Rudolfo Anaya is credited by many as actually being the founder of Chicano writing. Idiot (a reader). As I read his literature, I feel as if Ive been exposed to a whole world and culture I would otherwise be almost oblivious to. No doubt, there is magic in this man's writings.

This novel lacks the type of depth that subsequently was attached to its release way back when. It is by far, not by any means, nothing more than a pulp effort, by an author with little true writer's skill. In short, I have never understood the hype. The novel, has been edited to the point that it reads like a borish child's book. Yet it is still around for all to read. With so much better efforts of its kind, one must wonder why this one stuck. It would have been nice to have a noted Chicano writer who can actually write. But instead we have this................