Los de Abajo: Novela de la Revolucion Mexicana (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Mariano Azuela (Author), Lawrence Kiddle (Epilogue), John Englekirk (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

PUBLISHED IN SPANISH. A classic of modern Hispanic literature! In this deeply moving picture of the turmoil of the first great revolution of the twentieth century--the Mexican Revolution of 1910--Azuela depicts the anarchy and the idealism, the base human passions and the valor and nobility of the simple folk, and, most striking of all, the fascination of revolt--that peculiar love of revolution for revolution's sake that has characterized most of the social upheavals of the twentieth century. Los de Abajo is considered "the only novel of the Revolution" and, since the spring of 1925, has been published in several languages and more than twenty-seven editions. Azuela's writing is sometimes racy and virile, sometimes poetic and subdued, but always in perfect accord with the mood and character of the story. A substantial literary introduction offers a great deal of relevant background information.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: Spanish --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Arguedas (trans. Barraclough), Deep Rivers (ISBN 9781577662440); Azuela (trans. Fornoff), The Underdogs (ISBN 9781577662419); Asturias (trans. Partridge), The President (ISBN 9780881339512).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc (March 1992)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0881336629
• ISBN-13: 978-0881336627
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,933,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE personalized novel of the Mexican Revolution, March 7, 2006

By 

Kent Ponder (Albuquerque., NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Los de Abajo: Novela de la Revolucion Mexicana (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Just as Los Cipreses Creen en Dios personalizes the Spanish Civil War by presenting it through the daily life of the Alvear family of Gerona, Spain, Los de Abajo intensely captures the feeling of the Mexican Revolution by letting us live it through the experiences of Demetrio Macías and his family. I have lived in Mexico, was raised in New Mexico, am very fluent in Spanish, and am part Cherokee. This helps me evaluate the degree to which Azuela grasps the sentiments of the characters he portrays. In my opinion, he does a masterful job on all levels. Even the relative simplicity with which he describes historical and social factors communicates authenticity, in that intelligent but uneducated peasants such as Demetrio did not comprehend the sociological complexity that underlay the Revolution.

This is a novel that so deeply moved me that I still recall its last sentence even though I last saw it twenty years ago: "Y Demetrio Macías, sus ojos fijos para siempre, sigue apuntando por el cañon de su fusil." This, in sum, is a very memorable novel.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My two cents, June 11, 2002

By 

El Nieto (Sierra Maestra) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Los de abajo (Paperback)

More than a review this is a comment to those who wrote reviews before me.
First of all, this is NOT a history book. If you're interested in learning about the Mexican Revolution pick up a history book.
Second of all, you didn't get the point. It's not about the life of rural Mexico, or how people lived, or how they lost their ideals. It's about joining "la bola" the mass of people fighting for no particular reason. The "campesinos" didn't really join the fight because they believed they were getting land and freedom, they joined because they believed in their leaders, joining the fight for the love of their "jefe" or simply to join "la bola".
I'm sure many of you will disagree with me, and I'm sure there were exceptions to what I'm saying, but I'm only commenting on what Mariano Azuela was trying to get across; don't forget, Azuela fought in the war.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS REVIEW REFERS TO THE CLASSIC EDITION OF THIS ESSENTIAL ANTI-WAR NOVEL INTRODUCED BY ENGLEKIRK WITH GLOSSARY BY KIDDLE, March 27, 2008

By 

C. Scanlon "least helpful reviewer" (among us humans) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Los de Abajo: Novela de la Revolucion Mexicana (Spanish Edition) (Paperback)

Among the earliest editions of this important, objective, journalistic, anti-war novel, which thus speaks much to our brutal and lethal presence in Iraq, is that presented by Englekirk and Kiddle around 1940, again in 1971 (the edition which I have) and again twenty years later.

Englekirk prepares us for understanding the historical context and significance with a forty page biography of the author, Dr. Mariano Azuela, who as well as writer served his long life as a doctor, providing free medical care to the poor in fulfilling his lifelong ideals. Five more pages present the Mexican revolution of 1910, and twenty additional pages are dedicated to discussing the language read in Los de abajo, the dialect of the poor campesinos of the northern and western area of Mexico, a Spanish which is not Castilian. A bibliography of works by the author follows, as well as a listing of critical studies.

An over fifty page glossary completes this very comprehensive volume, which has often and long been used in teaching Spanish as a second language to high school students. We realize of course the better way to teach students a second language would be for them to trace the author's footsteps for a few years in Mexico and thus to hear and to speak only this language for their very survival and comfort, but this text offers a distant substitute which might put too many pupils to sleep but nevertheless tantalizes with the promise of vivid tales of adventure and of ideals.

The two editors note the early phenomenon in second language education of expurgating texts which were deemed "overly realistic" and remark in the preface: "This excessively protective attitude on the part of both editors and publishers amounted to a form of censorship. Such a procedure is highly out of place today. Our present edition of 'Los de abajo' is, therefore, the complete text of Azuela's novel (p. vii)."

We perhaps have returned to an "excessively protective attitude" in our schools, watchful for liability and offending parents, and despite the easy availability to our youth outside of school, in fact in the home, of material far more offensive. Perhaps the earthiness of this novel would find censure by certain school boards, which fortunately do not read, and which do not normally read Spanish. Perhaps this novel could also find accusations of Marxism, accusations which have never been inhibited by the utter lack of any evidence. Nevertheless, it is a great novel for our children to read, and an important novel for us all to read.

Several other editions are easily available, and an early if shortened filming as well (Los de Abajo), but certainly this edition with the certain guidance and assistance from Englekirk and Kiddle renders this great novel most comprehensible to the US reader unfamiliar with the history and language of western Mexico.

Highly recommended not only for the history and language lessons, but above all for the universal lessons of the destructiveness of war, that war cannot create peace and social development, that war only destroys, including its most unfortunate survivors. This is the most important lesson for us now. Read the book.