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Malinche

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MALINCHE by Laura Esquivel
August 26, 2006

Rating: 4 Stars


For those who enjoy historical fiction, MALINCHE is a captivating novel that takes the myth of Malinche (Malinalli) and recreates her story - the woman who aided Hernan Cortes in the demise of the Aztec Empire during the 1500's. For those who have read and loved LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE, MALINCHE is a different type of novel, a story that is based on history. Malinalli is considered a traitor in the history books, but Esquivel writes her main character in a way that will garner sympathy from the reader, a different viewpoint of the woman who was Cortes' right hand man, as she was the translator between the Spaniards and the Aztecs. She is portrayed as an innocent victim, someone who made poor choices and lived to regret them.

Starting with Malinalli's early years, MALINCHE traces her story from birth, to childhood, to her life as a slave. The novel is filled with myths and fables, and for those who love those little extras, the inside cover to the hardcover book displays a pictograph story of the entire novel, similar to those that were drawn back in the 1500's.

MALINCHE transforms Malinalli into a heroine of sorts, while in truth the word malinchista today means traitor. But in this novel, she is portrayed as a woman who was torn between two worlds, a woman who tried to save herself but at the save time, was hoping to destroy the Aztecs and their barbaric human sacrifices. I didn't feel that this was the perfect book, but it was definitely time not wasted, as I learned a little bit of history that I had not known about before, and was entertained with the fascinating (fictionalized) story of Malinalli, the woman who helped destroy the Aztecs.

I have read everything that Laura Esquivel has written. Her novels are always filled with images and with passion, imagination and with love. While Malinche is not the best book she has written (that spot is held by Like Water for Chocolate and The Law of Love) it is still one amazing read.

Malinche, given away at an early age, finds herself the interpretor of Cortez, who does not speak the native Aztec tongue. Malinche sees Cortez as the re-embodiment of their Aztec lord and stands by his side, even when it looks as if he is intent on slaughtering the Aztec people.

After being taken over by the Mexicans, this is the last thing that Malinche wants. She believes him when he says that he has no intention to engage in the mindless slaughter of her people and a love begins to grow between the two. A love so passionate that it threatens to blind Malinche to the truth about who Cortez really is and what he intends to do.

This novel didn't have the flow of her other books; it felt a liiiitle stilted, as if it were trying to find its pace well into the short book. But nevertheless, it is a beautiful read. Part novel, part commentary on life, part philosophy text book, Malinche is sure to delight with words and with a pure love that may survive all that threatens to distroy it.

Most striking of all is the Codex's included with the novel. The Aztecs used Codexs (pictures drawn in sequence) to tell stories and one is here for us to see. Some of the pictures are scattered through out the novel to divide the chapters; but it is the books dust jacket that is the true masterpiece.

If you unfold it, you will be able to follow the love story of Cortez and Malinche without words. The art is beautiful (drawn by Esquivel's own nephew) and is a testament to the Aztec people and a grand love affair.

Read and be enlightened.

Jamieson Wolf

Nearly five centuries after she helped Hernan Cortes conquer the Aztec Empire, Malinche is still a controversial figure in Mexican history.

A noble-born child sold into slavery by her mother, she used her unusual ability as a linguist to enable the Spanish to negotiate alliances with the native tribes against the Aztec Emperor Montezuma. As a result, she's reviled as a traitor to her people and, because she was Cortes' mistress and bore him a son, regarded as the symbolic mother of the Mexican people.

In "Malinche," Laura Esquivel reimagines her in this latter role, as a deeply devout woman caught in a clash of civilizations and attempting to make sense of what she experiences.

Because so little is known about Malinche's life, Esquivel gives her imagination free play, renaming her heroine Malinalli and giving her a grandmother who teaches her reverence for the gods and the natural world.

Malinalli's beliefs are challenged when she is given to the Spanish, where her beauty and linguistic gifts are recognized, and she becomes Cortes' translator.

At first, she sees him as the personification of Quetzalcoatl, the benevolent god who will put an end to human sacrifice and free her people. But the massacre of a town and his hunger for gold disillusions her, and her baptism into Roman Catholicism challenges her to integrate the two belief systems.

"Malinche" is a short novel, unusual in that Malinalli spends much of it reflecting on her beliefs or recalling scenes from her childhood. The result is a cool narrative that tells of awful events but is emotionally distant.

"The search for the gods is the search for oneself," Esquivel writes, and in the end, Malinalli's quest for her gods remains firmly within herself.

I was very disappointed in this book and frankly never got past page 50. I rated the book 2 stars instead of one because the real story of La Malinche is a fascinating one and at least Esquivel ATTEMPTED to popularize it. But the writing is awful. I read "Like Water for Chocolate" and I recall that it flowed alot better and the storytelling was more believeable. But "Malinche" just is badly written.

For one thing, there is an absence of historical context that would make the tale more compelling; the bloodthirsty gold-seeking Spaniards, the innocent subjugated peasant,and the brutal Mexica theocracy--all are portrayed without any depth. Yawn. Also, the narration in "Malinche" is as though written by a sixth grader. An omnipotent narrator should be able to convey what's in the character's head without spelling it out as though the reader were an idiot. Here's the sentence that made me slam the book shut and give up for good: "Malinalli was completely opposed to the way in which they governed, could not agree with a system that determined what a woman was worth, what the gods wanted, and the amount of blood that they demanded for their survival." Well DUH.

Isn't a story more interesting when the characters' beliefs and motivations become apparent through their actions?

I wanted to mention: In the first chapters Malinalli spends a lot of time bemoaning her slave status, but she sure seems to have a lot of free time on her hands: visiting fortunetellers, hanging out with her gramma, staring up at the night sky. I'm not saying that being a slave wasn't a bad thing--I'm just saying that the author isn't convincing!!

Anyway, the book is short (186 pages) so if you're just dying to learn what Esquivel's take is on La Controversial Malinche, go for it. If you live in Chicago, write me and you can come pick up my copy of the book because I don't want it.

This lyrical novel permits you to see the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortes in a new light. The story is told by Mallinali, a native slave woman trained by her grandmother in ancient wisdom. Through her eyes you understand why Cortes was believed to be the returned god Quetzalcoatl, coming to end Aztec domination and cruelty, especially human sacrifices. Nicknamed Malinche, Mallinali became Cortes' translator and mistress. Entering her inner dialogue, we experience her doubts once she comes to know Cortes, as well as her ambitions to better her lot in life. The story plumbs the riches of this unusual woman's spirituality and philosophy, while highlighting the world-shattering changes made by the conquistadors in the life of the indiginous peoples of Mexico

Actually, there are any number of curses one could associate with dona Marina, la Malinche. In the present instance---Laura Esquivel's novel about Cortes' remarkable translator---it is "The Sentimental Pudding Curse," by which fictionalized accounts of La Malinche have been reduced to mediocrity or worse for over 100 years. I should be grateful that we have this version of the Curse, not the uglier "Wicked Harlot Traitor Curse" in which Malinche is burdened with just about every nasty character trait imaginable. Still, this is historical fiction at its most unseamly: neither good history, nor good fiction. Esquivel trivializes or pointlessly distorts known facts, and in mashing poor Malinche into a kind of New-Age superwoman posterchild for Toltec dreamers and other such crystal-gazers, she commits as violent an injury on her subject as those who would paint her as "chingada" (see Octavio Paz) or traitress. It's a silly book, and even if you are, as I am, a lover of all things 16th Century, you will likely conclude there just isn't any meat here. It is at least consistent: read a few pages online. If you like that sort of writing, by all means go buy the book, and I apologize for any implied criticism of your taste. If you, on the other hand, cringe with embarrassment, trust me that ahead lies only another 180 mercifully short pages of the same fluff-headed nonsense.

Fortunately, the Curse does not extend to non-fiction, for there is a world of good material on Malinche, the Conquest era, and pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Start with the astonishing 16th Century documents themselves---they are the source for our knowledge of Malinche, and there's great reading here. Bernal Diaz was a soldier who knew Malinche personally---his "True History of the Conquest of New Spain" is not only a trove of first-hand information (and some first-hand axe-grinding, perhaps) but is delightfully (and sometimes chillingly) readable. Grab a copy of Anna Lanyon's "Malinche's Conquest," for a good contemporary look at what we really know about this startling woman. Malinche's world does not need to be puffed up and colorized---it is supremely dramatic all by itself.

Worth the quick and easy read. Maybe a bit repetative on some of Malinalli's meditations. I'd recommend it to everyone I know.

Laura Esquivel wrote both the novel and the screenplay for Like Water for Chocolate; her husband, film director Alfonso Arau, directed the movie.

Malinche is the story of Malinalli, a young girl who is a slave given to the conqueror Cortes following one of his first battles after landing in Mexico. She had been raised by her father's mother, after her father's death, and she has beautiful memories of lessons her grandmother taught her; lessons connecting her to the earth, fire, wind and water of the native gods.

When her grandmother died, her mother sold her into slavery--at age 5. After years of serving in various Mexica tribes, she is good at languages, learns Spanish quickly and begins to serve as interpreter for Cortes. She becomes "The Tongue." She is acutely aware of her role, and what her fate will be if the Spaniards fail--and she tries to translate with as much accuracy as she can.

At the beginning she is baptized, and she likes this new religion that does not require human sacrifice; it seems much kinder and gentler. Then she witnesses the wholesale slaughter of the town of Choluca. Malinalli knows that Cortes is not Quetzelcoatl--not the god returned that many think he is, but human and flawed and in love with only gold and power.

Esquivel's talent is her words and phrases; her images are poetic. She tells the tale in a format not usual for western novels, more in the style of Garcia Marquez's magical realism. One of the strengths of the novel is the philosophical comparisons between Mexica beliefs and those of the Catholic conquerors, as Malinalli tries to comprehend what is going on around her.

Armchair Interviews says: This will make a superb book club selection, a challenge for sure, but worth it. Especially recommended for church-affiliated book clubs.

I have just completed the fascinating exercise of reading Night of Sorrows by Frances Sherwood and Malinche by Laura Esquivel back to back. These two novels tell the same story--Cortes's conquest of the Aztec empire, aided by his slave-mistress-translator--and explore the same themes--the clashing of 2 cultures, languages and religions--but in wildly differing styles.

Sherwood describes her work as "contemporary historical" fiction (on her own website). She explores events and characters taken from history using modern language and psychology. Her novel is a sensual feast, evoking the place in all its color, texture and flavor and exploring the characters' experience in a visceral way. We get to know a large cast, with Malintzin and Cortes at the center, and the story moves forward with action and suspense.

Laura Esquivel, on the other hand, delivers an undulating meditation on the spiritual themes of the story. We are inside the mind of Malinalli as she struggles with her own past, her spirituality, and her role as liaison between her own people and the Spaniards. This is not a linear telling of the tale, and it is all about exploring the highly subjective feelings and beliefs of the main character. It places demands on the reader, in terms of attention span, and a willingness to go to an otherworldly place. This may be why some other reviewers did not want to hang in there for it.

The experience of reading both these books was one that I relished and would recommend to any lover of historical fiction.

I was very impressed with Lucia Mendez' reading of Malinche. The author, Laura Esquivel did a good job, but of course Malinche does not come close to "Like Water for Chocolate." However, Esquivel brings life into the ancient story of La Malinche. Nevertheless, Esquivel and Mendez make a great team. Mendez is a wonderful actress. Congrats to both. Yes, I recommend this audio-book because to listen to La Mendez is a treat and such great entertainment.
Marian.