Customer Reviews

The Rain God: A Desert Tale

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Arturo Islas's ten-year search for a publisher for this novel reveals the sad tragedy of commercialism and racism in the literary world. White editors told him that his book was not 'authentic' enough: where were the gangs, the poverty, the struggle of barrio life? Islas, an authentic Mexican-American, stood firm for a decade until The Rain God was at last published, to the great joy of all its readers. In just over 200 pages, it chronicles three generations of a family living in a border town in Texas, and probes at the borders and divisions in all of our lives: parents vs. children, modern vs. traditional, gay vs. straight, human vs. supernatural, and body vs. soul. Surprisingly, all of this is done with great subtlety and flow; you must be an active reader to pick up on Islas's themes. It is the type of book you can reread half a dozen times (as I have) and see something new each time. It is profound, haunting, and filled with music. The Rain God is the greatest American novel since The Great Gatsby.

Islas's poetic story is about the Angel family, originally from Mexico, and now living in America near the border. Weaving back and forth across time and weaving the various threads of family members together, it gives a stunning portrait of its various individuals and the whole family stuck on the boundary of heritage, of class, of race, of religion. There's Miguel Chico who's avoiding his sexuality as he struggles to balance his Mexican identity with his American education. His father Miguel Grande loves his wife and his mistress equally, and when he's forced to choose, he finds he cannot. And Miguel Grande's brother Felix who is unable to escape his passions for young men, which brings his life to a violent end. And throughout it all, there's the women in the Angel family who are steady, patient, and at the heart of the family. It's a beautiful, poetic series of snapshots that flows with the reader like the water the desert lacks.

I've read this book about 3 times. It captures the poetic soul of mexican-american life. The writing is intense, lyrical, visual, emotional. The stories are rich and deep. The book made me think about my definitions of poetry, poets, martyrs, christians, families, race, sexuality and death.

I really enjoyed this book. The complexities of Miguel Chico and his family are so rich and deep. The relationships between them were interesting and made the book an easy read. The irony and sadness the family endured showed the true colors of the family. They were not perfect, but they were real.

If there is anyone, regardless of background that wants to comprehend Hisapnic culture, this story is the best source. It gives a good description of the beauty and confusion of the Hispanic culture and gives an insight of the unique culture and an affirmation that all Hispanic cultures are indeed unique. Also, the beauty of the "desert" is at last, given its true and deserved respect.

"An old romantic Mexican ballad was playing on the jukebox now and reminded Felix of the days when he was courting Angie. As usual, the singer was suffering from love and Felix smiled at the sentimentality of the lyrics. 'Ay, Papa, how can you listen to such corny music?' the children asked him at home. He was not ashamed to admit that he loved all music. He and Angie had danced to this song shortly before they were married. After three beers, he sang along.
'Hey Felix,' asked the bartender, 'what does it mean?'
'You wouldn't understand you stupid gringo,' he said. To himself he thought how only a Mexican song could mix sadness and laughter like that so that one could cry and sing at the same time."

Set in a fictional Texas-Mexico border, this is the funny, sad, and outrageous tale of Mama Chona's children and grandchildren. The indomitable matriarch of the Angel clan who fled the bloody 1911 revolution for the land of promise in America. The story paints an unforgettable family portrait of souls haunted by ghosts and madness, lust, and dangerous desires. Here is a rich and poignant tale of outcasts struggling to live with dignity and to hold to their past while embracing an unsteady future.