A Santo In The Image Of Cristobal Garcia [Paperback]

Rick Collignon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2003

A simple man living a simple life is immune to neither miracle nor disaster. When both happen-and Flavio Montoya is accused of arson-he cannot understand. Beautiful, funny, and even epic, this saga journeys through the life of the magical village of Guadalupe, showing how the past can echo the present-and how the present can hold more than we can dream.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Relying heavily on flashback, Collignon's final installment in his Guadalupe Trilogy (The Journal of Antonio Montoya; Perdido) takes place as a mysterious fire envelops the narrator's fictional New Mexico village. As a genre, magical realism strives to create a world in which strong emotions are physically manifested, as though the line between the subjective self and the objective universe has been unaccountably blurred. As Flavio Montoya is held under suspicion of having started the fire, the narrative explores his memories of his deceased wife and sister and his childhood growing up in Guadalupe. In Laura Esquivel fashion, special attention is paid to the descriptions of meal ingredients and preparation, fostering a sensuousness that belies some of the darker aspects of the tale. Ghosts appear, describing the hour of their deaths (and, cartoonishly, looking as they did when found deceased); a friend who has been silent for years due to a stroke suddenly speaks, implicating Flavio; a horrific witch is said to roam the village byways. Collignon also plumbs the deeply melancholy history of the town itself, beginning with the arrival, life and death of Crist¢bal Garcia, the town's founder. Perhaps the happiest moment of the book-Flavio's discovery of letters written to him by his deceased wife, meant to be read after her passing-is also tinged with sadness. Though it situates itself squarely in a tired genre, Collignon's book is not without merit. Dreamlike and melancholy, it is a worthy read, if slow-paced and often painfully-though not tritely-sentimental. Author tour.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Again set in the imaginary New Mexican village of Guadalupe, this final installment of a cycle begun with The Journal of Antonio Montoya and Perdido creates a self-contained mythic world nonetheless tightly tethered to reality. As in the earlier works, the narrative carries strong strains of the oral tradition: vivid and exact descriptions, an episodic approach to storytelling, and precisely drawn if unidimensional characters. The story re-creates the earlier history of the town from its initial settling until its final immolation, which makes it especially reminiscent of Garcia Marquez's magical realism. At the center of the novel is the elderly Flavio, accused of starting that awful fire, who is well known to Collignon's readers. Indeed, the author assumes familiarity with characters from the previous works, especially the first, so generally this new book won't mean much outside of their context. As such, it is recommended primarily for libraries that already own the earlier volumes.
Lawrence Olszewski, OCLC Lib., Dublin, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Blue Hen Trade (October 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425193136
• ISBN-13: 978-0425193136
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,054,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars haunting, calming yet thought provoking, October 13, 2003

By 

Breagh (Lake Tahoe, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Santo In The Image Of Cristobal Garcia (Paperback)

i liked this novel as it is in the same family as marquez and allende. it's beautifully written and casts a lovely slow dark shadow, if you are in this sort of mood. i love the inherent sadness but warmth between and for the characters. with aging parents, it seems revealing how older people review in a non-sequential matter, their relationships, choices, things that they thought mattered with didn't and other subjects. the ghostly spector of good and evil permeates many sections, and implies that human relations carry weighty and far-reaching consequences. while bad behaviour is a given within this community, by individuals who are family members and/or neighbors, going too far is tied up within the notions of greed, magic, forces beyond one's control, and to an extent, race. essentially, i really loved the spell this novel cast and am looking forward to reading the others in the trilogy.

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving, full of real characters I recognize!, October 6, 2010

By 

Richard Sutton "Novelist, Musician, Grandfather" (LI, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Santo in the Image of Cristobal Garcia (Paperback)

Northern New Mexico is unique in all the world. It has taken me more than 20 years living there to just begin to fathom the depth of its "terroir". Mr. Collignon has created magic in the pages of this book that lays bare the soul of memory and targets all small, close families and all small, close communities. Secrets become revealed fact as facts fade to secrets. Truth is an ethereal, mercurial concept in the Northern Counties' foothills.

I was struck throughout, by the lyrical style of the prose which reflects the soft cadence of local speech perfectly. I was reminded of Rudolpho Anaya's earliest work. This book belongs in the library of New Mexican literature along with Anaya, John Nichols and Tony Hillerman. For anyone who has spent time North of La Bajada, this is a must read, whether you have chosen to venture here, or were born part of the clay-rich soil.

I look forward to continuing my excursion into this author's other work.