From Publishers Weekly
Guillermo, a pineapple harvester on a Honduran plantation owned by the U.S. Standard Fruit company, is the narrator of this unsatisfying coming-of-age novel set on the eve of the Sandinistas' 1979 victory in Nicaragua. Despite its political overtones, this is basically the story of a young man with ambitions to become a writer. Guillermo falls in love with Idalia, a union organizer at the plantation, but his Latin sexual standards doom the romance after Idalia turns the tables and aggressively pursues him. Meanwhile, the growing tension between the dissatisfied workers at the plantation and their North American employers culminates in a strike. The ongoing revolution in Nicaragua is ever-present in the background, but the focus on Guillermo's personal feelings dampens the impact of major events. Only when military exercises begin in Honduran airspace and Guillermo examines his bitterness toward U.S. domination of his country's politics is another dimension added here. Although its premise is promising, the novel suffers from unsubstantial character development and an unsuccessful use of experimental techniques. Quesada edits the Honduran literary review Sobrevuelo ; the original Spanish-language edition of this novel was published in 1988.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Honduran writer Quesada's first book to appear in English- -about Guillermo, a young Honduran peasant who picks pineapples for Standard Fruit in the plantations outside the village of La Ce¡ba. Across the southern border in Nicaragua, the Sandinistas are routing Somoza, but in Honduras matters are eternally unchanged: work, repression, and poverty. Guillermo fancies himself a writer, which sets him apart some; and though in perpetual teenage heat, he has also managed to fall in genuine love with the beautiful Idalia. Their relationship develops under the gun, so to speak, of the large historical forces that deny them true happiness. Standard-issue Latin American leftist fare, then--given some stylistic embellishments (interior monologues, letters) but pretty much going exactly where's it's aimed: ``What have they fed us Hondurans to make us deaf, dumb, blind, and not able to smell gunpowder or blood right in front of our faces? What will become of us? Where are we headed?'' Old hat, not even worn at an especially interesting angle. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
