Underdogs [Library Binding]

Mariano Azuela (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0899665152 | ISBN-13: 978-0899665153 | Publication Date: January 1986

Hailed as the greatest novel of the Mexican Revolution, The Underdogs recounts the story of an illiterate but charismatic Indian peasant farmer’s part in the rebellion against Porfirio Díaz, and his subsequent loss of belief in the cause when the revolutionary alliance becomes factionalized. Azuela’s masterpiece is a timeless, authentic portrayal of peasant life, revolutionary zeal, and political disillusionment.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

First published in 1915, Azuela's groundbreaking novel about a Mexican peasant who becomes a revolutionary leader is now being issued in a revised translation with a set of illuminating footnotes (notes and revisions by Beth E. Jurgensen). Demetrio Macias is the protagonist who joins the rebels in their efforts to overthrow Mexico's corrupt dictator, Porfirio Diaz, and Macias's brash approach to military tactics speeds his rise through the ranks. His background is articulated by journalist Luis Cervantes, who abandons the government to aid the rebels as he provides background on Macias in the early chapters. While the new general's forces engage in a series of hit-and-run battles with Federal troops, Azuela adds two romantic subplots, one about a difficult young woman named Pintada, who bonds with one of the other generals in the company; the other involves Camilla, a peasant girl who expresses her ardor for Cervantes early on, but ends up falling for Macias. The battle scenes are stirring, if somewhat underdeveloped, and Azuela highlights the conflict with a cameo appearance by Pancho Villa as the tide begins to turn against the rebels. Overall, the story is too incomplete to be labeled a classic by modern standards. What makes the book memorable is its portrayal of Macias as an archetype of Mexico's national character, as the peasant expresses his ongoing love for the process and pageantry of the revolution. The translation feels awkward, but Jurgensen's footnotes and the introduction (by Ilan Stavans) add colorful details and definitions while filling in some narrative and historical gaps.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Azuela was one of several well-known Latin American writers, among them Martin Luis Guzman, Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes, and Rafael Munoz, who worked in the genre known as the "novel of the Mexican Revolution." Although Azuela (1873-1952) wrote Los de Abajo ( The Underdogs ) in 1915, it didn't begin to have a following until almost a decade later. Azuela received the Prize in Letters from the Mexican National Society for the Arts and Sciences in 1940 and remained Mexico's foremost novelist until his death. The novel chronicles the conflict between the revolutionaries and the federales (government troops), focusing on war and its effect on the people. This translation, accompanied by critical essays, is the first volume in a series that promises to introduce authoritative new English editions of classic works. Recommended for libraries that purchase Latin American literature.
- Peggie Partello, Keene State Coll., N.H.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 149 pages
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books Inc (January 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899665152
• ISBN-13: 978-0899665153
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,011,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A guide to the spirit of Mexico, September 3, 2000

By 

Theodore A. Rushton (PHOENIX, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Underdogs (Paperback)

This is a marvelous book, especially for Gringos who want to understand a major element of the psyche of Mexico.

But first, some background. In 1810, when Fr. Hidalgo issued his immortal `Grito del Dolores' that launched Mexico's War of Independence from Spain, the average Mexican was better off than most Americans. The American Revolution, then the French Revolution, ignited the fires of freedom throughout the Americas. Mexico was one of the first to raise the proud banner of freedom.

Conservatives fought back, as they did in the 13 Colonies, and turned Mexico into a savage battleground. In the United States, successful Revolutionaries exiled defeated "United Empire Loyalists" to Canada, the Caribbean and England; in Mexico, in one form or another, both factions fought for a century. More than half of Mexico, what is now the US Southwest and California, was lost. The continuous war, plus an invasion by France, plundered Mexico of its wealth. In 1876, Porfirio Diaz imposed order; by 1910, after 34 years of the increasingly brutal Porfiriato despotism, the "underdogs" were ready to explode.

In one form or another, Revolution lasted until 1929. Peace finally came to Mexico when the Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (PRI) organized a national government and held power until the year 2000, when the presidency was won by Vincente Fox Queseda of the National Action Party (PAN).

Los de Abajo, printed in 1915 as a serial in an El Paso newspaper, was the first novel of the Revolution of 1910. It is still the finest description of the mood of people who made the revolution; a blunt description of the sheer joy of total destruction by people who had been crushed until all hope was lost.

"Peace is respect for the rights of others," President Benito Juarez had said in the 1860's. The lack of respect for the Underdogs produced the Revolution; no respect, no peace.

The central character, Demetrio Macias, when asked by his wife why he fights, tossed a pebble into a ravine and watched it roll to the bottom. Alberto Solis, often regarded as Azuela's spokesman in the book, compared the revolution to a hurricane, "The man who surrenders to it is no longer a man but a miserable dry leaf tossed about by the storm."

Azuela writes about the futility of the conflict. A doctor, he served with Francisco Villa's famed Division of the North, "Los Dorados," but he criticizes the folly and brutality of the Underdogs as well as the cynicism and venality of Los Ricos. Once you understand this nihilism, it becomes clear why Mexicans accepted one-party rule and corruption from 1929 until 2000. It also explains why so much hope is now placed on the PAN presidency.

Prosperity is a product of freedom; but, there is no freedom without law. Before 1910, the Diaz tyranny was the law; the Revolution forever smashed the laws of tyranny. It takes time to build a new society -- too long and too self-serving for the PRI, say the critics. But, when you understand the Underdogs, you wonder if it could be any other way.

Democracy in Mexico? Azuela writes of wiping the slate clean, to give democracy a fresh start. The PRI restored order and allowed a peaceful transition of power. If it fails, as some say it has in Chiapas, this book explains the spirit of Mexico that will fight again until freedom is assured.

It's not just a novel of the past, it's a warning to the future of what happens to anyone who betrays Mexico. It's the best book ever written about the continuing Revolution that, slowly and irresistibly, is producing a modern free Mexico.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Good Message, December 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Underdogs (Paperback)

When I first started reading this book I thought it was really boring, but when I was finished I was glad I read it. I don't know that I like Azuela's writing style, but the message he was trying to convey was wonderful. His message was: power corrupts. This book is centered around a poor Mexican peasant named Demetrio, and his group of men rebelling against the Mexican government. At the beginning of the book the men all want a less oppressive government. Their goals are good, and their ideals are good. But as they gain more power and prestige they become more corrupt. They do cruel things to innocent people, they steal, and they are cruel to each other. Azuela makes the point over and over again that the men are poor and ignorant, they know nothing of politics, and they don't understand why they are fighting. Although I thought this book was boring, it has a very good message. It's worth reading just to understand that message.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionaries or Bandits, September 24, 2006

By 

Cathy "of the band, Cathy and the Wuthering H... (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Underdogs: A Novel of the Mexican Revolution (Paperback)

Mariano Azuela's novel about a group of men fighting in the decade-long Mexican Revolution is a seminal work in Latin American literature. As the concluding essay notes, Azuela's ability to accurately depict all that is most surreal in reality was the starting point for more modern magical realist authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This is a stand-out novel written in a sparse, at times dreamlike style.

The Underdogs, or Los de Abajo, reveals Azuela's ambivalence about the Revolutionary movement. While it is clear that the men persecuting the hero, Demetrio Macias, are not the men one wants controlling the state, Azuela also doesn't hesitate to depict the revolutionaries themselves as bandits, stealing from the peasants they are supposed to defend. The conflict over whether the Mexican Revolutionaries were soldiers or bandits is one that may be found in history books. Azuela's semi-autobiographical novel doesn't offer an answer to that question, but it does provide what some of the most famous historical literature does not: a depiction of the hellishness of war. In that alone, it is a good companion reading to any nonfiction accounts of the Revolution.

Frederick Fornoff's translation is mostly well-done, though his decision not to keep in the dialect in which most of the characters speak is, in my opinion, a poor one. There was an enormous cultural divide between the average revolutionary and the Mexicans living in cities or haciendas. I feel that Azuela's original language reflected that divide. However, this edition is still worth buying, because the concluding essay on Azuela's place in Latin American and epic literature is both poignant and revealing. The Underdogs is a grand novel, for both literature and history buffs.