A Latino American describes his two years working as a lay missionary in rural Guatemala, describing the impoverished town in which he and his wife lived, the corrupt government military, the guerrillas, the threat of disease, and the shocking situations that he encountered. Tour. IP.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Milpa means cornfield, which is sacred to farmers of Central America who depend on corn for sustenance. The term is a symbol of the culture that Villatoro, a poet and novelist (A Fire in the Earth), wished to experience. In 1989, he and his wife left Alabama to live in Poptun, a Guatemalan village, as lay missionaries of the Maryknoll order. The author was not entirely an outsider: his mother, a San Salvadoran who had fled to the U.S., kept alive her Latin culture and Villatoro grew up in East Tennessee feeling close to it. Nevertheless, to the Poptun villagers he was a gringo. Here, in a series of vignettes, he conveys the character and ambience of the town and its people, whose lives are suffused with fear and violence. However, Villatoro does not discuss politics but focuses this sensitive memoir on the warmth and fortitude of the people.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
A milpa is a cornfield, and walking to it is to be invited into the culture of the "Men of Corn," the Maya Indians. From 1989 to 1991, Villatoro and his wife were lay missionaries in Poptun, a village in northern Guatemala, and this book recounts their experiences there. Although they felt welcome, like the natives they had to balance extreme fear with true compassion and understanding. Such irony is normal in a country where violence under a corrupt and ruthless regime is routine. The CIA's complicity and duplicity in the terror is now known, owing to two cases of which it was aware?the murder of an American restaurateur and torture by death squads of an American nun. The book misses its mark, however, for the uneven presentation makes the reader lose focus. For large libraries only.?Louise Leonard, Univ. of Florida Libs., Gainesville
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A soulful and personal journey into the heart of Guatamala.,
By Riverqueen (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Walking to La Milpa: Living in Guatemala with Armies, Demons, Abrazos, and Death (Hardcover)
This book is a trans-genre entry into the pulse and rhythm, pain and joy of the people of La Milpa. The archetypes are lived here, in flesh and blood, and the courage to live is palpable. But like all tales of truth, this journey is not without raw and honest humor. There is no ego here, covering up the mud on the author's face. Naivete is exposed on these pages, and so the account is all the more readable and real. I recommend this book to all who would choose to experience the totality of life by opening their eyes to the story of a village living out its moment in time with honesty and undeniable passion.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Memories of my own childhood,
This review is from: Walking to La Milpa: Living in Guatemala with Armies, Demons, Abrazos, and Death (Hardcover)
Wonderful, heart-warming and full of humor! Marcos brings in the reader to share his daily life, full of new discoveries as he gets to know his neighbors. I enjoyed sharing private moments of his personal life, his joys and felt the sadness of his losses. Marcos doesn't pretend to be one of them, and he's not afraid to make fun of himself as a gringo learning to fit in. The images of the town and the people who live there are so real that they remind of me of my own childhood in El Salvador. Marcos made me feel like I was there with him, walking to la milpa with Don Chico and stopping by Dona Oli's to get some hot tortillas.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A soulful and personal journey into the heart of Guatamala.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Walking to La Milpa: Living in Guatemala with Armies, Demons, Abrazos, and Death (Hardcover)
This book is a trans-genre entry into the pulse and rhythm, pain and joy of the people of La Milpa. The archetypes are lived here, in flesh and blood, and the courage to live is palpable. But like all tales of truth, this journey is not without raw and honest humor. There is no ego here, covering up the mud on the author's face. Naivete is exposed on these pages, and so the account is all the more readable and real. I recommend this book to all who would choose to experience the totality of life by opening their eyes to the story of a village living out its moment in time with honesty and undeniable passion.
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