The Old Gringo

by carlos fuentes | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0374525226 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingDavros-10wing of Banyo, Queensland Australia on 10/18/2012
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingDavros-10wing from Banyo, Queensland Australia on Thursday, October 18, 2012
From amazon.com:

"EDITORIAL REVIEWS

From Publishers Weekly
Fuentes, Mexico's leading novelist (author of Terra Nostra), invents here a lyrical and philosophical tale about the times of Pancho Villa and the Revolution in Mexico. The old gringo of the title is Ambrose Bierce, the Ameican journalist and writer who disappeared in the Mexican dust. Bierce went to Mexico to die, Fuentes speculates, because he could not bear to reflect on the pain and sacrifices his sanctimonious moral rectitude had caused his family. He joins the troops of the young revolutionary Tomas Arroyo, one of Villa's generals, who, as a "child of misfortune" ("bastard" in the servant quarters) was trapped in the hacienda and is now trapped by the revolution. Both the old gringo and the young revolutionary fall in love with Harriet Winslow, an American who had come to Mexico as teacher for the children on a hacienda which no longer exists, having been burned by the revolutionaries. Fuentes examines the borders between men and women, dreams and reality, Mexico and the U.S. ("a scar" rather than a border). Doomed never to understand each other, the two men inevitably die as they cross the frontier of their differences: the old gringo killed by Arroyo (whom he provoked by burning the papers of the history of Mexico) and Arroyo, in his turn, shot by Villa for overstepping his boundaries of power. In this fine short novel, Fuentes remains, as usual, wisely suspicious of both American politics and those of the Revolution. The problem here is that the author's posturing, his dramatic flourishes, never let us forget that this is all fakean invention, a meditation. November
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Clues scattered through this brief but intense novel gradually reveal the identity of the title character, an aging American writer who disappeared in revolutionary Mexico in 1913. Fuentes has made clever fictional use of an actual literary mystery, but his more remarkable achievement here is the portrait of the writer as a father figure to an American governess and to a general in Pancho Villa's army, each of whom has been betrayed by a real father. The tempestuous intimacy between governess and general and the complex relationship each has with the old gringo reflect the links and contradictions between Mexican and American cultures. This is a novel to be savored; it deserves more than a single reading. L.M. Lewis, Social Science Dept., Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PRODUCT DETAILS
Paperback: 199 pages
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (October 31, 1997)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0374525226
ISBN-13: 978-0374525224
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)"

Journal Entry 2 by wingDavros-10wing at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, November 12, 2012

Released 11 yrs ago (11/12/2012 UTC) at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Welcome to BookCrossing!

Thanks for checking the site out. I hope you enjoy both the book and the site. People all over the world are tracking their books through BookCrossing. While you're here, I'd really appreciate it if you'd make a journal entry for this book so I know that it's safe. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it's free).

If you do decide to become a BookCrosser please consider using me, Davros-10, as the member who referred you. If you are already familiar with BookCrossing, thanks for picking up the book, I hope it is one you were looking for!

Please feel free to keep this book for as long as you wish, and whenever you're ready pass it on to a friend, or leave it "in the wild" for someone else to find. Then watch its journey - you'll be alerted by email each time someone makes a new journal entry. It's all confidential, free and fun (and addictive - but in a GOOD way)!

Given to Skyring for the 2012 Australian Bookcrossing Unconvention which I am unfortunately unable to attend.

Also counts towards the 2012 "The" Release Challenge.

Journal Entry 3 by Skyring at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia on Monday, November 12, 2012
Thanks KEMS and Davros-10 for these books. They are to be distributed to attendees of the UnCanvention here in Canberra, and possibly scattered randomly around Canberra for others to find and enjoy and pass on. Good travels, little book!

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