In this coming of age novel, Carmen Boullosa re-creates the rural world of the state of Tabasco, Mexico, through the fantastical memories of Delmira, the child protagonist, and through the oral stories of her grandmother whose memories date back to a more distant past, replete with stories of Protestant pirates and European explorers. However, thirty years on, neither world exists, both having been destroyed by modernization and the symbolic plagues which ravage the village of Agostoni. (Note here the indirect reference to the Uruguayan poet, Delmira Agostoni). The novel itself reflects on the way in which memory distorts, how the past is transmitted, and we are led to question whether the characters who we read about really existed, whether Delmira is inventing her whole past and finally whether Agostoni is a figment of the imagination. The reference to One Hundred Years of Solitude is not a coincidence. The history of Macondo reflects that of Agostoni: both have their origins in biblical paradises, both villages suffer from plagues, in both there is an exodus and finally both are destroyed, although by different forces. These imaginary communities which exist only within a book, preserve their memory by the written word, creating a permanent memory within the world of literature and the imagination. On closing the book, Agostoni, the creaking of its hammocks, the bakers, the dense jungle, its water and its stones, remain locked in the reader's imagination.

Excelente lectura, recomendada para aquellos que crecimos en latinoamerica y ahora por una razon u otra estamos lejos, queriendo volver y sin saber como. No solo tiene una trama muy entretenida, llena de contenido y critica social y de todos los aspectos que se viven a diario en la vida latinoamericana-me sorprendio lo panamericana que resulta la novela. El lenguaje y las ocurrencias en la vida del personaje principal me recordaron mucho a Cien Anos de Soledad, aunque el estilo es mucho mas sencillo y menos elaborado. A pesar que la novela se desarrolla en un pueblecito de Tabasco, muy bien pudiera llevarse a cabo en cualquier lugar de Latinoamerica.

Carmen Boullosa examines the society created by the Brethren of the Coast, 17th century Caribbean freebooters on the island of Tortuga. It is a communal society, purposely without women, a fact which allows property to be shared and men to coexist harmoniously. Into this world steps Jan Smeeks, a boy kidnapped from Flanders, who embodies both male and female characteristics. Smeeks is astounded by the roving, plundering, male "pig" characteristics of the Brethren, but he learns to despise the sedentary, civilized, female "cow" characteristics of the colonists and settlers.

Boullosa's characterization of Smeeks is particularly sensitive. His little-boy wonder when he touches his first female breast, his comment that he always seems to notice the little details of a situation while missing the larger picture (a trait which makes him an interesting narrator), his fascination with Dr.Pineau's existential pontifications, all mark him as something apart from the other freebooters.

The book is a good one, it is interesting to think about the ideal communal society predicated on the most appalling slaughter, on the role played by the presence and absence of women - Eve in the Garden. However, I wished the book were longer. No characters beyond Smeeks are fully drawn, and the abbreviated narrative leaves many gaps which the reader is left to fill with imagination. There are strong images: the Jamaican brothel, and the monks and nuns who refuse to be used as human shields. There are weak images: the hurricane that kills dozens is not described at all. We just wake up the next day. The translation is occasionally jerky: "L'Olonnais had the injured Spaniards who remained on the path finished off after he asked them for what he wanted." (p.164). But overall it is a fun and interesting book. Boullosa has much to share.