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Blurbs heralded American Dirt as a new American classic and a Grapes of Wrath for our time. It is neither. To put it anywhere near Steinbeck and his true classic novel is an affront to literature. I don't blame the author for the hype; these sorts of hyperbolic comments are to be expected. But I was curious since most readers describe how harrowing they found it and how they were moved to tears by the plight of Lydia and Luca so I got a copy from the library.
I became increasingly puzzled by the hype as I read. Contrary to the glowing reviews, “this isn’t a particularly well written book” went through my mind. There is truly tortured syntax and attempts at lyrical/poetical/soaring prose that I found difficult to take seriously much less be moved by. There is a sentence that runs on for over half a page that I think is supposed to be building the reader up for a final devastating clause but I found ponderous and weaker for everything that preceded it. I’m not the only one to feel this way. I recommend New York Times staff critic Parul Sehgal’s review, A Mother and Son Fleeing for Their Lives Over Treacherous Terrain. Sehgal describes the problems with the writing much better than I can and identifies some of the same issues that bothered me. It is a very good review that can be found here.
For me, the muddled writing interfered with the flow and pacing of the story and made it pretty much impossible to get invested in it. I did not feel the heart pounding feeling of peril that others describe. It wasn’t a page turner; it took me 10 days to finish which is a very long time for me. A book about such an important topic deserves better treatment. There was something else that bothered me about the book but I wasn’t sure what. I realized what this was later as described in the next part of this review.
I looked up criticism of American Dirt by Latinx writers and many recommended other authors to read to really learn about the migrant experience. I made myself a list and jumped in. The two books I have read so far are:
Oscar Martinez—The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail
Sonia Nazario — Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother
Martinez is a Mexican investigative reporter who spent two years walking the trails, riding the buses, riding the trains, going to migrant shelters along the way, and learning the economics of smuggling people. He talked with politicians, soldiers, police, migrants,smugglers, and aid workers. He explored border crossing points and rode with US Border agents.
Nazario is a Los Angeles reporter who became interested in migrants and the effects on children after a conversation with her house cleaner. She decided to write about the experiences of a single migrant child and found Enrique. Enrique made his first attempt to go to his mother in the US at age 13, travelling the migrant trail from Honduras. Eight times he made the journey. Nazario twice retraced Enrique’s journey. Think about that, she travelled the migrant trail from Honduras to the US twice. She had the resources to put a support network in place in the event something went wrong but she still put her life on the line. In her five years of research she got to know Enrique, his family in Honduras, and his mother in the US. Her focus was on the effects on children left behind when a mother goes north to support the family.
The narratives of Martinez and Nazario support each other as you will find their research overlapping.
Here is where I realized what else bothered me about American Dirt: after reading The Beast and Enrique’s Journey, American Dirt is a very diluted representation of the migrant experience. The experiences of Martinez and Nazario on the migrant trail now made it impossible for me to see Lydia, American Dirt’s protagonist, as one of the migrants. I can see why Latinx critics are angered by this book. American Dirt doesn’t come close to showing the suffering, the misery, the despair, of the migrants, and how they are preyed upon by both authorities and the narcos. You want a book that will bring you to tears, especially if you are a parent, read Enrique’s Journey.
The basis of American Dirt is good and could have been a very good story: Narco violence is very real. Where my problems with the book lie with me is her choice of protagonist. Lydia is far removed from the majority of the migrants who are mainly from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Migrants are lucky to have a couple of pesos much less the cash that Lydia starts off with. She suffers a major loss but is able to fall back on her deceased mother’s bank account. I never felt a sense of peril, that maybe this wouldn’t work out. I think it is more notible for what doesn't happen to Lydia. I felt that the really bad stuff was glossed over so as not to be too upsetting. Sanitised for northern readers.
I became increasingly puzzled by the hype as I read. Contrary to the glowing reviews, “this isn’t a particularly well written book” went through my mind. There is truly tortured syntax and attempts at lyrical/poetical/soaring prose that I found difficult to take seriously much less be moved by. There is a sentence that runs on for over half a page that I think is supposed to be building the reader up for a final devastating clause but I found ponderous and weaker for everything that preceded it. I’m not the only one to feel this way. I recommend New York Times staff critic Parul Sehgal’s review, A Mother and Son Fleeing for Their Lives Over Treacherous Terrain. Sehgal describes the problems with the writing much better than I can and identifies some of the same issues that bothered me. It is a very good review that can be found here.
For me, the muddled writing interfered with the flow and pacing of the story and made it pretty much impossible to get invested in it. I did not feel the heart pounding feeling of peril that others describe. It wasn’t a page turner; it took me 10 days to finish which is a very long time for me. A book about such an important topic deserves better treatment. There was something else that bothered me about the book but I wasn’t sure what. I realized what this was later as described in the next part of this review.
I looked up criticism of American Dirt by Latinx writers and many recommended other authors to read to really learn about the migrant experience. I made myself a list and jumped in. The two books I have read so far are:
Oscar Martinez—The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail
Sonia Nazario — Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother
Martinez is a Mexican investigative reporter who spent two years walking the trails, riding the buses, riding the trains, going to migrant shelters along the way, and learning the economics of smuggling people. He talked with politicians, soldiers, police, migrants,smugglers, and aid workers. He explored border crossing points and rode with US Border agents.
Nazario is a Los Angeles reporter who became interested in migrants and the effects on children after a conversation with her house cleaner. She decided to write about the experiences of a single migrant child and found Enrique. Enrique made his first attempt to go to his mother in the US at age 13, travelling the migrant trail from Honduras. Eight times he made the journey. Nazario twice retraced Enrique’s journey. Think about that, she travelled the migrant trail from Honduras to the US twice. She had the resources to put a support network in place in the event something went wrong but she still put her life on the line. In her five years of research she got to know Enrique, his family in Honduras, and his mother in the US. Her focus was on the effects on children left behind when a mother goes north to support the family.
The narratives of Martinez and Nazario support each other as you will find their research overlapping.
Here is where I realized what else bothered me about American Dirt: after reading The Beast and Enrique’s Journey, American Dirt is a very diluted representation of the migrant experience. The experiences of Martinez and Nazario on the migrant trail now made it impossible for me to see Lydia, American Dirt’s protagonist, as one of the migrants. I can see why Latinx critics are angered by this book. American Dirt doesn’t come close to showing the suffering, the misery, the despair, of the migrants, and how they are preyed upon by both authorities and the narcos. You want a book that will bring you to tears, especially if you are a parent, read Enrique’s Journey.
The basis of American Dirt is good and could have been a very good story: Narco violence is very real. Where my problems with the book lie with me is her choice of protagonist. Lydia is far removed from the majority of the migrants who are mainly from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Migrants are lucky to have a couple of pesos much less the cash that Lydia starts off with. She suffers a major loss but is able to fall back on her deceased mother’s bank account. I never felt a sense of peril, that maybe this wouldn’t work out. I think it is more notible for what doesn't happen to Lydia. I felt that the really bad stuff was glossed over so as not to be too upsetting. Sanitised for northern readers.
American Dirt has done good in that it has raised awareness about migrants but I urge people to read about the real migrant experience. I fear it will just be a book club selection that people can tut tut over with wine and cheese.
Both Martinez and Nazario write about the causes of migration — extreme poverty that sends parents on a risky journey to the US in order to make money back to their families, money that is a significant part of the economy of Central American countries. The conclusion is that we no more likely to stem migration than we are to stop the flow of drugs into the US. In the case of migration, the solution is at the source. Help the countries improve the economy. Nazario writes movingly about the effects on the family when a mother feels the only solution to keep her children from starving is to leave. You don’t get anything of this from American Dirt and I can understand why it has angered critics.
After The Beast and Enrique’s Journey, next up for me is Luis Alberto Urrea’s Devil’s Highway.
Both Martinez and Nazario write about the causes of migration — extreme poverty that sends parents on a risky journey to the US in order to make money back to their families, money that is a significant part of the economy of Central American countries. The conclusion is that we no more likely to stem migration than we are to stop the flow of drugs into the US. In the case of migration, the solution is at the source. Help the countries improve the economy. Nazario writes movingly about the effects on the family when a mother feels the only solution to keep her children from starving is to leave. You don’t get anything of this from American Dirt and I can understand why it has angered critics.
After The Beast and Enrique’s Journey, next up for me is Luis Alberto Urrea’s Devil’s Highway.
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