Scan barcode
A review by archytas
The Eyes of the Earth by Tamara Pearson
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
"La Tortuga had always walked in uncomfortable shoes. Pain, she understood, was built into everything, and nothing worked well or did what it was supposed to. That was one of the reasons she was a fixer. There was so much to fix."
Pearson's strengths as a writer are at full power in the Eyes of the Earth, an ambitious, lyrical and often achingly tender book about a woman who gets on with it, a man who doesn't have to, and a beautiful, broken, world. The book centers around 73-year-old La Tortuga, a hero for the ages, who arrives with her backpack and her strength as an undocumented migrant to Mexico, fleeing a too-familiar combination of personal and political violence. Contrasting La Tortuga, we have Henry, a young American on a trip to find himself. Both Henry and La Tortuga - and a major child character Miguelito - are compelling, engaging protagonists, rendered with Pearson's potent mix of warm empathy and lurking anger. These are certainly the avatars that Pearson intends them to be, but they are also people whose journeys we invest in, recognising parts of ourselves. Pearson peppers the book with interlude portraits of migrants, leveraging a lifetime of observation, to render as seen many who are not.
"Marvin and his friends made short funny videos dressed in some of the random things people had donated to the migrant shelter; a pointy hat, a glittery suit jacket, sports vests. At night when he couldn't sleep he would balance his phone on his forehead. the next morning he would wake up and it would still be there. He laughed and joked his way through life. Even when he was riding on the roof of the train, he had stood up and waved his hands in the air as it passed through towns."
It is in the details that this novel soars, whether describing the people of Mexico City, the waste dumps or the magical, delightful forms of alebrige.
This attention to details somehow pulls together the ambitious tonal scope of the novel, which includes magical realism and political commentary.
It's not perfect, there is the odd clunky sentence and the sections covering avatars of evil sat a little awkwardly alongside the empathetic approach to individuals for me, but they are minor. This is a much more polished novel that Pearson's first outing, and features a distinct, unique, passionate voice that never falters in its focus on the story.
Pearson's strengths as a writer are at full power in the Eyes of the Earth, an ambitious, lyrical and often achingly tender book about a woman who gets on with it, a man who doesn't have to, and a beautiful, broken, world. The book centers around 73-year-old La Tortuga, a hero for the ages, who arrives with her backpack and her strength as an undocumented migrant to Mexico, fleeing a too-familiar combination of personal and political violence. Contrasting La Tortuga, we have Henry, a young American on a trip to find himself. Both Henry and La Tortuga - and a major child character Miguelito - are compelling, engaging protagonists, rendered with Pearson's potent mix of warm empathy and lurking anger. These are certainly the avatars that Pearson intends them to be, but they are also people whose journeys we invest in, recognising parts of ourselves. Pearson peppers the book with interlude portraits of migrants, leveraging a lifetime of observation, to render as seen many who are not.
"Marvin and his friends made short funny videos dressed in some of the random things people had donated to the migrant shelter; a pointy hat, a glittery suit jacket, sports vests. At night when he couldn't sleep he would balance his phone on his forehead. the next morning he would wake up and it would still be there. He laughed and joked his way through life. Even when he was riding on the roof of the train, he had stood up and waved his hands in the air as it passed through towns."
It is in the details that this novel soars, whether describing the people of Mexico City, the waste dumps or the magical, delightful forms of alebrige.
This attention to details somehow pulls together the ambitious tonal scope of the novel, which includes magical realism and political commentary.
It's not perfect, there is the odd clunky sentence and the sections covering avatars of evil sat a little awkwardly alongside the empathetic approach to individuals for me, but they are minor. This is a much more polished novel that Pearson's first outing, and features a distinct, unique, passionate voice that never falters in its focus on the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death