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A review by aeoliandeductress
Los de Abajo by Mariano Azuela
3.0
I should note- I read this as a requirement for a graduate class I'm in, which may color my perception of the book as a whole.
The story was interesting and I feel a more accurate depiction than many non-fiction accounts in many ways. Generally we read (and write) tales of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata as these Robin Hood characters taking on the establishment in defense of their poor and abused countrymen. Which to some degree is true, but what is often left out is the corruption that sadly inevitably followed of even the pure-hearted. Many of the defenders later became oppressors and this is what Los de abajo tackles with Demetrio and his compatriots. The tale is entertaining, complete with historical ties, relatively readable even for a non-native speaker (although there is some dialectical writing of dialogue that takes some getting used to) and so on. But the ending, while appropriate, bugged the hell out of me. I hate "ambiguous" endings- it's a personal preference that things be clear cut in the end. I understand life isn't like this but I read partially for the reason that stories have endings in books while they have fade outs at best in real life.
The story was interesting and I feel a more accurate depiction than many non-fiction accounts in many ways. Generally we read (and write) tales of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata as these Robin Hood characters taking on the establishment in defense of their poor and abused countrymen. Which to some degree is true, but what is often left out is the corruption that sadly inevitably followed of even the pure-hearted. Many of the defenders later became oppressors and this is what Los de abajo tackles with Demetrio and his compatriots. The tale is entertaining, complete with historical ties, relatively readable even for a non-native speaker (although there is some dialectical writing of dialogue that takes some getting used to) and so on. But the ending, while appropriate, bugged the hell out of me. I hate "ambiguous" endings- it's a personal preference that things be clear cut in the end. I understand life isn't like this but I read partially for the reason that stories have endings in books while they have fade outs at best in real life.