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The Tattooed Soldier: A Novel, by Héctor Tobar
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Antonio Bernal is a Guatemalan refugee in Los Angeles haunted by memories of his wife and child, who were murdered at the hands of a man marked with yellow ink. In a park near Antonio's apartment, Guillermo Longoria extends his arm and reveals a sinister tattoo―yellow pelt, black spots, red mouth. It is the sign of the death squad, the Jaguar Battalion of the Guatemalan army.
This chance encounter between Antonio and his family's killer ignites a psychological showdown between these two men. Each will discover that the war in Central America has migrated with them as they are engulfed by the quemazones―"the great burning" of the Los Angeles riots. A tragic tale of loss and destiny in the underbelly of an American city, The Tattooed Soldier is Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Héctor Tobar's mesmerizing exploration of violence and the marks it leaves upon us.
- Sales Rank: #37602 in Books
- Published on: 2014-10-07
- Released on: 2014-10-07
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.25" h x .72" w x 5.50" l,
- Binding: Paperback
- 320 pages
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Tobar hits a nerver
By Mike Molek
Hector Tobar's depressing but masterfully-written The Tattooed Soldier is a compelling story of tragedy and revenge, and provides a deep insight into the poverty-stricken lives of immigrants to Los Angeles.
Several background stories, each focusing on a different major character, intertwine to tell the tale of Antonio Bernal. Antonio, a bookish young man from a lower-class family, attends a university in Guatemala. This is where he meets his future wife, Elena; a passionate revolutionary, fearless and irreverent of the government's attempts to quell such actions, Elena worries that the ones she loves will suffer for her actions. One day, a "death squad," with leader Guillermo Longoria (the title's "tattooed soldier"), takes the lives of Antonio's wife and infant son. Forced to leave the country, Antonio moves to Los Angeles, seeking a better life. What he finds there is not opportunity, but rather homelessness and poverty.
Evicted at the start of the book, Antonio and his roommate live on a hill with others like them. Purely by chance, Antonio sees Guillermo again, and works up the courage to confront him.
The true focus of the story, however, is not Antonio; it is everything around Antonio. It seems that everywhere he goes, he sees nothing but poverty and despair. In Guatemala City, there were army groups created to fight freedom of expression. In San Cristobál, there were funerals for babies at least twice a month. Los Angeles is no different, despite the common perception that it is a land of opportunity. "Perhaps they could move to Mexico. Save enough money to move to Mexico or the United States. A place where they could be safe and their daughter, or son, could be educated. A place where you could speak your mind and there were no soldiers on the street." (118) In truth, the soldiers that roam the streets of Los Angeles are fellow immigrants. Everyone must compete for the limited jobs and money in the city, and there is apparently no room for sympathy.
Antonio learns the truth of the world, that revenge against those who have wronged him does not solve anything. He regrets his actions several times in the book, and realizes that the only thing he can do is suffer.
This sense of hopelessness is the book's core. Tobar himself said that, "at its root, The Tattooed Soldier is the story of the conflict between the idea of Los Angeles as a place of unlimited freedom and opportunity, and the truth of the poverty and decay that have come to eat away at the very heart of the city." The fact that immigrants can seemingly do nothing to improve their lives in the U.S. often leaves them no better off than where they were.
A powerful and deep story, The Tattooed Soldier does not give the feeling that everything will be okay. Tobar's incredible presentation of the immigrant's eternal struggle makes this book most definitely worth reading.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing Book
By Andrew J. Miller
This is the 2nd book I have read by Mr. Tobar, the first being Barbarian Nurseries. In contrast to Barbarian Nurseries, which I read in about four days, this book took me several weeks even though it was much shorter. And, I would say similar to Patrick Symmes' nonfiction book "The Boys from Dolores", which also took me a long time, this was a worthwhile read.
First, I really appreciate Mr. Tobar's taking me into characters' lives that I would never know how they thought or how their lives were otherwise - the soldier from Guatemala, the University-educated immigrant from Guatemala who has lost everything that mattered for no reason other than fate. I also appreciate the fact that he uses Latino and Latin American characters in fiction. There aren't many authors I know of in English who do this (creating Latino and Latin American characters) using the third-person voice - Sebastian Rotella's book Triple Crossing (2011) does this, as does Tobar in his newest book.
Second - Tobar takes us on a tour of Los Angeles' history and the history of neighborhoods I will never know and would never have thought about.
In any event - this is a great read. I don't think the characters are thin at all - for the most part, the protagonists are pretty believable - Guillermo, Antonio, Elena, many others. If a character seems thin, it's not a main character. Even the chess players I thought were absolutely believable. I feel like I see some of the people Tobar writes about when I walk around many cities.
Bottom line: a great read. I loved it and hope Tobar considers writing more fiction. I will definitely read it.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
An extraordinary novel: gripping, powerful and true.
By Gary B.
The last novel I read at one sitting, a long time ago, was Dreiser's An American Tragedy. This more modern American tragedy may be even better. This story literally pulls the reader along, and ever more deeply into lives seldom acknowledged in American letters. Without being in the least didactic, Tobar also brings us closer to the human face of secret wars abroad and homegrown homelessness. As someone who has spent some time in the neighborhoods Tobar depicts, I was impressed by Tobar's fine eye and ear. No doubt most readers will be most impressed with The Tatooed Soldier as an exceptional tale of the most unexceptional human qualities: love, anguish, guilt, revenge, and -- if we are lucky -- liberation. An extraordinary accomplishment.
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