Title: The Tortilla Curtain
Description: This
book follows two families: a wealthy liberal dilettante who fancies himself an
environmentalist, and a Mexican couple who came to the United States for the
good life—or at least a better life than the one they had in Mexico. The book
opens with a violent encounter: the liberal hits the immigrant with his (very
nice) car. The human impact on the environment in Southern California is a
central theme in this book; both the wealthy suburbanites who try to create a
pristine enclave in the desert and the desperately poor immigrants who live off
the land because they have to have a marked influence, both on the land and on
one another.
Review source: Thanks,
Penguin.
Plot: There
really isn’t a plot so much as a problem (enunciated in the description). Two
conflicting ways of life collide; how will that affect each of the families who
are just trying to get by?
Characters: The
Mexicans, Candido and America, are especially sympathetic characters. It’s so
easy to understand how they want a better life and are willing to do almost
anything to jump through the hoops they need to – but how do you even figure
out what to do, when the instructions are in a foreign language? Delaney, the
wealthy liberal, thinks he wants to help (the environment, the immigrants),
until it makes him a little uncomfortable, when he quickly retreats to
isolationist conservatism.
Writing style: Spare
and emotionally wrenching.
Audience: Social
commentary/literary fiction.
Wrap-up: This
kind of book is tough to read; no one wants to be confronted by so many tough
truths, and Boyle recognizes that there aren’t easy answers. 3.5/5*
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