The Jaguar's Children

FictionJohn VaillantThe Jaguar’s Children: A NovelHoughton Mifflin Harcourt978-0-544-29008-2, ebook, 280 pgs., $12.99 (also available in hardcover, Audible, and audio CD)January 2015Thu Apr 5— 08: 31 [text]hello i am sorry to bother you but i need your assistance— i am hector— cesars friend— its an emergency now for cesar— are you in el norte? i think we are also— arizona near nogales or sonoita— since yesterday we are in this truck with no one coming— we need water and a doctor— and a torch for cutting metalThe Jaguar’s Children is journalist and author (who cites as sources Luis Alberto Urrea and Charles Bowden; how could you go wrong?) John Vaillant’s devastatingly powerful first novel. Mexicans and Nicaraguans, men, women, and children, bakers, students and scientists, have paid coyotes (“They were talking fast all the time, but not as fast as their eyes”) to provide safe passage into the United States, welded inside a water truck (“like a bucket of crabs with the lid on and no place to go”). As the book begins, they’ve been abandoned for two days in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona (“la via dolorosa”).Héctor (“Pollo is chicken cooked on a plate— a dinner for coyotes. This is who is speaking to you now.”) finds a contact, AnniMac, with a United States area code in his friend César’s phone and tries to reach her. In an attempt to comfort himself and save his sanity, Héctor takes us with him as he “escapes into his head,” making audio files as he talks to AnniMac about his home. Héctor talks about his family, Mexican history and geography, religion and mythology, culture and sociology, as he describes the diversity of Mexico, not a monolith, and these people as individuals, not stereotypes.The Jaguar’s Children is full of rich description. A market in Oaxaca: “It is not even four, but already the first trucks are coming in from the coast with fish and oranges, seashells and coconuts, maybe a special order of turtle eggs hiding in the belly of a tuna, or a crocodile skull with all its teeth. And from the south they come with coffee and mangoes, chocolate, iguanas and velvet huipils, and from the Sierra with calla lilies, beef, pots in all sizes still scarred by the fire that made them.”Vaillant’s imagery is both profound in its simplicity and brutal in its sophistication. “More and more the tank is feeling and smelling like the intestine of some animal, slowly digesting us.” Héctor watches time in the form of the cell phone’s battery life and thinks of his beloved grandfather. “Time, you know. Minutes. When my abuelo was young he didn’t know what a minute was because in Zapotec there aren’t any minutes, only days and seasons and harvests.”There is even humor in the midst of tragedy.When she [Héctor’s mother] was tired of listening to me, she said, “Héctorcito? How long have there been these Transformers?And I said, “Always, Mamá. Since I was young.”And she said, “Yes, well, that is not so long. Our beloved Jesus has been a Transformer for two thousand years.”The Jaguar’s Children is harrowing and beautiful, brilliant and exhausting. The concept is inspired, the plot simple and stark and terrible, the pacing inexorable. The ending is wholly unexpected in the great tradition of magical realism. This is the total package.Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.

Fascinating and heartbreaking look at the life of poor Mexicans and their longing for a better life. Corn is part of the history of Mexico and a staple of life there. The dangers of genetically altered corn becomes a part of this story.

I read this for a book club, and found it such an incredible read. I would never have chosen it on my own and am grateful I was asked to read it. The descriptive writing and detailed account of those trying to enter the U.S. was shocking, yet educated me about their plight (despite this being fiction, I have no doubt it parallels the plight of many immigrants seeking a better life). Highly recommended.

I am a better person for having read this book. My horizons are broadened. I learned things that I will never forget. I would now like to someday see Oaxaca City. Five stars for all of that. However, I was often bored. I had to push myself to finish. Perhaps if I'd had a different mindset going in. Perhaps if I'd had been prepared for a sociological study as opposed to a fun Summer read I would have been more patient. If you would like to learn more about the plight of many of our neighbors to the south and their trials and tribulations, this is a great place to start. I went in thinking, 'confrontational border crossings', 'Jaguar', 'excitement'. Not so much.

John Vaillant is both author And teacher. I live 20 miles north of the Tijuana border. Those miles are the difference between heaven and hell. I don't live in heaven and many living in TJ don't live in hell. But the distance between the two and the distance between heaven and hell is a slice of sky. Thank Mr. Vaillant for telling that story.

This book pleasantly surprised me several times. It was more historical, cultural and insightful of the Mexican Indian plight than Id have thought possible, at least while still holding my interest. The narrative is unusual to say the least, and it works! But the weird thing is the sense of closeness, to the point of claustrophobia... I'm claustrophobic and one of my reading pals is too, after describing the book to him his interest turned to dread. He didn't want to read because it would trigger his claustrophobia too! Now that's good fiction!

If you want to learn about another side of Mexican culture, this is the book. Learn about family relationships, complex border issues, character, history of corn in Mexico, all from the lips of a young man trapped inside a water truck, abandoned by coyotes. Learn about the many gods and saints in the life of one spiritual Mexican family. I loved the book and want to read it again, followed by discussions with others who have read the book. My strongest recommendation: I want to read other books by John Vaillant.

I found this to be a very disappointing read. I wanted to learn more about the practice of the coyotes who take such terrible advantage of immigrants, the methods and lies they use to coerce them and if they ever get caught and punished for their ugly deeds. This book takes place over a few heart-wrenching days with wanders back to the narrator's life in Mexico and seems to go nowhere. I struggled to finish and am glad to be done with a very underwhelming read that left me hanging and not learning anything new about border issues. I would highly recommend The Devil's Highway for someone who wants some good info on the subject.