Word: nez
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Rubén Martínez’s latest book, Crossing Over, ends by finally stating what Martínez has been alluding to all along: “There is no border; the line is an idea.” Crossing Over chronicles the vitality, resilience and internal conflict of Cherán, a small Mexican pueblo, after the death of three of its community members. While attempting to cross the border in order to earn money to support their family, three Chávez brothers died in an automobile accident. Martínez?...
...Martínez, a Mexican-American himself, visited the town of Cherán shortly after the death of the Chávez brothers. What he found was a community rich in tradition and receptive to change; the American dream had been shaping their cultural landscape for decades. The locals, many of whom proudly claim to be Purépecha Indians, have over time been forced, in one way or another, to integrate certain aspects of another culture into their own. Throughout the book, Martínez’s experiences in Cherán reinforce the idea that...
...border laws are hypocritical; the ways they are enforced are dangerous to the migrants who cross over to provide for their families. It makes this statement by delivering a human aspect, by putting names, personalities and emotions to the stories we hear about on the evening news. Martínez brings to light the migrants who wait tables, pick harvests and do other odd jobs for low wages so that Americans can live comfortably...
...Martínez portrays the residents of Cherán as striving and jovial, holding fast to their traditions. The approaching fiesta is a running theme throughout the first part of Crossing Over, and the details of customs like these allow for a more intimate picture of their lives. However, Martínez also wants the reader to realize that their way of life, marked by a rich heritage and a cheerful countenance, is far from utopian. As Martínez said to The Crimson last week, “though they may celebrate certain parts of their lives, especially...
...prologue, entitled “The Passion,” sets the tone of the book, which reads like a memoir. When asked why he did not take his accounts of his stay in Cherán and turn them into a fictional account, Martínez responded that his journalistic style, which is “part manifesto, part reportage, [part] memoir,” allowed him to “expand and contract, like an accordion.” This is evident in his effective handling of complex issues in his narrative. The book explores a series...