The book is written from the viewpoint of the main character, Artemio Cruz, who is now dying on a hospital bed. Every other chapter, we switch from hiThe book is written from the viewpoint of the main character, Artemio Cruz, who is now dying on a hospital bed. Every other chapter, we switch from his incoherent end-of-physical-life thoughts to a clearer style, throwbacks to when he was younger. We are meant to follow how a brave revolutionary loses the love of his life and turns calculated and cold, eventually becoming a tyrant and a corrupt figure in the country for which he once fought. It's all about minor decisions that lead his moral fiber astray, in baby steps.
The first such selfish decision was deciding to quasi-desert in the middle of battle, once he saw that they will lose that one anyway. It wasn't entirely selfish, since he did it for Regina (the woman he loved), so that he doesn't put her through the pain of losing him. He was thinking that since their love materialized, his body and life don't belong to him anymore, they are hers, hence he cannot harm them.
Even after losing her, he was still redeemable. He persuades an old school quasi-aristocratic moneylender to give him his lands and his daughter's hand in marriage, as part of the transition process from the old guard to the new. The daughter, his new wife, decides to hate him although she feels attraction towards him and has to fight her feelings for him often. It's one of those vocations for being a tragic figure and for self-sacrifice kind of thing.
Their children will also be lost to him, eventually: the daughter because of her mother and her anti-father education, and the son because although they had a good relationship, he tries to follow in the dad's footsteps and dies on the war front. Every small step of the way, the path leads Artemio Cruz further apart from having a good and fulfilled life or from being on good terms with his wife.
Every now and then the narrative gets simply descriptive, third person POV style. Especially in the chapters which are about his life with other women he has lived with throughout his marriage.
I like that the story touches some pretty heavy social and historical themes and really makes you feel the vibe of Mexico's renaissance. I also like that it makes you sympathize with the main character somewhat, although he is also repulsive in many circumstances. ...more
Loading...
