Muy Arriaga. Bueno.

I read this in Beograd in 2002. The surreal aspect of the novel is sublime; the chatter of the protagonist's neighbors not only informs his reality, it creates it and motivates his final actions. ( )

The author is Mexican and this was translated. A tight chilling little novel of murder, and timeless lawlessness in a little Mexican village. It could have been set in the 1800s, except its era betrayed by info such as the selling and smuggling of tape recorders.
Polished it off this afternoon in about 2-3 hours. ( )

The author is Mexican and this was translated. A tight chilling little novel of murder, and timeless lawlessness in a little Mexican village. It could have been set in the 1800s, except its era betrayed by info such as the selling and smuggling of tape recorders. Polished it off this afternoon in about 2-3 hours. ( )

From: Sorghum Justice: Murder and Vengeance in Mexico
http://wp.me/p14mpp-bx

Un Dulce Olor a Muerte (A Sweet Scent of Death, tr. Alan Page),
Guillermo Arriaga (Mexico, 1994).

This novel is an excellent profile of life and death in the rural Mexican countryside. The story takes place in a time before the proliferation of AK-47s and drug cartels—drug dealers and drug use do not play a part in the novel. Read and enjoy Guillermo Arriaga's first published novel, written long before he became famous for his movie work (Amores Perros, 21 Gramos and Babel).

The opening scene of this rural crime drama takes place in the farmlands of eastern Mexico inland from Tampico near Ciudad Victoria. A child shrieks an alarm and a young man follows the sound to a ripening sorghum field. As he enters the field, Ramón sees an unclothed girl lying face down in her own blood. He takes off his shirt to place it over the girl’s nakedness. As he approaches closely, he sees her face; it is Adela.

Ramón scarcely knew Adela, but the whole town thought he was her boyfriend. She was meeting another man, but now she was dead and Ramón was in trapped in his lie.
Because of the intense heat, Adela’s body must be quickly prepared for burial. The author describes the embalming of the corpse by the local butcher, and poignant dressing the corpse for burial. It is powerfully written and easily visualized by the reader.

After the burial, the men of the village meet in the store to discuss the murder. They decide that a contraband dealer known as the Gypsy is the likely murderer and the boyfriend is bullied into promising to carry out vengeance. Ramón is free from suspicion of murder, but must carry out the horrible sentence of the people’s court—he must murder the Gypsy.

Guillermo’s sparse, direct story telling is dramatic and visually strong, but the writing doesn’t translate well into English. The literal translation by Alan Page seems overly formal, somewhat choppy and lacks the power of the original, so, if you can, read this book in the author’s Spanish edition.
Carto
### ( )