Derek Palacio

This was an incredibly challenging read. The author doesn't use quotation marks and there is a lot of dialogue between characters interspersed with narration. It took a great deal of focus to keep track of who was speaking and when, and it significantly impacted the opportunity to engage with and enjoy the overall story.

The story itself is okay, but I found myself missing why it was particularly compelling. It may be that the problem with dialogue made it harder to connect with the characters, but it was definitely challenging to really find significance in what seems like it should be a very significant story.

[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.]… (meer)

When I finished The Mortifications, I went back to the description on the cover, and the various snippets of reviews. I am convinced that I must have read a different book. Apart from being bleak and depressing from start to finish, the religious aspects of the story were not to my liking. It left me feeling that I was eavesdropping on the author's private reckoning with God. I enjoyed the descriptions of everyday Cuban life and the realities of the 'Special Period' and the Revolution, the undercurrent of in-your-face Catholicism was neither what I expected nor enjoyed. Pretty disappointing.… (meer)

One of the reviewers mentioned Palacio's "flat writing style, as well as the closeness/distance he chose for his characters, felt so bland and uninteresting." I think one thing happening here is the characters seem to know a lot more about their realities than it would seem possible. They are aware of the exile psychology, the role of their stepfather in their lives, the politics of diaspora, the role of Catholicism in their lives, that seem preternaturally impossible for children but possible for adults. Other reviewers noted the hyperbolic self-awareness of these characters, and I wondered if it would be so problematic if they had been adults, recalling their stories from the future, with the apt amount of self-awareness and wisdom earned. One of my friends says that adult-like children are a trend in fiction. That said, when we were finally free of that exposition of childhood that takes up the first half of the book, once we get to Cuba (returning as we must through the epic lens of the main character of Ulises), it turns out that perhaps the son is both Ulysses and Telemachus in this reframing. The Oedipal take on the mother's sexuality is evocatively connected to Catholic guilt and nationalistic loyalty to Cuba--and it's so subtle that it may be missed by some readers. It's a solid novel, making clear the choice that must be made between living by principles and surviving as a matter of pragmatism. I loved the dialogue... I think dialogue is Palacio's strength. It's clipped, relentless, and drives the best writing in the book.… (meer)