About this title: A Michener novel, started in 1961 and rediscovered and finished 30 years later, which traces 1500 years of Mexican history. An American journalist, in Mexico to cover a duel between two celebrated matadors and to learn more about his family's roots, uncovers the story of his Mexican ancestors.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780679416494ISBN:0679416498
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Books, New York
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780449221877ISBN:0449221873
Description: Good. No Jacket. The book is very solid with unmarked pages. The cover has minor shelf wear & moderate edge wear with a 1/4 inch tear at the lower back edge of the spine. read more
Edition: Abridged.
Binding: Audiobook cassette
Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780679413172ISBN:0679413170
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Ex-library. Nice 4-tape audio cassette set, lightly played, light shelf wear to plastic case, former library copy, stk #v7-9. 4 cassettes. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Books
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780449221877ISBN:0449221873
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover is worn, book has been read several times, binding a little loose. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 672 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House Inc, Westminster, Maryland, U.S. A
Date Published: 1992
ISBN-13:9780679416494ISBN:0679416498
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Publishing Group, New York, New York, U.S. A
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780449221877ISBN:0449221873
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Fawcett Crest, New York
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780449221877ISBN:0449221873
Description: Good. 646 pp; spine creasing, edge wear; Norman Clay is a U. S. journalist who travels to Mexico to cover a bullfight and research his family history. The narrative moves between Clay's past--the labyrinth of his family tree--and the present, bringing with it the history of Mexico from ancient Indian times to the present. Michener began work on this book in 1961. He set it aside to work on another project, lost track of the manuscript, and thirty years later rediscovered it and completed the ... read more
"I tried reading a James Michener book a few years ago, "Alaska". It remains one of the very few books I've begun but not completed (the list is a handful at most). The man is wordy and long winded. Half way through "Alaska" I couldn't take any more and had to put it down and walk away.
Maybe I'll have to try it again after reading "Mexico". "Mexico" was actually quite good. A story about a fictional town, family, indigenous culture and bull-fighting festival, it was a whirl-wind through time and the narrator's view of his life and family. The characters popped to life. The imagined history of the town of Toledo was colorful and I feel like I've perhaps learned something about bull fighting. A compelling and fun read, it probably could have been a shorter book than its 580 pages. At times Michener's love of words and need to put them to use had me dropping funny looks on the text.
However, unlike when I tried to read "Alaska", the story was captivating enough to keep me (enjoyably) turning the pages until the book was done."
"Way too long. I loved Hawaii, I read it in fifth grade, but I didn't find all of the minute description of bull-fighting very interesting. I loved the snatches of Mexican politics, however. Politics 10 % Bullfighting 90% The reverse would have worked better."
"Michener was assigned for my graduate Geography in Literature course, I chose Mexico which is apparently one of the easiest to digest. It was a bit daunting to carry home a dictionary-sized book, but it was actually a fairly quick read.
To be straight, Michener is not a good writer. As my teacher put it, he's the best author that never got an editor. He has a lot of good ideas, but he also has plenty of boring and lame ones. He's a rambling man, and Mexico would have been better with half the number of paeans to maguey weed and Indians (yes, I get all of the symbolism. Getting it doesn't make it any less tedious the 408th time he talks about it).
There is a lot of interesting history in the book but it is hard to tell what is reality-based and what is fiction. This unfortunately leads me to distrust all of it.
In the end I think I've been cured of my interest in Michener's work."
"Despite my affection for Michener, I have to say I was disappointed in this book. It has the wrong title, is too long and he fictionalized in areas where I felt truth would have made it a stronger novel.
As I noted in my review of his My Lost Mexico, I don't know how or why I neglected this book in the past. In My Lost Mexico Michener explains how he began the novel, abandoned it for 30 years and then returned to write what became another of his bestsellers. I don't think the end result was the book he originally intended and it probably became a bestseller on the basis of his popularity rather than the novel's merits.
Don't misunderstand, the book does have merit. The characters-especially Norman Clay, Leon Ledesma, Mrs. Evans, Victoriano and Gomez, to name a few-are engaging. And the plot is interesting and entertaining.
But the novel is not a "history" of Mexico as the title and his past works might suggest.
It's not my novel. If it were, I'd have eliminated all the history on Clay's family, retaining just enough back-story on them to explain his split nationality. I don't understand why Michener felt it necessary to invent the Altomecs when the Aztecs would have made a truer story. Likewise, the invention of Gurza when there were so many real characters of his type to draw from.
I would have centered on the festival and the bullfights, which are the real focus of the novel. Michener does an excellent job of explaining the intricacy of the corrida. Here the real themes of courage, persistence and optimism are emphasized and give the novel its soul."
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