"Season of the Swamp" by Yuri Herrera

 

Mid-19th century southern US society analysed from an outsider's viewpoint.

In 1853, exiled Mexican politician Benito Juarez arrived in New Orleans where he stayed for eighteen months, supporting himself by rolling cigars. This period is scarcely mentioned in his autobiography. This novel fills in the blanks, suggesting that his political education was shaped by witnessing the effects of slavery.

The narrative is in the third person part tense but seen from the perspective of the protagonist who is himself never named but referred to by the pronoun 'he'. Those who enforce the law are also unnamed and metonymically represented as ‘badges’, presumably in order to deny them personality.

There is plenty of incident in this book and some nicely drawn characters although the protagonist seems rather shadowy. There are some wonderful moments of prose.

Herrera's other novels have received a number of awards.

Selected quotes:

• “A drunk, wakening to the horrific news that he was no longer drunk, looked their way with the clear intention of asking for alms, but quickly changed his mind.” (Ch 1)
• “A thin balding man wrapped in a coat meant for bigger bones.” (Ch 1)
• “It sounded like French, but kind of bettered somehow, as if it had been unhitched from the dictionary and gone for a stroll.” (Ch 1)
• “Endless untroubled oaks just oaking around, as if, hands in pockets, they were merely watching folks go by.” (Ch 1)
• “An official document ... unlike a living paper is a tombstone, an impossibly thin grave etched in haughty grammar and a language spoken by no one.” (Ch 3)
• “Inheritance does nothing but perpetuate the number of people who are unproductive.” (Ch 3)
• “Don't believe all that nonsense about a few bad apples spoiling the good. Good apples are only good for show; the product you sell, those’re the bad ones.” (Ch 3)
• “It was as if the others had astigmatism: since everything was blurry, they decided to shoot at whatever was in front of them.” (Ch 3)
• “Could there be any place more interesting than the one where all the chaff gets tossed? That's where new things ferment, where people learn to innovate, even if those who did the tossing refuse to see it.” (Ch 4)
• “Oppressed and drunk is oppressed and docile.” (Ch 6)

December 2024; 163 pages

First published in Spanish in 2022

My edition was the 2024 &OtherStories translation by Lisa Dillman

This review was written by the author of Bally and Bro, Motherdarling  and The Kids of God