The Crossing: Border Trilogy (2): Vol 2 (Vintage International)

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A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

Ambientato negli stessi territori del precedente, il confine col Messico: anche se questa volta la parte americana è un po’ più a ovest, il New Mexico, invece del Texas (anche se poi la copertina direi che mostra Zabriskie Point – ma magari all’Einaudi pensano che tutti i deserti sono uguali). Agli uomini sottrae parole, li racconta in maniera silenziosa, sia perché sono sempre umani laconici, sia perché risparmia descrizioni: eppure, lasciando il lettore a intuire, approfondisce più che con l’uso delle parole. The Crossing in this asymmetrical fashion? Does he employ a similar structure elsewhere in this book? Is its overall structure similar to that of All the Pretty Horses? In what ways does The Crossing resemble classic myths and fairy tales? How do Billy and Boyd Parham compare to the figures that Joseph Campbell describes in The Hero with a Thousand Faces? About this AuthorI spent a good amount of time in early 2014 in southern Mexico. It was a learning experience and it helped me to appreciate what's in this novel. Not only was I able to follow along with much of the Spanish dialogue (it's basic stuff, trust me, I'm not bragging here), but the portrayal of the life and the people rings true and brings to mind images, scenes and people I saw and met during my time in that parched land. The people in The Crossing are characterized by a kind of psychological opaqueness. Since we rarely know their direct thoughts, we must infer their motives from their words and actions, which often seem cryptic or irrational. How do we come to know these characters? What vision of human nature does their opaqueness suggest? Of the priest what can be said? As with all priests his mind had become clouded by the illusion of its proximity to God.

How would you characterize Billy’s relationship with Boyd? Why does he return to Mexico to find out what happened to his brother? What else is he looking for? The landscape is beautifully rendered and as active an agent in the narrative as any of the characters Billy and Boyd meet with. I'm leaving a big chunk of the action undescribed, most of it in fact, not because I believe in spoilers (I don't), but because I think that no nimbleness of paraphrase on my part could ever capture the emotional richness, vivid imagery, and sheer narrative power of this fine novel. Most of the protagonists are people of few words; thus the dialogues are few and concise. Additionally, since much of the interaction is with Mexican people, many parts of dialogues are written in untranslated Spanish. When Billy finally catches the animal, he harnesses her and, instead of killing her, determines to return her to the mountains of Mexico where he believes her original home is located. He develops a deep affection for and bond with the wolf, risking his life to save her on more than one occasion. Things separate from their stories have no meaning. They are only shapes. Of a certain size and color. A certain weight. When their meaning has become lost to us they no longer have even a name. The story on the other hand can never be lost from its place in the world for it is that place. And that is what was to be found here. The corrido. The tale. And like all corridos it ultimately told one story only, for there is only one to tell.Along the way of his third journey, he meets with several other travelers as well as people who give him food and shelter when needed. The people he meets all have stories to tell and their own versions of life they want to share: He said that most men were in their lives like the carpenter whose work went so slowly for the dullness of his tools that he had not time to sharpen them. Voi cosa dite? Voi che parole pronunciate di fronte a un foglio e dell'inchiostro? Che potere avete voi, che potere abbiamo noi, davanti a un libro scritto in questo modo? On Billy Parham’s second journey into Mexico, where he spends most of his time between the northern town of Casas Grandes and the southern town of Santa Ana de Babícora, these two relatively large towns have remained constant and verifiable between 1922 and the present. The smaller villages (or pueblos) had to be hunted down on Google Maps by "flying" close to the ground along the indicated route. Through this means, the pueblos of Mata Ortiz, San Jose (judged to be the existing pueblo of San Jose de Ermita), and La Pinta were located. What role do animals play in this book? Why, for example, does Billy endure such great danger and hardship for the sake of a wolf? Do any of the characters he meets in Mexico share his feelings about animals? He also meets an opera troupe performing Pagliacci in the wilds, the characters of which curiously parallel Billy and Boyd's relationship with a girl they save along their route.