Our bookclub discussion for The Devil's Highway was last night. There will be one more opportunity to share thoughts on the book in July, stay tuned for the date and time.
For now, I want to take a quick moment and follow up on last night's book club discussion. We had a nice exchange of ideas, regarding the book and the immigration issues it touches on. Some shared personal stories, or family anecdotes, it was definitely a book that struck a chord with many. One participant said she appreciated how the book humanized the immigrants crossing and a few regretted not having a novel format because we were left wanting to know more. I wondered if perhaps this was Urrea's way of conveying that desperation and feeling of not knowing feelings that perhaps the families left behind still live with.
Different passages stood out for a few of us. For me it was page 32, its a meager list of effects found on the victims that reads like a poem, for another person it was the top of page 165 that names the GPS coordinates that identifies where the journey ends for some victims, for another person it was page 128 that describes how walkers strip nude to escape the heat and how the clothing is found,"eerily neat, carefully folded and left in nice little piles."
Did you read the book and didn't have an opportunity to join us? Are there any thoughts you would like to share before the next book club discussion. We encourage you to post a comment here or send it to info@tianguis.biz.
The Finished Product, in Ritchie Valens' Shadow
16 hours ago
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1 comment:
I'm glad this book was selected because I absolutely loved it.
I found it to be very inspirational with regards to my own art and creative writing.
"The Devil's Highway" is a timely book for our nation because it's both informative and personal. I feel it is a book BEYOND the Mexican-American border. Maybe that wasn't Mr. Urrea's original goal when writing the book.
From my perspective, it is about "borders" on a larger scale, which we superimpose on our
fellow human beings that ultimately ....erode our humanity and compassion.
Definitely gets one thinking about some serious issues.
From:
Tianguis Book Club member....
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