RARA-AVIS: Re: RARA-AVIS Digest Jose Latour

From: Peter Davis ( yourflesh@worldnet.att.net)
Date: 28 May 2000


Interesting that Latour would pop up on the list as I was just thinking earlier, "I wonder if "Outcast" is something that'll be hitting the radar screen." The following review is to appear in our upcoming edition of Your Flesh (#43) which'll be available in just a couple more weeks:

OUTCAST by Jos頌atour; Akashic, 1999 Fiction is often a sharper, clearer truth than non-fiction. Unencumbered by the contradictions that make up the big picture, fiction can shed light on the subject matter for the voyeur, otherwise known as the reader. Never is this truth more apparent than when reading Jos頌atour's Outcast, the first Cuban crime novel written in English and published in the United States, thanks to Johnny Temple's Akashic imprint. Outcast documents protagonist Elliot Steil's travails as a citizen in a socialist society, his illegal immigration to the States and how he creates a life for himself in this society. More Buena Vista Social Club than Scarface, Steil is a likable character void of the psychopathic obsession that makes someone like Ellroy unreadable for me. Steil is a schoolteacher whose apolitical leanings didn't endear him to the local junta, which means he lived a static life with little hope for advancement. But because the life of the character isn't moving too fast in the beginning, Latour is able to paint vivid images of the day to day life in Cuba, something you won't find in any travel guides or political textbooks. Steil isn't motivated, but he is smart, smart enough to outthink his detractors. And as his situation changes, he is able to respond with ingenuity, and often on the fly. Latour also devotes a lot of attention to the plot. Once the story starts moving, as it does when Steil gets an opportunity to leave Cuba, unexpected twists and turns push the plot, and the predictable is often replaced by an unpredictable subtext. Steil arrives in Florida and becomes immersed in a variety of illegal activities, but never loses his sense of morality. Instead of turning into a gun-toting monster, Steil finds a way to pay the bills and extract a pound of flesh from those who have wronged him. There are a few problems with the book, however. The narrator changes at times, moving from Steil to Fidelia his girlfriend without always a clear indication of who the new voice is; one is forced to reread these passages once the perspective of narration has been established. There is also a literary bent that occasionally reminds the reader that the writer is in love with words. I have no problem looking words up, but the occasional poetic voice is unrealistic and therefore creates distance between the reader and the writing. Granted, both Chandler and Hammett could turn a phrase, but it was their imaginative choice of words rather than size of their vocabularies that served them well. Aside from these few gripes, I found Outcast entertaining and educational and Latour should be credited for creating a bi-cultural novel. Cuba is obviously a hot topic in recent years due to the warmer relations with the United States. Interestingly, it is Americans, not Cuban immigrants, who have developed a curiosity and thirst for the culture of the lost island off the coast of Florida. As a new take on the crime fiction genre, Outcast is something that fans of the genre will find interesting, yet the book is strong enough to stand on its own merits. And while he's already established as an author of note in his homeland, Outcast will spread Latour's name beyond Cuba, hopefully broadening both the multicultural literary landscape and crime fiction in a way that is most welcome.

-Tad Hendrickson

I trust some of you have now found this review useful.

Best, Peter Davis Your Flesh Mag

> Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 09:06:29 -0400
> From: "Words from the Monastery" < anthony.dauer@erols.com>
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: Jose Latour "Outcast" on CBS Sunday Morning Today
>
> 9am to 1030am Eastern ... don't know when he'll pop up exactly, but he's on.
> If you miss it you can order a transcript from CBS.
>
> volente Deo,
>
> Anthony Dauer
> Alexandria, Virginia
>
> "The dead are heavy, after all."
> -Will Christopher Baer, "Penny Dreadful"
>
> Hard-Boiled Noir Discussion
> Hard-Boiled-subscribe@egroups.com
>
> - --
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca.
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>
> Date: Sun, 28 May 2000 12:09:59 -0400
> From: "Words from the Monastery" < anthony.dauer@erols.com>
> Subject: RE: RARA-AVIS: Jose Latour "Outcast"
>
> I love it ... an excellent work that deftly crosses the gap between genre
> and literary fiction.
>
> volente Deo,
>
> Anthony Dauer
> Alexandria, Virginia
>
> "The dead are heavy, after all."
> -Will Christopher Baer, "Penny Dreadful"
>
> Hard-Boiled Noir Discussion
> Hard-Boiled-subscribe@egroups.com
>
> > From: Peter Walker
> > Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2000 11:57 AM
> >
> > I, for one, really enjoyed "Outcast".
> > Anyone else read it/loiked it?
>
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