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.
> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
.
>
> 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?
>
> - --
> # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to
majordomo@icomm.ca.
> # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
.
>
-- # To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis" to majordomo@icomm.ca. # The web pages for the list are at http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/ .
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 28 May 2000 EDT