Acton reviewed Avenue of mysteries by John Irving
Review of 'Avenue of mysteries' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Juan Diego left before I was ready. I'd come to like him very much and will miss him.
He was a writer who started life in Oaxaca, Mexico, but then spent most of his life in Iowa.
He was a man who rejected the tag Mexican-American because he felt he'd lived two distinctly different lives; his American self was not shaped by his Mexican childhood. He was either an American from Iowa, or a Mexican from Oaxaca, but not both at the same time.
He was a man who had suffered many losses. It's best to let him tell those stories.
He was a precocious boy who taught himself to read in both Spanish and English. He was also the only one who understood his unusually gifted sister when she spoke. He was her translator. These children's talents are the first sign of magical realism in this story, but not …
Juan Diego left before I was ready. I'd come to like him very much and will miss him.
He was a writer who started life in Oaxaca, Mexico, but then spent most of his life in Iowa.
He was a man who rejected the tag Mexican-American because he felt he'd lived two distinctly different lives; his American self was not shaped by his Mexican childhood. He was either an American from Iowa, or a Mexican from Oaxaca, but not both at the same time.
He was a man who had suffered many losses. It's best to let him tell those stories.
He was a precocious boy who taught himself to read in both Spanish and English. He was also the only one who understood his unusually gifted sister when she spoke. He was her translator. These children's talents are the first sign of magical realism in this story, but not the last. There is much more to come.
By now, it's apparent that Juan Diego was a serious thinker from an early age, as was his sister, Lupe. Their conversations with each other and the adults around them have much to do with religion, especially the Catholicism that was imposed on native Mexicans by the Conquistadors and European missionaries.
It's interesting that Juan Diego and Lupe interact mostly with adults, rarely other children. Indeed, they both seem too old for children their own age. These adults--Father Alfonso, Brother Pepe, Edward Bonshaw, Flor, Rivera, Dr. Vargas, and their mother Esperanza--have very different ideas about life and religion. Lupe and Juan Diego can hold their own with any of them.
But this is all in the past. Right now, Juan Diego is on a trip to the Philippines, a trip he'd promised someone a long time ago to take. (Juan Diego will go back and tell that story, too.) Now, it's forty years later and he's sitting in an airport, when he meets Miriam and Dorothy, mother and daughter, fans of his novels. They are very take-charge ladies (pushy). Who are these women? One of them shrugs in a way that reminds him of Lupe--
Lupe: After being disillusioned by the Virgin of Guadalupe, she makes things happen herself. That's quite a story.
Juan Diego is on his way to meet an old friend and former student, Clark French. It's a curious friendship, and sticking with Clark could get boring, but wait--Miriam and Dorothy are suddenly back in the picture...who are they? These women appeared in his life as suddenly as Edward Bonshaw did. Except Edward and Flor stayed in his life...that's a long tale (and worth every minute).
Come to think of it, perhaps Juan Diego did tell me everything. I'm beginning to think he knew precisely when to stop telling stories. A novelist would plan that perfectly, would draw me in deeper the more I'd read until he was finished.
Bravo!
Lupe reminds me of Owen Meany. And there are some familiar John Irving themes, too.
