The Old Gringo

I really liked this book. It’s definitely one of my favourites of the ones we’ve covered. We’ve read a few books that are based on memory, and we’ve discussed how fickle memory can be and what kind of story is created when it is strung together by a collection of memories. However, The Old Gringo combines memory with dreams, tragedy, beauty, and cynicism felt by intriguing characters surviving the dry heat in the Mexican state of Chihuahua in a powerfully historic time that creates an immersive read. Unlike some of the other memory-based books, this one wasn’t tiresome but was actually enjoyable and easy to follow.

In the lecture video, Jon asks what the effect of the repetition of the phrase “Now she sits alone and remembers” might be, and if it contains different meanings when it is used at different times. I think in a simple way, it just makes the story easier to follow. It’s almost as if Fuentes is reminding the reader where he started the story and where he will end it, and urging us not to get too lost between the memories being retold. I agree that the repetition of this phrase does have a poetic and dreamy feeling to it, which is aligned with how the rest of the book is written. This dreamy and whimsical tone of the book was one of the things I really liked about it. The “old gringo/old man”, or Ambrose Bierce, uses this dreamy tone in his musings that describe his desire for death. Of course, it’s tragic and disheartening to hear how and why he wants to die and why he has so little lust for life, but it’s very poetic.

The way the characters and the narrator describe memories and dreams feels so visceral, there’s so much room to connect with instinct rather than fact. I wonder if this feeling is intentional as it coincides with the fact that this book is a work of fiction (though based on a true story) and because of that, Fuentes has left room for interpretation or dreaming. Maybe his intention was for the story to feel dreamy because it was a tale that he had created without knowing the concrete reality of what actually happened to Ambrose Pierce.

It probably would’ve been in my favour to know the history of the Mexican Revolution just to have more context, regardless, I think most of the story is fictional.

What do you think of the dreamlike way in which the book is written? Did you find it frustrating and lacking context, or was it a fun way for you to get lost in the story?