Tula Station [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

It seems fitting for a man being heralded as heir to García Márquez and other Latin American godheads of postmodern circuitousness that the namesake of David Toscana's English debut, Tula Station, is the central image and fulcrum of not only the novel but also any criticism that may be made of it. As the town of Tula's fortune ultimately resides in the government's decision of whether or not to include it on the railway line, so does the book's success depend upon the reader's willingness to separate its three narratives so that they become more than coincidental echoes of one another.

Supposedly culled by Toscana from the manuscript of Froylán Gómez, long considered dead, Tula Station continues to toy with the hazy realm between fact and fiction. Gómez is paid to write the biography of Juan Capistrán, the bastard orphan of Tula. Capistrán spends his life in pursuit of the affections of the beautiful, elusive Carmen as well as validation from the town of the once-prosperous Tula. Preoccupied with its ultimate standing in history's eyes, the town goes to great lengths to leave its mark, including this amusing attempt to be the most populous city and therefore the capital:

How many more do we need? One hundred? Three hundred? And nobody can die. That is Dr. Isunza's responsibility. I, one of them said, am going right home, and in nine months, I will provide another Tulteco. All applauded and drank to expanding their families. Well, I couldn't even if I wanted to, señores, because my wife is already in menopause. Then marry off your daughters. And the men left the casino and headed home, ready to eliminate the cold showers, half acts and the not-todays.

Capistrán and the town itself quickly emerge as likable underdogs, thanks to Toscana's loving attention to quirky details. Gómez, on the other hand, requires a bit more patience if one is to see something larger in the selfish rejection of his established life for the pursuit of yet another mysterious Carmen. The same can occasionally be said for the overall novel itself, cutting quickly back and forth between Gómez and Capistrán's related journeys. But what is intended as harmony can descend into a temporary cacophony for anyone who is less than patient. Toscana supplies the story's cords, but is up to the reader to elevate them to chords. --Bob Michaels -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

Acclaimed Mexican author Toscana interweaves three equally compelling stories into a poignant novel of love and loss. When Froylan Gomez, a restless, would-be writer, is summoned to a nursing home to meet Juan Capistran, an aged and ailing man claiming to be his long-lost great-great-grandfather, he embarks on an intensely emotional journey that will forever alter the course of his once predictable existence. Commissioned by Juan to write his biography, Froylan becomes immersed in the interrelated tales of a small town's demise and Juan's life-long desire for a woman named Carmen. Inspired by the passion of the old man's devotion to the past, Froylan retreats further from his thoroughly confused wife, desperately seeking to discover a "Carmen" of his own. Toscana's spare, understated prose serves to underscore the tremendous emotional impact of this semimystical fable. Margaret Flanagan -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

A daringly intricate and haunting novel, first published in Mexico in 1995, that introduces American readers to a gifted writer who seems poised to inherit the postmodernist mantle of Carlos Fuentes. The story consists of three intertwined narratives, arranged by ``David Toscana'' from manuscripts left behind by his missing friend Froylan Gomez. Gomez, a would-be writer declared dead following a massive hurricane, has, instead of dying, actually absconded, perhaps with another woman (as his wife Patricia, who has asked ``Toscana'' to edit Froylan's papers, has surmised). Gradually, the reader sorts out the terse episodes (contained in dozens of brief chapters) that comprise, first, the ``biography'' Froylan writes at the request of an elderly Juan Capistran, who claims to be the writers great-grandfather; second, the parallel history of the mountainside village of Tula, whose hopeful accession to progress and modernity depends upon Tula's becoming a major stop on the railroad line connecting Mexico City with Veracruz; and, finally, the story of Froylan's own obsession with a woman he impulsively identifies with the central figure of Juan Capistran's increasingly strange story. It's the tale of a bastard son effectively exiled by his domineering grandmother after his mother's death; out of place everywhere he attempts to belong; condemned to be tortured by his love for Carmen, the woman he can never win. Toscana adds further ironic levels of meaning with juxtaposed explorations of Froylan's pursuit of his own ``Carmen'' and especially with episodic glimpses of Tula's ``progress'' (where characters from Juan Capistran's tale assume increasing importance), a progress thats eventually concluded as irresolutely as are the lives of Toscana's characterswith the building of a railway station and sets of incoming and outgoing tracks, though the trains will forever bypass Tula. A tale, though enigmatic and elusive, that slowly, surely discloses its several secrets while drawing the reader deeply into the interrelations of a number of vividly dramatized lives. Memorable work from an impressive new writer. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

This inventive and subtle novel weaves together interconnected tales of 19th- and 20th-century life in an inaccessible Mexican mountain town called Tula. First, there is the contemporary story of a supposedly dead man who leaves his wife in search of Carmen, a fantasy woman. Then there's the historic tale of the rather dim Juan Capistr n, who seeks adventure in the era of the Mexican Revolution. Finally there is Tula's hopeful but impossible quest for strategic importance and modernization. The supposed truths of the town's history contrast with the fantastic realities of the personal narratives. Some readers may find the novel overly complex, but those who make the effort will gain insight into the contemporary Mexican literary scene. Toscana, who lives in Monterrey, Mexico, has written three novels; this is the first to be translated into English. English-language readers should look forward to more.
-Mary Margaret Benson, Linfield Coll. Lib., McMinnville, OR
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.