This is told from the perspective of a precocious seven-year-old boy, Tochtli, who has a ‘devastating’ memory and lives in the secure compound of his Mexican drug baron father. Tochtli is kind of telling the story of wanting a Liberian pygmy hippopotamus, but we, as adult readers, also see the story of drug dealing, corruption and prostitution. An excellent short novella with some great imagery at the end. I was close to giving this four stars; the writing was excellent, the child believable. Every part of it worked, and the strongest thing was how well it showed the full extent of horrible things through an innocent's eyes, giving us full knowledge of many things that he himself does not understand. It seemed as though it could have been more, though. Perhaps it was the pace I read it at, but it seemed as if it could have lingered longer, meandered through its parts at a more leisurely pace, maybe followed events further. Very thought-provoking and interesting, and extremely well-written, however.
What do You think about Festa No Covil (2010)?
Short read, but packs so much into it. Highly recommended!
—Brimoore88
