This review is bilingual. First, you will find the English version and after that one, you will find the Spanish version.I had to read this novel as part of the Spanish program in high school, in my country, Costa Rica. Los de Abajo that it can be translated as "The ones from bellow". I think it's a wordgame, since indeed the main characters are from the low levels of society but also, most of them are soldiers that supposed to be very brave, so they have a lot "balls" that indeed they can be found... well bellow. This book is a fictional story set in the middle of the Mexican Revolutionary War (1910-1920) and it's written by the mexican, Mariano Azuela, who was a military medic in that war, in fact he had to exile himself to El Paso, Texas, and it was there that he wrote this book, first in segments published on a local newspaper and later it was published finally as a novel. A good thing about the book while it mentions big names like Pancho Villa, all those historic characters are secondary and in many times only mentioned and not actually having active roles in the story. The book narrates the fictional revolutionary campaign of Colonel Demetrio Macías, and in almost the whole book, the reader perceived the events through the eyes and opinions of Luis Cervantes, a young idealist man who joined the Macías' insurgent army. Another good thing about the book is that the author, Mariano Azuela, didn't glorify the war but without any remorse, it portraited as something dark, violent and senseless. The novel shows how ironic is the situation of the revolutionary forces where they have battled for years without having any real political position or even knowing why they were in either side of the war. Also shows how poverty was ruling in the Mexican towns to an extreme that even the revolutionary soldiers have money but the towns didn't have anything to sell, barely surviving, questioning how any good can be doing that revolutionary war to the civilians in the middle of the battling. Irony is a strong issue in the narrative of the story, since the very beginning of it is based on it, due that Demetrio Macías, the main character didn't have any interest to be part of the revolution but when an enemy of Macías, labeled him as a member of the revolutionary forces, the Federal army tried to arrest him, but it provoked instead that he would form his own ragtag army and entering, for real, in the revolution. Also, I think that Mariano Azuela with intention or not, he acomplished perfectly with this novel to show the seven deadly sins: Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Lust, Envy and Gluttony, where the main character, Demetrio Macías is guilty of each sin at some point in his life, but also the rest of the characters are guilty of some of those sins. Showing that in a war, and even worse, a civil war (since making a war to destroy another's country is bad, making one to destroy your own's country is even worse), the sins run free causing amok. Yo tuve que leer esta novela como parte del programa de Español en el colegio, en mi país, Costa Rica. Los de Abajo pienso que es un juego de palabras, ya que en efecto los personajes principales son de los nivels bajos de la sociedad pero también, la mayoría de ellos son soldados que se supone son muy valientes, o sea ellos tienen muchas "bolas" que en efecto pueden ser encontradas... bueno abajo. Este libro es una historia ficticia situada en medio de la Guerra Revolucionaria Mexicana (1910-1920), y está escrita, por el mexicano, Mariano Azuela, que fué medico militar en esa guerra, de hecho he tuvo que exiliarse a sí mismo a El Paso, Texas, y fué allí donde el escribió el libro, primero en segmentos publicados en un periódico local y después fué publicada finalmente como novela. Un cosa buena sobre el libro es que aunque menciona nombres grandes como Pancho Villa, todos esos personajes históricos son secundarios y en muchas casos solo mencionados y no tiene roles activos en la historia. El libro narra la ficticia campaña revolucionaria del Coronel Demetrio Macías y en casi todo el libro, el lector percibe los eventos a través de los ojos y opiniones de Luis Cervantes, un joven idealista que se une a la armada insurgente de Macías. Otra cosa buena del libro es que el autor, Mariano Azuela, no glorifica la guerra sino que sin ningún remordimiento, la muestra como algo oscuro, violento y sin sentido. La novela muestra que irónica es la situación de las fuerzas revolucionarias donde ellos han batallado por años sin tener ninguna verdadera posición política o incluso saber porqué están ellos en cualquier lado de la guerra. También muestra como la pobreza reina en los pueblos Mexicanos a un extremo que incluso los soldados revolucionarios tienen dinero pero los pueblos no tienen nada para vender, apenas sobreviviendo, cuestionando que bien puede estar haciendo esta guerra revolucionaria a los civiles en medio de la batalla. La ironía es un punto fuerte en la narrativa de la historia, ya que desde el mismo principio de ella está basado en esto, debido a que Demetrio Macías, el personaje principal no tiene ningún interés en ser parte de la revolución pero cuando un enemigo de Macías, lo marca como miembro de las fuerzas revolucionarias, el ejército Federal trata de arrestarlo, pero esto provoca en su lugar que él vaya a formar su propia armada de desarrapados y entrando, de verdad, en la revolución. También, yo pienso que Mariano Azuela con intención o no, logró perfectamente con esta novela mostrar los siete pecados mortales: Ira, Codicia, Pereza, Orgullo, Lujuria, Envidia y Glotonería, donde el personaje principal, Demetrio Macías es culpable de cada pecado en algún punto de su vida, pero también el resto de los personajes son culpables de algunos de estos pecados. Demostrando que en una guerra, y todavía peor, una guerra civil (ya que hacer una guerra para destruir el país de otro es malo, pero hacer una para destruir tu propio país es peor), los pecados corren libres causando destrucción.
Nadie sabe a ciencia cierta lo que ocurrió en uno de los periodos más agitados en la historia moderna de nuestro país: la Revolución Mexicana.A pesar de ser referido como el acontecimiento político-social nacional más importante del siglo pasado, existen un sinnúmero de historias que mezclan la realidad y la ficción. Héroes y villanos; mitos y leyendas; la tiranía y la libertad… ¿Cómo poder discernir entre la verdad o la mentira?En su tiempo, el escritor y médico Mariano Azuela González (1873-1952) también reflexionó sobre ello al momento de escribir esta novela.Considerado como el primer novelista de la Revolución, es mejor conocido por esta popular obra, la cual narra la historia de un pequeño grupo de rebeldes ubicados en la sierra del sur de Zacatecas que, sin tener ningún noble ideal en mente, mataban federales por el bien de su supervivencia.En plena Revolución, Azuela se desempeñó como médico en la División del Norte. Estando en compañía de los villistas, evidenció las atrocidades y el dolor que dejaban a su paso los movimientos armados. Con base en dichas vivencias decide redactar un testimonio literario que da cuenta de lo que no relatan los libros oficiales de historia: las luchas internas, desgracias, aventuras y la ignorancia generalizada de los caudillos respecto a la verdadera causa por la que luchaban.La intención de Azuela es trasladar al lector al momento crucial de la acción. Por medio de la imaginación es posible palpar los sucesos y tener la capacidad de emitir un juicio hacia lo que no pudimos presenciar. En este aspecto, el narrador adquiere un rol significativo: actúa como observador que no se limita a dar un recuento objetivo de lo que acontece, sino que hay casos en que deja espacios abiertos para la reflexión del lector, además de que demuestra la sensible maestría del autor al describir los paisajes de la sierra y los pueblos, dando una asombrosa sensación de cercanía con la historia.A mi criterio, Los de abajo no es una historia sobre el desencanto de la Revolución; es una historia sobre la falta de fuerza de voluntad que nos afecta a todos, sin importar nuestra nacionalidad, género o cultura. Es una novela sobre el egoísmo humano y la corruptibilidad que puede consumir a cualquiera que detenta alguna clase de poder.
What do You think about Los De Abajo (1997)?
The Underdogs really reminded me of Blood Meridian by Cormack McCarthy. I think that there are several reasons for that. First, the story is very violent, but the violence is part of the environment. It is not gratuitous. The violence is simply as much a part of the environment as the blood red sunsets and the Sierra. Another aspect of this book that reminds me of McCarthy's western novels is the terseness of the dialog. These characters are actually more talkative than the ones in McCarthy's works, but they are men and women of action for the most part and the book is written in a way to accentuate that. The most powerful thing about this story is that Demetrio and his band of men begin the novel as people who have been forced by the cruelty of the current Government of Mexico, its military and political representatives as well as by local caciques, rich local chieftains to leave their homes and fight for the revolution. During the course of the book, they become the very thing they had left their homes to fight. It is very sad, but also a very human reaction to assumption of power. Mariano Azuela tells this story with little emotion and very powerfully. He uses some of the most beautiful language...another way in which he reminds me of Cormack McCarthy...so strange to have such violence and horrific acts described in such beautiful and sophisticated language. And the harshness of the environment depicted with such opulence is a strange contradiction. My only complaint is that many of the scenes depicted in the novel almost stand alone. They simply do their part to explain the facts of what occurred so that the reader understands, but the reader is left to determine on their own the meaning of the scene. Explanations are not given. I suppose that once again this is similar to the environment. It is what it is...one does not need to understand WHY it is, it simply is.
—Laura
Reading this book without any historical context would take a lot away from an understanding of it. Fortunately, I read the version published by Catedra and thus had the benefit of footnotes which explained discrepancies between Demetrio Macías' assertions about historical occurrences and what actually occurred. From a brief introduction to the important figures in the Mexican Revolution and the explanations in the footnotes, I was able to get an impression of the utter aimlessness of the cause of the characters in Los de abajo. They fought to fight with little to no understanding of the greater forces at play and with no unifying purpose. The face of their revolution changed constantly, and new figures were constantly rising to power, each with their own objectives. Macías' army was united not by a strong sense of purpose or dedication to a single leader but more by a hatred for a faceless enemy, los Federales. I was left with a feeling of futility and helplessness on behalf of Macías.
—Callie Deddens
While I can't honestly say that I enjoyed reading this book, I do understand and appreciate its literary significance. Los de abajo paints a realistic picture of what the Mexican Revolution was like on the ground for the guerrilla fighters, combining the valiant rhetoric of the Cause with the dry reality of an endless struggle. Even 100 years after the start of the Revolution, reading this novel helped make sense of some of the contemporary issues in today's Mexico. The open-ended nature of the story supports the idea that the Mexican Revolution is still not over, and that things will continue in a circle as they did for Demetrio Macias. I thought the great value of the novel was that it is a story of war that is still applicable outside of the Mexican Revolution. At many moments I was reminded of Cien años de soledad by Gabriel García Márquez. Both, though fictional, show the cyclical chaos of civil war in which the soldiers lose track of which side they are fighting for.
—Evelyn
