Index Card is a book about books with a free book to download.
Index card 027 - Latin America, with an Ñ
The Unfinished Novel of Bernardino Casablanca by César López Cuadras
51-year-old Truman Capote escapes from his perfect life in Beverly Hills to visit his friend Narciso in the fictional city of Guasachi, Sinaloa, Mexico. And even though “Guasachi” is a fictional place, the weather from Sinaloa, the smell of death, and the small-sized Pacifico beer (only available in Mexico) are accurate. Capote refuses to talk literature with his Mexican friend, but Narciso insists. In the “cantina,” Narciso orders scallops, shrimps, oysters, and neverending rounds of Pacifico to mitigate the hot weather. He shares his literary project with Capote: a novel that tries to solve the recent murder of Bernardino, the local pimp and businessman, owner of “Casablanca,” the whorehouse of Guasachi. Narciso tries to recreate the literary experiment of Capote, but with an open file. He soon realizes that in Mexico, things work differently. Narciso, the writer, becomes the detective, getting involved in the Narco Culture and the extreme violence of the north of Mexico.
The Unfinished Novel of Bernardino Casablanca is a forgotten gem of Mexican literature. It was the first novel to capture the reality of the north of Mexico and inaugurated the new wave of noir novels in Mexican literature. César López Cuadras, a Sinaloa native, recreates life in the small towns of the most prominent drug lords without effort. Narciso, the writer/detective, is a unique character outside the dogma of American or western detectives.
Thanks to a mutual friend, I had the opportunity to contact the family of César, who died in 2015, and they gave me the rights to translate the book into English for the first time. If you want to read the translation as I work on it, you can subscribe to my buy me a coffee, and I will send you my monthly advance of this mind-blowing book. See you in Sinaloa, Bookfriend!
︎︎ Subscribe to The Unfinished Novel of Bernardino Casablanca
The Unfinished Novel of Bernardino Casablanca is a forgotten gem of Mexican literature. It was the first novel to capture the reality of the north of Mexico and inaugurated the new wave of noir novels in Mexican literature. César López Cuadras, a Sinaloa native, recreates life in the small towns of the most prominent drug lords without effort. Narciso, the writer/detective, is a unique character outside the dogma of American or western detectives.
Thanks to a mutual friend, I had the opportunity to contact the family of César, who died in 2015, and they gave me the rights to translate the book into English for the first time. If you want to read the translation as I work on it, you can subscribe to my buy me a coffee, and I will send you my monthly advance of this mind-blowing book. See you in Sinaloa, Bookfriend!
︎︎ Subscribe to The Unfinished Novel of Bernardino Casablanca
Index card 026 - Latin America, with an Ñ
Tomb Song by Julián Herbert
Latin America is a country made up of different countries. We share the same problems, bleed from the same wounds, and know that despite our differences, we are brothers and sisters in the same fights. Maybe it’s caused by our shared history, but mostly because we build our realities through the same language: Spanish. In the following weeks, I’ll share some of my favorite books published in the last 50 years in Latin America.
Julián Herbert is by far one of the best Hispanic poets alive. Tomb Song is his first novel and prose work to be translated into English. Tomb Song is autobiographical fiction exploring the author’s mind and spirit through her mother’s death. Herbert’s voice is poetic, raw, and violent. The story of her mother, a prostitute, is surrounded by anecdotes, philosophical questions, and an inner journey to the dark side of the author’s life.
Julián is a myth in Mexico; he has lived his life to the fullest, battling addictions and celebrating life. His voice has influenced hundreds of young poets, including me. He was the first poet to use the word “sayayin” (taken from Dragon Ball, the famous manga)in a poem and pulled it out effortlessly. Tomb Song is another example of his talent and a great example of new Latin American writers doing their own thing outside any literary wave or label.
This book is for the misfits, the weirdos, stoners, and lost bullets. It is also a book for anyone interested in new Latin American voices.
See you in Mexico, Bookfriend!
︎︎ Read Tomb Song
Julián Herbert is by far one of the best Hispanic poets alive. Tomb Song is his first novel and prose work to be translated into English. Tomb Song is autobiographical fiction exploring the author’s mind and spirit through her mother’s death. Herbert’s voice is poetic, raw, and violent. The story of her mother, a prostitute, is surrounded by anecdotes, philosophical questions, and an inner journey to the dark side of the author’s life.
Julián is a myth in Mexico; he has lived his life to the fullest, battling addictions and celebrating life. His voice has influenced hundreds of young poets, including me. He was the first poet to use the word “sayayin” (taken from Dragon Ball, the famous manga)in a poem and pulled it out effortlessly. Tomb Song is another example of his talent and a great example of new Latin American writers doing their own thing outside any literary wave or label.
This book is for the misfits, the weirdos, stoners, and lost bullets. It is also a book for anyone interested in new Latin American voices.
See you in Mexico, Bookfriend!
︎︎ Read Tomb Song
Index card 025 - Blue is my favorite color
Blue: The History of a Color by Michel Pastoureau
This morning I realized the sky from Mexico City has a different blue than the sky in L.A. and a completely different one from the sky in Boston. The blue in the sky varies depending on the amount of particles, water droplets, and ice suspended in the atmosphere. For me, the blue in the sky reflects something different: where I am standing in relation to the world I inhabit. Measuring the sky’s blue has become a map of my memories, a record of my emotions, and a small proof of my permanence on this beautiful planet.
As I said before, my exploration of the color blue started with Bluets by Maggie Nelson, broadened with The Primary Colors, and ended with a fantastic essay by Michel Pastoureau: Blue: The History of a Color. Unlike the other two titles, this is a formal essay, a straightforward journey through the history of the color blue. But how can a color so abundant on our planet (the sky, the sea, cornflowers, etc.) have its own history? I learned through this book that even the word “blue” was absent from many languages, including Greek or Ethrusc, pillars of western languages. Many “blues” are fake, an optical illusion caused by the refraction of the light on specific surfaces that capture the exact wavelength of the light that creates a kind of blue. Primitive civilizations lacked blue dyes or blue paint. Blue is actually something new and, ironically, ancient. Blue is a complex color, unlike this beautiful book, which is somewhat of all you need to know about blue.
Thank you for joining me in this brief exploration of color and space. Enjoy this beautiful essay under one of the many blue skies.
︎︎ Read Blue: The History of a Color
As I said before, my exploration of the color blue started with Bluets by Maggie Nelson, broadened with The Primary Colors, and ended with a fantastic essay by Michel Pastoureau: Blue: The History of a Color. Unlike the other two titles, this is a formal essay, a straightforward journey through the history of the color blue. But how can a color so abundant on our planet (the sky, the sea, cornflowers, etc.) have its own history? I learned through this book that even the word “blue” was absent from many languages, including Greek or Ethrusc, pillars of western languages. Many “blues” are fake, an optical illusion caused by the refraction of the light on specific surfaces that capture the exact wavelength of the light that creates a kind of blue. Primitive civilizations lacked blue dyes or blue paint. Blue is actually something new and, ironically, ancient. Blue is a complex color, unlike this beautiful book, which is somewhat of all you need to know about blue.
Thank you for joining me in this brief exploration of color and space. Enjoy this beautiful essay under one of the many blue skies.
︎︎ Read Blue: The History of a Color
Index card 024 - Blue is my favorite color
The Primary Colors by Alexander Theroux
“Blue. The word sings. You pout pronouncing it, form a kiss, moue slightly, blowing gracefully from the lips as if before candles on a birthday cake. (Is that why Rimbaud insists the color of the vowel o is blue?)”
Like many great art pieces, The Primary Colors by Alexander Theroux is a collection of ideas, situations, objects, and physical phenomena that share a condition: their color. And although the book is considered an essay, it’s one of the most surprising texts I’ve read in a long time. Due to the curated collection of information, The Primary Colors can be considered a work of art, a chant for beauty, and a fun walk through blue, red, and yellow. Alexander Theroux displays an exciting investigation made with academic rigor but with a fresh voice and lacking the pretension usually found at this level of work. Blue, the first essay, is an exciting journey through the never-ending shades of blue and a great read for anyone who has felt attracted to this color. Blue is only sixty pages long, less than 2 hrs, and suitable for all readers.
If you’re slowly falling for blue like me, don’t miss this book.
︎︎ Read The Primary Colors
Like many great art pieces, The Primary Colors by Alexander Theroux is a collection of ideas, situations, objects, and physical phenomena that share a condition: their color. And although the book is considered an essay, it’s one of the most surprising texts I’ve read in a long time. Due to the curated collection of information, The Primary Colors can be considered a work of art, a chant for beauty, and a fun walk through blue, red, and yellow. Alexander Theroux displays an exciting investigation made with academic rigor but with a fresh voice and lacking the pretension usually found at this level of work. Blue, the first essay, is an exciting journey through the never-ending shades of blue and a great read for anyone who has felt attracted to this color. Blue is only sixty pages long, less than 2 hrs, and suitable for all readers.
If you’re slowly falling for blue like me, don’t miss this book.
︎︎ Read The Primary Colors
