Taibo really wasn't joking with that book title, my goodness. I always think I'm going to fly through these little 170-ish page novels and they're so dense and darkly funny and philosophical I end up taking a week so I can go slowly and savor.
D眉nya edebiyat谋ndan daha 枚nce okumad谋臒谋m veya ad谋n谋 hi莽 duymad谋臒谋m yazarlar谋n kitaplar谋n谋 tercih ediyorum s谋k莽a. Bu kitab谋 da b枚yle bir tercihle 8 y谋l 枚nce okumu艧 ve not d眉艧m眉艧眉m.Ak谋艧ta, Ramazan Atlen'in bu kitab谋 okudu臒unu g枚r眉nce sevinerek yazar ve kitapla ilgili d眉艧眉ncelerimi payla艧mak istedim.
Taibo, 陌spanya'da do臒mu艧 ama 莽ocuklu臒unu Meksika'da ge莽irmi艧. Sonra da Meksika vatanda艧谋 olmu艧. Asl谋nda sayg谋n bir tarih莽i, 眉niversitede hocal谋k yapm谋艧. Tarih kitaplar谋n谋n yan谋nda say谋s谋z k谋sa hikaye ve roman yazm谋艧. Uluslararas谋 Su莽 Yazarlar谋 Derne臒i' nin kurucular谋 aras谋nda.
Kitab谋n arka plan谋nda, Meksika'y谋 bir zamanlar cehenneme 莽eviren Halcones ( 艦ahinler ) adl谋 karanl谋k bir olu艧umun neden oldu臒u katliamlar var. ABD' nin dev艧irip e臒itti臒i bu caniler, 眉niversite 枚臒rencilerinin bir g枚sterisinde kalabal谋k i莽ine dal谋p ate艧 ediyorlar ve 40 'dan fazla ki艧iyi katlediyorlar( 10 Haziran 1971 ) Film ve foto臒raflardan tespit edildikleri halde dava dosyas谋 delil yetersizli臒inden kapan谋yor ve serbest kal谋yorlar. Siyasilerin himaye ettikleri bu g眉ruhtan baz谋lar谋 Metro polisli臒ine atan谋yor; baz谋lar谋 ise belediyelere veya kamu kurumlar谋na sokuluyor. Tan谋d谋k geldi de臒il mi?
Roman, iyi e臒itim alm谋艧 ve son 眉莽 y谋ld谋r dedektiflik yapan Hector Belascoaran' 谋n 眉莽 arkada艧谋yla payla艧t谋臒谋 b眉rosunda buldu臒u bir cesedin soru艧turmas谋 ile ba艧l谋yor ve Halcones ile tek ba艧谋na m眉cadele etmek zorunda kal谋yor. Geriye d枚n眉艧lerle iyi bir kurgunun i莽ine yedirilmi艧 ger莽ek olaylar, Meksika tarihine g枚ndermeler, okuyucuda 枚臒renme hevesini k枚r眉kl眉yor ve ara艧t谋rmaya sevk ediyor.
Kara mizahla gerilimi 眉st seviyede tutmak ancak usta yazarlar谋n i艧idir. 艦ahsen Taibo' nun dilimize 莽evrilmi艧 di臒er kitaplar谋n谋 da okumak isterim.
Belascor谩n se haya metido en un l铆o sin tener vela en el entierro, en el cual como el titulo lo anuncia: no habr谩 final feliz. Llena de humor mexicano y acci贸n.
This is the best of the Hector Belascoaran Shayne series I've read yet; they just keep getting better. In this case, our one-eyed anarchist PI runs afoul of a brutal secret government paramilitary organization responsible for many deaths during a demonstration of university students in l970 and and whose members are now dispersed among bodyguards, subway cops, the army, and everywhere else where using guns is part of the job description. This entry is even more graphically violent than the previous ones, while still displaying that dark humor you've come to expect of Taibo. The title is no joke so be forewarned; no happy ending to be found here.
H茅ctor Belascoar谩n Shayne tells us that he decided to become a detective because he didn鈥檛 like the color his wife picked for the new carpet. He had been an engineer. He got his license by mail. He had never read a British mystery novel. He didn鈥檛 know a fingerprint from a finger sandwich. He could only shoot something if it didn鈥檛 move very much.
H茅ctor is a usually a taciturn, enigmatic man who is an unrepentant teetotaler with a penchant for Pepsis. He shares an office with three characters, a plumber, an upholsterer and a sewer engineer
One day a murdered man dressed as a roman soldier is found at his office and then he gets a mysterious message to ignore was he saw and along with the message there was a plane ticket to New York City. All H茅ctor really knew at this point was that he loved his home, Mexico City with a passion and if he waited the killer would show his face.
In this case the detective is correct and it appears that there is more than one killer and that they are from the police. Since this is Mexico, the question is whether they were from the secret police, the auxiliary police, the judicial police, the special, the bank, the preventative, the traffic, the federal?
H茅ctor uncovers links from these men to a very unsavory incident in Mexico City鈥檚 recent past. What it has to do with him appears to be serendipity but he is caught in a web he cannot escape. His life is on the line and he is very like a gunslinger of the old West shooting first and asking questions later.
This is a very intriguing character and the people in his life are also worth knowing. The prose is somewhat Hemingwayesque and I look forward to reading more of this writer.
A masterpiece of its genre, in this 3rd (in my collection anyway) novel in the series featuring H Belascoar谩n Shayne, it is more than evident that the protagonist is M茅xico City. The city itself, the characters, the plot twists could hardly pop in the head of a non-M茅xican writer. The plot starts off totally absurd, and the "solution" of the case is even more bizarre. But in its couple of hundred pages, you live and breathe el D.F. This Mexico D.F. of this novel is "my" D.F. of the mid-70's. I can feel myself walking down Maximino Avila Camacho to Insurgentes, then somewhere in Colonia Roma or Zona Rosa changing to the bus that would let me off at Marina Nacional and Mariano Escobedo. From its arch-Mexican Spanish (a compliment, in my eyes) to its arch-Mexican pantheon of characters, to the appreciation of the very streets of this unique city, this novel is truly something special. I will surely keep reading PIT II's work. Highly recommended. Also, I cannot really imagine this book translated into English, but I encourage anyone with a love of Spanish to read it. It's nostalgia to those who know Mexico City, and a unique "tourist" guide for those new to it.
La joya de la creaci贸n literaria de Paco Ignacio Taibo II, hasta donde la conozco. Una prosa que logra ser solemne y vulgar, describiendo a la perfecci贸n c贸mo asume el cerebro mexicano el concepto de guerra a muerte. Me pregunto si este autor hispano-mexicano, ahora 铆dolo m谩ximo para mi faceta socialista-lector de fin de semana- hombre de acci贸n- chauvinista- chilango, tuvo que retomar al entra帽able detective por las amenazas cada vez m谩s realistas de sus lectores; seguro los lectores mexicanos son menos sutiles que los brit谩nicos (a Conan Doyle s贸lo lo convencieron con s煤plicas misivas).
隆H茅ctor Belascoar谩n Shayne arremete con furia terrible cuando se ve acorralado!
PROTAGONIST: Hector Belascoaran Shayne, independent detective SETTING: Mexico City SERIES: #2 of 5 RATING: 3.5 WHY: After finding a dead guy in his office bathroom and receiving a picture of another corpse in the mail, Hector Belascoaran Shayne, independent detective , finds a connection to a magician named Zoran. What he can't figure out is why he seems to have become a target for a murderous group of people. His search leads him through the underbelly of Mexico City. There's lots of death, and many people who can't shoot straight. The title of the book is totally apropos, with a really kicker conclusion.
Very apt title for a bizarre and ultimately moving exercise in anti-capitalist crime fiction. Don't worry about the last page -- Hector gets resurrected (with an apology from Taibo) just one book later.
Corta novela, a mi parecer le falt贸 el desarrollo de las tres novelas anteriores... tiene geniales descripciones de balaceras, fugas y encuentros. Lo mejor es la descripci贸n del "Halconazo", del 10 de junio del 1971, del que hace poco se cumplieron 50 a帽os, por cierto.
review of Paco Ignacio Taibo II's No Happy Ending by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - February 15, 2017
I'd already read Taibo's Return to the Same City in June of last year as my 1st bk by him. It picks up where this one ends, the detective hero has been murdered. SO, I knew to expect that this really wdn't have a happy ending. If I hadn't read that 1st I might've been hoping & expecting for the hero to somehow survive all the odds against him. Such foreknowledge put a weird spin on my reading experience. As I wrote in my review of Return:
"The detective hero had been killed off in the last bk featuring him. "A Note from the Author" 'explains':
"Don't ask me when and how H茅ctor Belascoar谩n Shayne came back to life. I don't have an answer. I remember that on the last page of No Happy Ending rain was falling over his perforated body.
"His appearance in these pages is therefore an act of magic. White magic perhaps, but magic that is irrational and disrespectful toward the occupation of writing a mystery series."
The character, apparently resurrected, is not exactly in a hurry to jump back into risking his life again" - /story/show/...
Anyway, this resurrection created a happy ending for the book w/o one. Good. I like happy endings. This one's happy for me for various reasons: it's short, it's easy to review. I've recently written 2 long reviews & need a break. See? Everything's happy. The beginning murder has a theatrical aspect to it:
"A Roman foot soldier sat on the toilet, staring at the tile floor, his throat slashed.
"Blood oozed slowly down the brass breastplate, over the short, pleated skirt, the hairy legs, and into one sandal. A helmet with a faded plume rested on his head. A long wooden spear leaned against the wall.
""They've gone too far this time," H茅ctor muttered, cautiously lifting the Roman's chin. A four-inch gash cut across his throat.
""Who?"
""The sons of bitches who killed this guy."" - p 4
That got me to thinking: Are there no other types of "Roman soldiers" other than this ancient stereotype? EG: Is there a contemporary Roman solider wearing body armor against bullets & a helmet with a face-plate & that sort of thing? Or wd that be an Italian soldier? Having the 1st victim be an atavistic one created an unexpected spin that had to be resolved. the corpses increase w/ no obvious explanation:
"And now this: two dead men and a plane ticket to New York to keep him from sticking his nose in where somebody thought it didn't belong. But if they didn't want him to get involved, then why the hell had they gone and dumped a dead Roman in his bathroom, and then sent him a photograph of this other guy?" - p 8
Detectives are like obsessive-compulsives seeking closure. They must know. That's the way they work - or, at least that's the way they work in novels. In real life they probably fake evidence just to get pd or are perfectly happy to stop investigating something if they get pd to stop, etc.. It's hard for me to believe that (m)any of these novelistic heros have ever existed. I have a friend who worked for a detective agency. His boss wd send him out to test people's phones to see if they were tapped. My friend didn't know the slightest thing about that. He'd pretend & the detective wd give the client a report that their phone wasn't tapped. Maybe that's more common. These days what do detectives do? Background checks thru some online service that they pay for?
This is one of those 'exotic character' novels where the people are unusual & that helps keep the story interesting:
"The Filipino enjoyed passing on his art, and you were a good disciple. After the course in gymnastics, you went on to karate, and from there (once again the hand of fate) to the esoteric secrets of the escape artist, magician, and daredevil. The Filipino had once worked as an assistant to an Indian contortionist, touring bars and clubs in California, and he knew some unusual and wonderful tricks. So unusual and so wonderful, in fact, that you would spend entire sleepless nights contemplating the subtleties of escape from a sealed coffin, from a straightjacket, of the dangerous motorcycle jump through a ring of fire.
"A year and a half passed in strenuous training, and then one day the Filipino disappeared." - pp 38-39
I reckon that Taibo knew he had a winner when he thought of having the novel revolve around his hero avoiding getting killed & then finally failing to do so. There're plenty of plot twists in this but that No-Happy-Ending business must've been enuf of an Ace-Up-The-Sleeve to keep this novel short & breezy. I love it when I read something that I know was inspired:
"The first shot hit the stack of papers. Thousands of words flew in all directions, leaving the smell of fresh ink in the air." - p 88
Beautiful. Instead of immediate blood & guts the reader gets "thousands of words" flying in all directions. SO, our hero investigates more & more:
"This shadowy, violent organization had shown evidence of its existence before. The first time was during the Ayotla Textile strike, when a paramilitary group appeared out of nowhere, shooting and beating the picketers before the laughing gaze of the police." - p 103
"The official explanation wrote the whole thing off as an unfortunate clash between antagonistic student groups. But then there were the photographs of the army-issue M1 rifles, and the riot police allowing the armed men to pass unopposed, and the tape recordings from the police radio frequency, over which police officers directed the Halcones' attack." - p 107
Taibo is always on the side of the strikers & protesters & against the side of the death squads & paramilitary groups. I'm w/ him there. Even tho this is fiction it does get those juices flowing in the direction of imagining the real-life counterparts.
But, WAIT!, maybe this isn't so fictional after all:
"The Corpus Christi Massacre, Corpus Christi Thursday Massacre, or El Halconazo (The hawk strike, so called because of the participation of a group of elite Mexican army soldiers known as Los Halcones) was a massacre of student demonstrators in Mexico City on June 10, 1971, the day of the Corpus Christi festival."
[..]
"Los Halcones (The hawks) was a black operations army group that was trained in the United States. The group was created in the late 1960s to repress demonstrations and prevent other large popular movements such as the student movement of 1968 from rising again. Their first attack against the students took place on October 2, 1969, a year after the Tlatelolco Massacre. Their initial duty, as told by the government to the public, which was not aware of their name nor their real purpose, was that there was going to be a police group that ensured the security of the recently inaugurated Metro. The members of Los Halcones were identified with nicknames and its members were of various backgrounds, including sports clubs, the police, and thugs for hire "porros" who were provocateurs created to counter and watch universities. After the Halconazo, the number of Los Halcones members increased exponentially in the UNAM and IPN); militaries, which were referred to with the nicknames "maestros" (teachers) or "paisanos" (countrymen). These militaries had at their command dozens of halcones, the vast majority of whom had participated in the Tlatelolco massacre, as well as gang members and criminals. The latter were released from jail under the condition that they form part of the new shock group with payment." -
Waddya know.
Yep, that's the way Taibo & his Spanish counterpart, Montalban, rolls. For me, then, these novels become political education about Mexican politics. Note that "Los Halcones (The hawks) was a black operations army group that was trained in the United States" - cd that be at Fort Benning? Our hero speaks to a friend:
""I might not be back for a few days . . . If I don't come back, I want you to have my books on the Spanish Civil War. They're on the bookshelf in the hallway. I inherited them from my father."" - p 117
That's the sort of detail I like. The author knows that these bks are important. W/o making such provisions they might just get thrown away. Knowledge lost. Other people might just cut the pages up for collages. Knowledge lost.
"H茅ctor, who had never exactly thought of himself as a man on a collision course with authority, saw the State as something akin to the witch's castle in Snow White, from which emerged not only the Halcones, but other things too, like his own engineering degree, or the crap you saw on television. There were no gray areas there. It was all one big infernal machine that it was best to keep as far away from as possible." - p 139
Ah, yes, the state. Trump & his billionaire cronies wd like to do away w/ aspects of it, the aspects that provide checks & balances for their greed & White Supremacism. Then again, they'd like to keep the state b/c it enables them unprecedented access to power. Funny how that works.
Usually, I try to avoid spoilers. No Happy Ending gives me an excuse to not do that for a change:
"He'd almost reached the cover of a newspaper kiosk on the corner when a shotgun blast caught him in mid-torso and lifted his torn, broken body into the air." - p 175
No Happy Ending was published in 1981. Return to the Same City was published in 1989. It only took Taibo 8 yrs to reverse the No Happy Ending. if only real life were like that.
There is no happy ending indeed. But that's hardly a spoiler. And Taibo's hero (Hector), well...he is hardly a hero. He is a risky, gutsy, impulsive, self-destructive detective who smokes at every chance, drinks numerous cans of pop soda per day and eats junk. In the latter matters, the exact opposite of detectives Pepe Carvalho and Salvo Montalbano, that is. The Irish-blooded Belascoaran only manages to stay alive because his creator needs him (sure, there must be some love too in there), in order to convey his view and experience of Mexico and especially the City of Mexico. This is only the third Taibo's novel I've read but I reckon I'm not hasting when I write that in his crime novels the crime itself and its solution seems of secondary importance. It serves as a vehicle leased by the author who wants to criticize the moral decadence of his beloved city, the corruption of the Government(s), of the Police, of the politicians, the apathy of the people among other socio-philosophical matters that come about as the story unfolds (or even regardless of the story sometimes). Taibo's critical eye on society, the sadness, melancholy and humour of Hector Belascoaran are all materialized within an exceptional piece of art. If one, though, cares only for action and successive plot twists, this is not the book to choose, let alone the writer to read.
"-Jefe, hay un pinche romano muerto en el ba帽o. -Cuando acabe de mear, d铆gale que pase -contest贸 H茅ctor Belascoar谩n." As铆 comienza "No habr谩 final feliz", la cuarta entrega de las aventuras del detective creado por Paco Ignacio Taib贸 II. Es esta una novela cargada de mucho humor y de cierto fatalismo sobre la sociedad mexicana, o mejor dicho del sistema pol铆tico en M茅xico, del abuso de poder, de la corrupci贸n en definitiva. Y es ah铆 donde H茅ctor Belascoar谩n Shayne se rebela y se enfrenta a la injusticia reinante. Es esta la novela m谩s trepidante de las cuatro que he le铆do de la serie, es una historia que engancha desde el principio desde la aparici贸n de ese romano muerto en el ba帽o, desde que la foto de otro muerto y un billete de avi贸n a Nueva York es enviada a nuestro h茅roe. Es este caso un puzle en el que H茅ctor Belascoar谩n tendr谩 que ir encajando las piezas poco a poco hasta obtener una imagen que le permita saber a quien se enfrenta, y se enfrenta a su enemigo o enemigos mejor dicho, m谩s peligrosos hasta la fecha. Sus compa帽eros de oficina, sus hermanos y la chica de la cola de caballo acompa帽ar谩n a nuestro detective en esta novela que nadie deber铆a dejar de leer. Todo estos condimentos se mezclar谩n en una DF de la que nuestro h茅roe no puede desligarse aunque a veces quiera, y no puede porque es una ciudad que ama porque ama a sus gentes.
The book lived up to its title. There were no happy endings in this book.
The protagonist is Hector Belascoaran Shayne, an independent detective. He finds a dead man dressed as a Roman, he has a picture of another dead man sent to him along with a plane ticket to New York. All of this piques his curiosity and he tries to determine exactly why anyone would want to kill him. He delves, investigates, and survives.... for a while. But the rabbit didn't. And it's unknown what happened with the woman who was never named.
Un altro caso nebuloso per H茅ctor Belascoar谩n Shayne, un caso il cui finale 猫 stato ampiamente spoilerato dalla lettura di Qualche nuvola, che risulta essere il precedente della serie, mentre qui su 欧宝娱乐 viene portato come successivo (si pu貌 dedurre anche dagli anni di pubblicazione, in effetti, ma ). Il detective privato di Mexico DF si trova a indagare su due morti in cui viene coinvolto all'improvviso, collegate alla morte - avvenuta anni prima - di Zorak, un personaggio televisivo che si lanciava in sfide sempre pi霉 pericolose, tanto da morire nel corso di un numero su un elicottero, con una caduta da sessanta metri d'altezza. Gli fanno vedere questi due uomini sgozzati e poi gli dicono di non indagare, dandogli un biglietto aereo per gli Stati Uniti... be', non si fa cos矛 con H茅ctor, perch茅 猫 chiaro che lui far脿 esattamente il contrario, anche solo per puntiglio.
One of the most engrossing bits of fiction I have read in a long time. Incredibly bleak, but with a dark humor as well. The author's note at the beginning sets the tone
"Obviously, the plot and the characters in the novel belong to the realm of fiction. The country, however, although it may be hard to believe, is absolutely real."
In Taibo's vision, 1970s Mexico City is a surreal place, beset by official corruption, and in which ordinary people try their best to live their lives. And the thing is, they do. It's just that sometimes some random act of official or semi-official violence overtakes them. No happy ending to this story, and this is obviously the last of the Hector Belascoaran Shayne novels (Taibo prevents himself from stretching out the franchise--no jumping the shark for this guy). But now I want to read the previous books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
No habr谩 final feliz A Belascoaran le siembran un muerto, y sin deberla ni temerla se involucra en un caso, donde una vez que empieza a investigar van con intenci贸n de matarlo. Poco a poco aparecen pistas sobre los muertos y los asesinos, pero nada que lo relacione a 茅l. Muy bueno el cap铆tulo donde nos da a conocer m谩s de sus compa帽eros de despacho. Tambi茅n lo del mago.