'Tis I, The Supreme

Thus far, I am having many mixed feeling towards this book. Like most in the class, I feel like the book is never-ending; but at the same time, I’m intrigued by the intricacies of the book and can almost begin to see its potential of surpassing One Hundred Years of Solitude and being what Jon claims, the greatest novel in Latin American literature.

I very much feel…confused.
When I began reading this book and noticed there were no quotation marks to distinguish dialogue, I was not excited. However, I do have to say it has gotten easier to determine who is saying what. But sometimes I am still confused as to what The Supreme is telling Patiño to write. And all the stories and historical accounts that The Supreme is telling, I just can’t seem to retain any of the information. It seems to me that the novel is progressing in an illogical manner. Personally, I just can’t really see the progression other than in their search for the author of the pasquinade. Unlike the President where characters seem to continue on in the story, in this book, it seems to me that each story that The Supreme tells is irrelevant to the rest of the book. For instance, the story of the stone people and Tevegó, it was interesting but so far (up to where I have read at least), there does not appear to be any reference or explanation of it anymore. Nothing really seems to be revisited, but instead more and more stories are told.

But sometimes I feel…enjoyment.
As we had talked about in class, it is true that the book is sometimes funny. One part that I enjoyed quite a bit was the discussion between The Supreme and Patiño regarding his regular attire (90-91). The image of The Supreme wearing “[p]atent leather pumps with gold buckles” seems quite peculiar; and it seems those belong in the closet of Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City, for those who are unaware) and not of The Supreme, a dictator. I also found it hilarious when The Supreme describes the portrait that Don Juan Robertson had painted of him as “a confused mixture of a monkey and a sulky girl.” (90) One can only wonder if that is what The Supreme truly looks like!

And I also feel…sympathy and admiration.
So far, it doesn’t seem like The Supreme is really as horrible as most would think. Though I’m sure he had done some pretty nasty things; however, he doesn’t appear to be that bad of a guy. First, he puts up with Patiño! On occasion, Patiño has insulted or stood up to The Supreme (see above, “gold buckle”), and yet The Supreme has yet to say “Off with your head!” like you would think most dictators would have done. He seems quite tolerant and patient with Patiño. I felt sorry for The Supreme when he was in a way betrayed by the two Swiss doctors whom he had treated quite well (114, Compiler’s Note).

On a last note, while reading this book, I feel like I’m paying more attention to the style in which it is written instead of the content. It’s just interesting how different it is, such as the lack of quotation marks, the footnotes, compiler’s notes, El Supremo’s note, differentiation between The Supreme’s private notebook and perpetual circular, and the notes in the margin of the private notebook. Again, I’m trying to figure out how everything comes together in what I hope will actually be a logical order.

Hasta luego, el señor presidente.

As I read the last half of the book, a small part of me actually thought the story would end with a happily ever after. Just because Camila recovered, which was said to be quite a miracle, and that they got married, I just thought that maybe, just maybe it would end happy (or at least not as brutally cruel and torturous as it did). But I now see how naïve I was; I should have seen it coming since it was a novel about a dictator..

One thing that I noticed was the way Asturias had written the novel to be, so that in someway or another, the characters lives intertwined. I remember reading and thinking to myself that it reminded me a lot like the movie Crash, in which all the characters lived separate lives but one incident immediately meshes their lives together.

The first thing I want to blog about is Angel Face. I think I may have mentioned this last time, but it is neat how both Facundo and The President are titled as such, and yet the majority of the novel does not seem to be about these two characters. I suppose both authors are trying to describe to the reader the way life is under the dictatorships by utilizing the other characters. I couldn’t help but notice that throughout the last half of the book, the statement, “He was as beautiful and wicked as Satan” was only mentioned once (unless I missed the others) as opposed the numerous times during the first half. I am inclined to infer that at the beginning, Asturias was trying to remind readers that despite Angel Face’s name, he was as “wicked as Satan” because of the things he did for the President. However, as things progressed and Angel Face fell in love with Camila, he seemed to have gone through a transformation and perhaps actually became an angel. I think this transformation was most clear when Angel Face advises Major Farfan about what he should do to get back on the President’s good side (175).

Secondly, Chapter XLI: Nothing to Report. How ironic and significant this title is. Ironic because though it is titled “Nothing to Report,” the chapter contains probably the most important event of the novel – the death of Angel Face. But at the same time, Asturias may be intentionally attempting to portray life under a dictatorship, whereby death, even of the President’s favourite, is only a minor incident, of barely any importance at all.

All and all, I quite enjoyed this book. It was quite interesting that the entire novel –full of lies, secrets, and betrayals – was sparked simply by one person shouting,

“Mother!”