Week 12: My Tender Matador (Lemebel)
Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a good start to the week. We are almost done this semester, we can do it!! This week I chose to read My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel. Personally, although this book had an interesting story line and dealt with really important themes I found myself struggling to read it. I kept getting pulled out of the trance of the story and had to keep going back to reground myself back into the book. However, I did get some clarification and background on the political scene and attempted assassination from Jon’s lecture which helped me to understand Carlos’ character a bit better. I found his relation with Queen of the Corner to be quite toxic. He was always just using her either for her space to keep his weapons, or as a distraction from getting caught by the police checkpoint, and always just coming and going as he pleased. I think it was obvious that she was in love with him from the start yet he kept on controlling her for his own personal benefit throughout the entire book. At first, when they were in the fields and the rocks while Carlos was collecting “data” for his studies and the Queen of the Corner was enjoying the day and started to dance for him, I thought that they were both in love with each other (maybe they were, I still don’t know). Then later to discover that he practically used her just so he could plot the route down the Cajón del Maipo where Pinochet would be on the day of the planned assassination without appearing suspicious.
I enjoyed the chapter where we learned a little bit more about the Queen of the Corner’s history with her friends in the house. I think this provided us with a much needed understanding into her life before she met Carlos and his university friends. I think hearing a little bit more about all of their lives on the street and how they formed a small community together was very wholesome. Although there were small fights between all of the sisters, as the Queen of the Corner describes them, it was nice to see them always find comfort in one another and have support to lean on.
Thank you, Jordan for your blog post. I think the relationship between Carlos and La Loca is complex, although it is true that Carlos is interested in what he can get from her, but that is not all that is at stake there. We also don't know if she was in love from the beginning, only that she wanted to seduce Carlos. She herself is a complex character, and she knows what she wants. However, it is a topic that we can talk about during class.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, Jordan. In my blog I repeatedly refer to the relationship between the two as a "romance", but you are correct in pointing out that it was quite toxic. Upon reflection, I'm not even sure that Carlos was in love with her. I'm generally not a fan of poems/songs in books because occasionally they disrupt the flow of the prose (to be honest I may be projecting my hatred of the songs in the otherwise amazing Lord of the Rings series) although I could definitely see how some people would like the poems in this book. The "romantic" poems definitely add to the "romance".
ReplyDeleteJordan, those "poems" are song lyrics. La loca is obsessed with cheesy, romantic songs (such as the one that gives the book its title). As Juan Poblete says in my conversation video with him, Lemebel was also apparently quite an authority on such things! But what does it mean to see the world through the lens of such lyrics?
ReplyDeleteI liked your interpretation of Carlos and La Loca's relationship as toxic, although I think this just goes to show the affect of interpersonal relationships in the time of autocratic regimes. Thanks for the post
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post Jordan! I think you bring up a good question as I was also wondering what the significance of these poems were throughout. Reading now that they are song lyrics seems fitting as the queen was definitely left me with the impression of a big romantic. But I enjoyed that these little sections were included throughout. I think they did a good job of putting the queens emotions into few words in a poetic / lyrical way.
ReplyDeleteHi Jordan!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts on My Tender Matador! I found it super interesting how you also found the relationship between La Loca and Carlos to not only be romantic at time s but also felt toxic. Although that may have been due to the socipolitical climate the novel place in as well the stress of each character. From our class discussions as well as Jons lecture I think it clear that the relationship between these two characters is certainly not simple. As individuals characters La Loca and Carlos seem to have differing views on their place in society and the ways in which it affects them. I also thought that these lines sprinkled across the text were poems, however knowing now that they are song lyrics doesn't change how I interpreted them while reading. As we discussed in class this book was in some ways cliche, and I think these cheesy lyrics play into that element of cheesiness while also reflecting on how La Loca finds value in their sentimental meanings.