Matt McAvoy Book Review

Unapologetically liberal and unashamedly topical, this short fable is both simplistic and complexly layered, as a stinging indictment on the immigration debate – which probably bears striking resemblances the world over.  It is tremendously engaging, and I read it in a single sitting, although it is rather a novella than a novel, at about 20,000 words.  And it is a good read, whichever side of centre your political views fall on; I must admit, without wanting to throw my hat into the debating ring on the subject here, I did find something of a lump growing in my throat reading it, and seething a little at the treatment of poor Pedro, fearful of what was going to befall him next.  The book’s tropes and stereotypes are undeniably left-leaning; Pedro is, for the most part, portrayed as poor, naïve, ambitious and trusting, who wants nothing more than to be happy, and is willing to work his fingers raw for a little piece of the American dream; while the Americans he comes into contact with, for the most part, are corrupt, racist and untrustworthy, sporting Confederate flags and treating migrants with contempt and scorn.  This book is, in the main, a bitter swipe at right-wing immigration views.

So, if it is as simplistic as this, why was it so good?  Well, in fact, the narrative then turns, and indeed turns out not to be quite as black and white as it might appear.  Whilst generally a simple tale, for the most part coming across as liberal allegory, it is actually only at about the three-quarter point that you start to understand David Ek’s agenda here: he is stirring discourse on the subject.  People who know Pedro start to question the facts; versions of the tale being told about Pedro, in bars and across towns, differ in their fundamentals.  It becomes clear that the point is no longer what we thought it was – “immigrants good, right-wing America bad” – but rather that the author is simply stating that debate is necessary on the subject, for the fact is that none of us know the reality, the outright truths of the matter, until we have examined, explored and understood it from all viewpoints.  One might suggest that merely fostering debate on immigration constitutes a leftist agenda, and perhaps Ek has done the book few favours by making the stereotypes quite so emphatic, but the objective is undoubtedly a current hot issue, and an admirable mission for any book.  He doesn’t delve too deeply into it – this is a fable, after all – but does leave the reader in no doubt that he invites and expects their consideration and analysis.  And he got that from me; I genuinely pitied Pedro, and found myself rooting for him very quickly.  But there are many aspects of the debate which were perhaps problematic.  The concerns of the citizens weren’t really explored in any meaningful way, their views seen as misguided and their recollections portrayed as distorted, at the most generous.  There is no real mention of the genuine threats some outsiders pose.  Furthermore, I wasn't totally comfortable with just how naïve and gullible Pedro was portrayed.  There is also, if you delve a little deeper, a gender dynamic to this debate, in the respect that it occurred to me the only Americans who were kind-hearted and well-meaning to Pedro were women; all the men he came into contact with were intent on exploiting him.

Don’t be expecting an in-depth analysis of the immigration debate; this is simply a story – a fictional case study among thousands upon thousands.  But it is intended to prick up your ears and loosen your tongue.  It offers no more than that for now, though personally I think there is a great deal farther that David could go with this book, and indeed would like to see it filled with more in-depth evaluation of differing narratives in a mature and objective fashion; in my opinion there is a huge appetite for a book of this nature to be novelized at the present time, and I believe this particular one would be the better for it.