A film version of Fernanda Melchor's tough, uncompromising novel is now available on Netflix
September saw the Tyneside Book Club tackle one of the toughest reads members have encountered.
And Fernanda Melchor's Hurricane Season certainly left an impression on everyone who read it. For some this was an elemental, and propulsive read, but for others its tough subject matter and tricky style made it harder to love, even if they could admire the quality of the writing.
There was some discussion about Melchor's prose style. Very long sentences and limited paragraph breaks certainly made the book appear dense and impenetrable on the page. But most members found that once they had immersed themselves in the style, it became compelling and helped keep the narrative pace up.
Members admired Melchor's ability to move between the consciousness of the different characters, sometimes within sentences. The different voices and perspectives were well-captured, even if it was hard to sympathise at times with some of the cast.
There was a strong sense of the community Melchor was describing, and despite the horrific events and behaviour of many of the characters, she made even those who committed horrific acts appear as at least in part victims of the poverty and desperation of this part of modern Mexico. Women were written as three-dimensional characters and not merely as victims.
Some though did question the unrelenting bleakness of what Melchor described, and felt there was a danger of revelling a little in the poverty and degradation, rather than depicting a fuller, more rounded picture of life there. Some wondered whether a non-fiction account of this society might have worked better, but accepted that the author felt it was too dangerous to deal in anything other than a fictionalisation of events.
For some members this was not a book they could really say they enjoyed because of the tough subject matter, but they appreciated the craft of the author and the weight of the issues it was tackling.
And Fernanda Melchor's Hurricane Season certainly left an impression on everyone who read it. For some this was an elemental, and propulsive read, but for others its tough subject matter and tricky style made it harder to love, even if they could admire the quality of the writing.
There was some discussion about Melchor's prose style. Very long sentences and limited paragraph breaks certainly made the book appear dense and impenetrable on the page. But most members found that once they had immersed themselves in the style, it became compelling and helped keep the narrative pace up.
Members admired Melchor's ability to move between the consciousness of the different characters, sometimes within sentences. The different voices and perspectives were well-captured, even if it was hard to sympathise at times with some of the cast.
There was a strong sense of the community Melchor was describing, and despite the horrific events and behaviour of many of the characters, she made even those who committed horrific acts appear as at least in part victims of the poverty and desperation of this part of modern Mexico. Women were written as three-dimensional characters and not merely as victims.
Some though did question the unrelenting bleakness of what Melchor described, and felt there was a danger of revelling a little in the poverty and degradation, rather than depicting a fuller, more rounded picture of life there. Some wondered whether a non-fiction account of this society might have worked better, but accepted that the author felt it was too dangerous to deal in anything other than a fictionalisation of events.
For some members this was not a book they could really say they enjoyed because of the tough subject matter, but they appreciated the craft of the author and the weight of the issues it was tackling.
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