City of the beasts

Abstract

When his mother is diagnosed with cancer and must go to another city for treatment, Alex is sent to stay with his paternal Grandmother. Cancer is never addressed directly in the beginning of the story, but it becomes clear when his mother shears her hair preparing for the treatment. Grandmother Kate is discussed early in the book as Alex ruminates about her tossing him into the deep end of a pool when he was three years old to get him to swim. Kate is not your typical older female. She is a travel writer who drinks vodka, smokes, and swears. She fails to pick up Alex at the airport telling him that if he can’t make his way across New York City to her apartment then he will be useless in the jungle. Alex, against his better judgment, is accompanying Kate on a writing trip into the Amazon to find the lost beast. The relationship between Kate and Alex, however, is not the focus of this story, although it does play an important role in the narrative. The focus is about the relationship between man, nature and the impact of globalization and neoliberalism on the environment. Despite the fact the Kate is an unlikely grandmotherly figure, she embodies the traits of truth-telling (she is a journalist), she respects the natural environment and tries to preserve it through writing about it for the public. Initially in the book she seems to be unengaged with her grandson, yet her connection and love is demonstrated in actions. When Alex and another character are in the rainforest with the people of the mist and thought to be lost, she uses her political and journalistic connections to get assistance in the search. Later in the book Kate reveals that she named Alex as “Alexander” because it was a strong name, and her interactions suggest that she believes that Alex is worthy of her name gift. In addition to learning more about the rain forest and how humans have negatively impacted the environment and first peoples for profit and greed, a young reader will also read about an adult/youth relationship that is unconventional but powerful. As with her adult fiction, Allende demonstrates mastery of language through vivid descriptions of the peoples of the Amazon. There is a lot of adventure, tension, bad guys (and girls) and the magical realism that is typical of Allende’s work. While it is not a typical “grandparent book” it does have a grandparent protagonist that shatters the stereotypes of older adults. Kate is fully involved in the solving the mystery of the lost beast and sharing the truth about the devastation of the rainforests and its people through her journalism. While not the central figure, she is a strong older female who refuses to be left behind due to gender or age.