This article is from the July 2001 The Mexico File
newsletter.
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Book Review
Mexican Interlude
by Joseph Henry Jackson. MacMillan and
Company, 1936, 232 pages. Available from BarnesandNoble.com, out-of-print
books.
Reviewed by Lynne Doyle
Lynne is a frequent
MF
contributor from Maine. Her article, �East Coast West Coast,� which appeared
in the March 2001 issue, compared Canc�n with Puerto Vallarta.
I read this book during one
of the worst and most discouraging of 2001's Nor�easters (the snow already
present was over my windowsills), generally not a great time for me to be
reading about Mexico. So I don�t know if it was the blizzard or the book
itself that had such an impact on me � but impact there was, in spades.
This is a charming,
intensely detailed account of a gringo and his wife who, with spectacular
spontaneity and very little Spanish, decide to tackle the newly completed Pan
American Highway and see the �real� Mexico. As was common at that time, they
crossed to Mexico through Laredo armed only with letters of introduction from
friends of friends, a few maps and a lot of camera equipment. Their plan was to
travel the new highway to Mexico City and stay there for a month, traveling in
and around the city in hopes of finding a deeper understanding of the people and
the culture of the country. These people were inveterate travelers, remarkably
open to and appreciative of totally alien surroundings, bold in their curiosity
and incredibly mellow in their acceptance of all they found.
Their story begins with the
initial encounters with customs agents, described with great humor by Jackson as
he depicts his almost total lack of language skills while attempting to present
the acceptable paperwork. They continue through Monterrey and several villages I
have never heard of, commenting on Mexican kindness and courtesy, but it is not
until they attempt to cross the Sierra Madres at Tamazunchale during a rock
slide that they finally encounter the Mexico they are seeking. Waylaid at the
top of the mountain, Jackson takes note of his fellow travelers, Mexican and
American, and with incredible clarity observes and contrasts the most
interesting characteristics and anomalies among them.
Mr. And Mrs. Jackson
eventually reach Mexico City, where � in an effort to �get closer to Mexico
than we could possibly get in a tourist hotel� � they arrange to board with
the Suarez family in Colonia Cuauhtemoc. Once the home of a prosperous lawyer,
the house is currently inhabited by the widowed Sra. Suarez and her three grown
daughters, who take in recommended boarders to help make ends meet. I found
myself consumed by envy reading Jackson�s descriptions of the house and its
inhabitants, particularly the multi-tasking butler Julian, who �deserves a
book to himself.� I think I was so fascinated because in my mind, this is the
best way to visit Mexico, and the way most of us aren�t able to arrange.
During their stay, the
Jacksons spend a magic day at the market in Toluca with John and Carol Steinbeck,
and also are entertained, courtesy of one of their letters of introduction, by
Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo. Jackson devotes one of his most moving chapters
to the details of an evening spent � as a result of yet another letter � in
the company of the charming, charismatic and very rich Don Antenor, described as
a man �of the Mexico of Diaz...by inheritance the Mexico of Maximilian and
Carlota, even.� There is a wonderful tongue-in-cheek chapter describing a day
in the company of fellow gringos visiting Cuernevaca and Cuautla at which I had
to laugh at Jackson�s horror as he travels with these typically �ugly
Americans.� His descriptions of the floating gardens at Xochilmilco are so
lyrical I could close my eyes and see and smell this most intriguing place, so
different to us now than it was in the 1930's.
Jackson and his wife do
Mexico City with careful attention. They go anywhere and everywhere that anyone
suggests to them, and, as a result, they see it all. They are guests in homes
and at social events that no longer exist. I particularly enjoyed the
opportunity to contrast the city they saw then with the city that we are able to
see now, even thought the overall emotion I was left with was great sadness at
all that I have missed. Especially gratifying to me is the fact that these
people were enthusiastic amateur photographers, and much of the book is filled
with their photos and captions describing things and places that are so
drastically changed as to be hardly recognizable. However, best of all are the
many places and characteristics of Mexico that remained largely unaltered. This
books isn�t a remarkable piece of literature that will change your life, but
it was without doubt a most pleasant way to spend one of those afternoons so
miserable as to threaten your sanity � all in all a sweet, heavily descriptive
journal of one couple�s most enviable experience in a Mexico that is sadly no
longer available to us.