It takes a bit of courage to pick up a book that is said to be a man’s “riveting cult classic”, that it’s “the best fucking novel ever written about Mexico City”. Is it? I don’t know. But I do know that I couldn’t put this book down.
First a little history. Rafael Bernal (1915-1972), was one of those hard-working men who combined several careers. He spent much of his professional life as a scriptwriter, working in TV and film, but he managed to write some fifteen books, including non-fiction as well as novels, before becoming a Mexican diplomat. And this period was one of turmoil in Mexico - yes, I know it is still in turmoil now, but in ‘69, when this book was first published, there was still the tradition of police hitmen, memories of the army running the country, of dictators and, naturally, US intervention and manipulation.
Bernal took this period, and invented his own anti-hero: Filiberto Garcia.
Garcia is a 60-year-old Mexico City police killer. He says “pinche” a lot, which in this book is translated as “fucking”, which is a word you will find sprinkled very liberally throughout the book. What is interesting is that the book is written mostly in the third person, but it drifts sideways every so often, into the mind of Garcia himself. The first time this happened, it was a “Woah! What happened there?” moment, but after that I really didn’t notice it much. The story pulled me in and I was reading just for the pleasure of the story.
Okay, the story.
Well, Garcia is called to a meeting with his Colonel, and a politician, del Valle. There has been information that an assassin has been sent to try to shoot the President of the US in a few days when he visits Mexico. The information has come from China, hence the title. Garcia must find out whether there are any rumours of an assassin in the Chinese quarter of the city.
However, the information has come through the Russian embassy, so Garcia is told that he must work with the Russian KGB, and not upset the Russians. At the same time, he must work with the local CIA operative, who obviously has an interest in the security of the US President.
Garcia has to navigate a path between spies, between drug gangs, the Chinese, and all at the same time as getting involved with a Chinese woman, Marta, who needs his help. But how does a hitman woo a woman?
It is a story in a kind of hard Chandler form. The writing is quite spare, and it is definitely a story driven by strong characters and convoluted plot. But having said that, it is enthralling. I found it entirely compelling, and now I will have to see if I can find translations of Bernal’s other books. If they are anything like this, they’re worth reading.
Highly recommended.
