This is one of the more self-aware texts that we’ve read, which I thought was mostly effective. The self-awareness of the book, such as Saturn’s references to the dedication, made the book seem more realistic. Despite all the fantastical elements, the relationships and emotions within the text were somehow authentic. However, sometimes I felt like the self-awareness detracted from the book by making it too overstated. There were sections where I thought the writer gave away some of the analytical capacity through the technique of metanarrative. For example, towards the end of the text the narrative becomes more fragmented by all the different voices. Instead of letting the reader discover for themselves why the writer chose this technique, he tells us his reasoning through Smiley: “Liberated from Saturn, from the order that had for years kept us in line, our narrative organized and mindful of the conventions of story. Now the order had been upset, lost in a melee of voices” (217). There are a couple of instances, like this one, where I felt like the writer gave too much away. I don’t want a writer to tell me how to read a book; that takes all the fun out of it.
Throughout most of my undergraduate studies I was taught that you are never supposed to assume, or allude to the fact that a character is based on the writer’s life. Plascencia seems to challenge that by inviting the reader to make connections between his characters and himself. For example, he often mentions the Ralph and Elisa Landin Foundation, who supports the war, which we know (because the book tells us) it is a metaphor for writing a book. He intentionally make sus feel like these characters are a real part of his life: “Much gratitude to the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation…It should be noted that the foundation never recanted its support” (acknowledgments). In this statement the author tells us two things – one, parts of the book are based on his life, and two, parts of the book are complete fiction. I found this kind of confusing, but mostly intriguing. I don’t know why, but I liked reading the book more once I thought that Liz was a real person.
Throughout most of the book I lost sight of the self-awareness as I became increasingly interested in the war between Saturn and Fredrico de la Fe. I became so immersed in this element of the text, that I kept forgetting Saturn’s real role in all of this. He is the writer, and thus the creator of the other characters. Saturn, like Plascencia, cannot help but let his own identity rub off on his characters. Towards the end of the novel I began to see how the details of Fredric de la Fe’s life matched the details of Saturn’s life. They are both pining after women who left them, women who they both remember wearing green dresses with white trim. Later on in the book they use opposing, yet similar methods to cope with their loss – they tend their lawn. While Fredrico is busy caring for his lawn to make Merced’s return easier, Saturn is busy destroying his to make Liz’s return full of hardship. Despite their opposite reactions, the sentiment is the same. At one point, we even learn that Saturn had once tried to burn himself to get rid of his pain. Plascencia is trying to call attention to the intimate connection between the creator and the created.