This is a powerful little novel that deeply touches the reader at an intellectual level.
The story takes place in a small village by the sea, a place which used to be called Mundosuave but has now become Mundomuerto, and is seen through the eyes of an old man—Alberto, the grandfather—as he shares with his grandson the events which took place in the town when he was an adolescent in love with a young seductress named Lucia Luna.
The reader is first transported sixty five years back in time to the moment when Alberto, spellbound, plays the guitar at a party, his eyes and heart prisoners of the seventeen-year old beauty. The girl is so stunning that soon the villagers begin to attribute her with supernatural powers, and it’s just a matter of time before everybody thinks her a witch and blames her for whatever tragedy befalls the town. The situation eventually escalates to mass hysteria, violence and murder.
No doubt fascinated by the erotic aspects of the tale, the grandson, a teenager at the height of puberty, coaxes the old man to continue with the story, and though the grandfather pretends to be annoyed at times, it’s clear he wants to relate it as much as the boy wants to hear it. “Alberto, as he played, caressed the neck and strings of his guitar as if he were caressing Lucia Luna herself, his left hand around the curve of her ankle, right hand strumming the inside of her thigh. With each song his hands became bolder, until he was holding her so hard against him that he could not tell where his throbbing ended and hers began.” (22)
In a way, it’s as if the old man doesn’t ‘exist’ without the story, and so long as it is kept alive, so is he. “Were it not for this story and the boy who wants to listen, the old man would be as much of a shadow as Lucia Luna as he passes through the villager’s lives.” (16)
Silvis’ sensuous prose flows effortlessly throughout the book, creating many memorable vivid images, metaphors and symbolism with a dark edge. At a point in the story, for instance, what first seems like a butterfly ends up being an ugly little tick (60), a clear reference to the destructive beauty of Lucia Luna. Later on, she is seen again in Alberto’s dreams, straddling him with her legs while sporting the head of a scorpion. “The breasts glowed through his lashes, they pulled at him, twin moons, his body a tide of desire, heavy but buoyant as he struggled to raise his mouth to her, toward one of the nipples pink and bright peeking out at him.” Then, a bit further down, “…he looked up just in time to see a scorpion’s tail as big as a tree limb hovering above Lucia Luna’s head, her stinger flicking from side to side, her red mouth grinning, eyes glowing orange.” (74)
All through there’s a feeling of unreality to the story, and at times the reader must wonder whether or not parts of the tale really happened or are merely Alberto’s dreams or embellishments.
Ultimately, In a Town Called Mundomuerto is a novel about the power of ignorance and superstition and the destructive effects these may have over people, and how atrocities can be committed just because people, instead of reacting to what is just and fair, fail to act and hide behind the safety of the crowd. Therefore, it is also a novel about cowardice. Keeping all these points in mind, the most intriguing part of the novel is the dark way in which Silvis presents feminine beauty and sensuality.
In a Town Called Mundomuerto
By Randall Silvis
Omnidawn Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-890650-19-3
Copyright 2007
Trade Paperback, 160 pages, $12.95
General Fiction
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