The Old Gringo

A Novel

By: Carlos Fuentes, Margaret Sayers Peden - translator

Narrated by: David Crommett

One of Carlos Fuentes’s greatest works, The Old Gringo tells the story of Ambrose Bierce, the American writer, soldier, and journalist, and of his last mysterious days in Mexico living among Pancho Villa’s soldiers, particularly his encounter with General Tomas Arroyo. In the end, the incompatibility of the two countries (or, paradoxically, their intimacy) claims both men, in a novel that is, most of all, about the tragic history of two cultures in conflict.

©1985 Fonda de Cultura Económica. Translation copyright 1985 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Great Premise and Solid Execution

I've always been interested in Ambrose Bierce and very interested in Mexican History so when I heard about this book I had to read it. I find it completely believable that someone like Bierce would go on a suicide mission smack dab into the middle of the Mexican revolution. What makes the story interesting is that not too much goes as planned, and the old man ends up finding more life than death in Mexico. I also loved the character commentary on the reasons for the revolution, and their experiences of it. Highly recommend.

Brilliant work

A tale of two warriors and one woman that layers the politics, history, economics and sexuality of the Mexican revolution with desert magic and deep internal ponderings about heroism, fatherhood and death.

too long but cool

Narrator was monoton but the book was decent and interesting. A bit difficult to understand.

Slow and Scattered

I guess it's just not my style. I was thinking it might be more of a tale of the Mexican Revolution. Instead, it was a slow building erotica. I don't need multiple paragraphs describing someone's private parts.

beautifully written

Incredible sense of time and place. Real characters well portrayed. A complex, well written story.