The Tortilla Curtain

Recently I finished reading the book Tortilla Curtain written by T.C.Boyle. The book was a supplemental item to a Spanish Culture course I was signed up for. The class does not begin till March but I found myself with a little free time so I picked up the book to give it a quick glance. Okay, before you raise your eyebrows in disbelief, occasionally I will pick up a book and read. The truth of the matter is that I actually read quite a lot. I read various newspapers, magazines, books of all sorts, as well as material online. If anything interests me enough I will find something to read to find more information about it. Anyhow, let us get back to the book. When I picked up the book to browse it, I quickly realized that I wanted to read this book from beginning to end. Yes it is one of those novels that immediately pulls the reader into the story and each time you need to put it down, you can't wait to get back to the story again. In my opinion the book is very well written and appears to be well researched.

The story centers around two couples. The first couple is Kyra and Delaney Mossbacher who live in a nice gated community in the hills outside of Los Angeles. Kyra is a successful real estate agent with a little boy from a previous marriage and Delaney is a stay at home step-dad, nature writer, and self proclaimed outdoorsman. The second couple is América and Cándido Rincón . Seventeen year old América is pregnant with thirty-three year old Cándido’s first child, but more importantly, they are both illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The story really exposes the disparity of what the American dream means to different people and just how they view each other. The story itself is very colorfully written and I thoroughly enjoyed the authors use of descriptive language not commonly used in most writing. The book tells the story from each of the main characters points of view. It seems to jump back and forth from character to character without any awkwardness and definitely helps the reader to be able to see each persons perspectives and understand their opinions as well as sympathizing with their feelings. In the end the reader is left with a new understanding of just how different we all are and simultaneously how similar we are. Hopefully you walk away with the sense that you have learned some important lessons and have gained a new respect for those less fortunate.