Tortuga

by Rudolfo Anaya

Rudolfo Anaya's personal journey to Tortuga began one desert-hot day when, as an adolescent, he and some friends were swimming in irrigation ditches. He dove in, sustaining an injury that put him in the hospital for an arduous period of time. Tortuga is set in a hospital for crippled children and is based on Anaya's swimming accident. He explores the significance of pain and suffering in a young boy's life and the importance of spiritual recovery as well as medical. Tortuga, or Turtle, is the name of the oddly shaped mountain near the hospital, but "Tortuga" also points toward the rigid cast that encases the young hero's body. In celebration of the twenty-five years since the first edition of Tortuga was published, Rudolfo Anaya has provided an Afterword to share his memories of those days in the hospital and how they impacted the remainder of his life.

Genres: Fiction, Magical Realism, Literature, Latinx, Literary Fiction, Novels, School

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Rudolfo Anaya lives and breathes the landscape of the Southwest. It is a powerful force, full of magic and myth, integral to his writings. Anaya, however, is a native Hispanic fascinated by cultural crossings unique to the Southwest, a combination of oldSpain and New Spain, of Mexico with Mesoamerica and the anglicizing forces of the twentieth century. Rudolfo Anaya is widely acclaimed as the founder of modern Chicano literature. According to the New York Times, he is the most widely read author in Hispanic communities, and sales of his classic Bless Me, Ultima (1972) have surpassed 360,000, despite the fact that none of his books have been published originally by New York publishing houses. His works are standard texts in Chicano studies and literature courses around the world, and he has done more than perhaps any other single person to promote publication of books by Hispanic authors in this country. With the publication of his novel, Albuquerque (1992),Newsweek has proclaimed him a front-runner in "what is better called not the new multicultural writing, but the new American writing." His most recent volume, published in 1995, is Zia Summer.

"I've always used the technique of the cuento. I am an oral storyteller, but now I do it on the printed page. I think if we were very wise we would use that same tradition in video cassettes, in movies, and on radio."

from
http://www.unm.edu/~wrtgsw/anaya.html
and
http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_reso...

Reviews

[Martha Alami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am only giving this book 3 stars instead of 2 because some of the writing style and prose was beautiful. Otherwise it would have been 2 stars. I did not really enjoy the book. The story was too dark and the back and forth between dreams and reality were confusing to me. Some of the dreams were more like nonsensical ranting rather than a meaningful message. I also did not enjoy the crude banter between the patients or the crude way the hospital staff at times interacted. I could say a lot more ( like who the heck was Solomon anyway?) but I will leave it at that. No more of this author for me...

[Jim Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first the subject actually made me a little uncomfortable! Soon, however, I was truly drawn in to the incredible world the author has created for these characters

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too much symbolism and allegory. It became confusing early in the book.

[Tino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but when contrasted with Serafina’s Stories and Bless Me, Ultima, it just doesn’t hold up. An okay read nonetheless. 3 stars.

[lauren :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

the prose was gorgeous, but it was unnecessarily depressing and there were a lot of predatory themes/comments. i was shocked when i saw it was a YA novel.

[Betsy Cornwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tortuga is "turtle" in Spanish. It's the nickname given to the protagonist, a teenage boy who arrives at a hospital for cripped children after an accident leaves him paralyzed. Tortuga is also the name of the mountain he sees from his window, the source of healing springs known as "Tortuga's pee." Anaya weaves the desert landscape with the folklore and history of New Mexico into a tale of equal parts healing and hopelessness. It's hard to tell where the dreams end and life begins. Like the young Tortuga, I left the story eager to dive back into the "burning acid of life." There is no gratitude for suffering, but it's gifts must be acknowledged.

[Rigoberto Vega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tortuga is a story of pain, courage, and hope. The characters created by Anaya are real and his way of expressing the protagonist insights are instantly relatable. Anaya describes everything with so much poetic detail, it's almost impossible to not have mental imagery of what you are reading.

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tortuga is an autobiographical novel that follows a teenage boy through his recovery from a severe spinal injury that left him partially paralyzed. He enters a chidren's hospital and is immersed in a strange world full of twisted, crippled bodies, each one struggling through the aftermath of disease or injury. He meets some mysterious people early on who draw him into a mystical dreamland where he is Tortuga, a turtle-man, whose spiritual path is of vital importance not just to him but to his new companions at the hospital.

For readers who are themselves disabled, this book offers a lovely journey through the frustrations and challenges of being disabled, and provides some different perspectives on limitations and how they affect us. For those readers who are not disabled this book draws you into the world of difference, a world of acute suffering and pain, but also of lasting loss and isolation. Almost all of the characters in this book are crippled in some way, but they are still fully human in spite of or perhaps in part because of their disabilities. Each of these characters is a distinctly individual person, since they cannot be easily stuffed into any generic molds of 'normal' people.

In addition this book looks deeper at what it means to be human and to live a human life. Are human vegetables living a human life? Where is the line between a good human life worth sustaining at all costs and a terrible prolonged suffering that is simply a cruel exercise of power where life is trapped at the brink of death and forced to hover there indefinitely? There are no clear answers provided here, and the boy who serves as the focus to this story recovers and returns to the life outside the hospital, leaving behind all those he meets inside who can never return to 'normal life'. Anaya pointedly doesn't say what happens to all those left behind.

Like the journey in Dante's Inferno, Anaya's tale brings us through a strange nightmare world and plops us safe and sound where we began, and leaves his readers to decide what, if anything, was gained in the process.

[Lamberto Raygoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intro to the story's setting really hooked me because it spoke of a 16 year old boy named Benjie being sent to a children's hospital were other defective children were sent to heal. In addition the hospital rests at the foot of the mountain named "Tortuga" which is the spanish translation of turtle. When Benjie arrives at the hospital he is given a body cast because he has paralysis, so the children started to call him "Tortuga" because he was in a shell. However he did not expect that his life at the hospital would take the toll of being stuck in a shell.
Once he was in his ward with other children he started to become comfortable. He then fell in love with a volunteering nurse named "Ismelda." Although he was in love he couldn't express himself because of his inability to speak with the cast, so he stayed in his shell. Once the lead doctor found out about his issue he introduced him to the spiritual process all patients must go through in order to heal. It turns out the mountain is called a turtle because it is waiting for spring to walk again. This is just how every patient like Benjie has to wait for that one moment in their lives to heal physically, mentally, and spiritually. Once that occurs then they would enter spring and walk to be free.
In total, this story talks of spiritually healing and the hardships of being disabled. I rated it five stars because it really captures the essence of thinking and how living is.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really beautifully written. Not easily digestible and quite drawn out for the point (philosophical or otherwise), but enjoyable throughout.

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Rudolfo Anaya's 3rd book of his New Mexico trilogy. It follows the life of a teenager who has an accident of some sort and is encased in a body cast as they work on rehabilitating him at a rehabilitation hospital. With his body cast making him look like a turtle (tortuga in Spanish) and a nearby mountain with the same name, he is soon nicknamed Tortuga and it is the only name we are given for the main character. The story is written well, often in a stream-of-consciousness style and tells of the different relationships between patients and the the medical people during the time Tortuga works to rehabilitate himself out of his paralysis and "shell". I wasn't sure if this was a continuation of the earlier book, HEART OF AZTLAN, or a fictional memoir. I now read that is more of a fictional memoir. I found the stream-of-consciousness writing sometimes hard to follow but I found the writing much less stilted than the earlier novel.

[Rosemary Dreyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story and part allegory about the journey of healing. A young man is injured in some type of accident and is sent to a sanitarium for surgery and recovery. Part poetry, dreams, reverie, and novel, this book weaves the story through the eyes of this young man, nicknamed "Tortuga," the name of the "Turtle Mountain" that he can see from his window. The cast of characters is both vivid and heartbreaking, with the voice of wisdom coming through a severely affected polio patient. Bittersweet, wise, and insightful, this book challenges the reader to consider what health and healing means, on a physical, emotional, and spiritual path.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rudolfo Anaya used an incident from his own youth to write this haunting story of love and redemption. Tortuga is a young boy in a upper body cast and a magical mountain near the hospital for crippled children where he has gone to recover. There he discovers the long road to recovery. How to deal with the being crippled. And the many levels and types of love. This love adds to his healing in a magical way. Lots of symbolism and Mexican-American cultural references. A magical book and a magical read!

[D.K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book disturbing and captivating all at the same time.
One of Anaya's true gifts is to be able to tell the story from the age point of view of his narrator. He seems to be able to retrieve every emotion from that time, and present them without bias.
This book was a testament to the body being far easier to heal than the indelible soul, and innocently begs the question, " are there times when we just shouldn't try"?

[1vpee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was extremely interesting. The part about hearing Solomon's stories is a bit confusing because it doesn't state specifically who can actually hear Solomon, and can he actually talk or is he just reading and communicating in a magical kind of way. Overall,the emotion and humor to it all is intriguing. The patients there might not ever get better and well although they are completely living differently, they still live and think like any other teenager.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the prose was very beautiful at times, this book just didn't do it for me. Perhaps, at another point in my reading journey, I will re-visit it. I suspect that there is great depth and symbolism in this novel, but as we're nearing the end of summer on the SE NC coast, I just wasn't in a frame of mind to"work" for me reading pleasure. I know that must sound very low brow, but that's where I'm at with it today.

[Yoko Olsgaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagery that you can taste, smell, and see

What a beautiful book! On the surface, it is a story about a boy who suffers a terrible injury that leaves him paralyzed and in a body cast. The book takes you on his journey of healing his body and soul. This book is poetry on every page. It is an homage to life itself. Read it and store it's wisdom for when you are in despair for it will give you the courage to keep on going.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I think the prose is some of the most beautiful I've ever read and it's so evocative of Southwest landscapes and the deep spirituality that lives there. It was also my first introduction to iron lungs and the polio epidemic as well as the consequences of that disease. It's uncomfortable and revealing and I have read and reread this book at least four times.

I highly recommend it to those who like to chew through their books and savor them.

[Clark Hulse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably Anaya's finest book. Tortuga is less well known than his first book, Bless Me Ultimate. But it is more deeply personal than either that book or The Heart of Aztlan, which came second. Tortuga is lyrical, metaphysical, painful, spiritual, and realistic. These are the elements of a great work.

[Michelle Rusk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this primarily for the historical perspective about Carrie Tingley Hospital upon which it's based. It's a good book if you're looking for something that questions why we suffer and go through painful experiences. I recommend reading the "Afterword" first (it was written 25 years after the book was published).

[Nancy Bovee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read. A very thoughtful look at a young boys struggle with recovery from serious injury with his thoughts and growth into a spiritual side of recovery. Love this authors style of writing and insight into the union of all at a higher level.

[Britta]

I'm "getting stuck" in a lot of books. I think I need something light, and fairly fast-paced right now. I'm having trouble staying focused as I read, and this one really needs that. May come back to it.

[Rose Elizabeth Balboa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Highly recommended to those who are struggling, or who have struggled through life. Profound questions are raised about the reasons for our lives being as they are. Thought provoking and intense. Mr. Anaya is incredible.

[Elena Varipatis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars: parts of this book I really enjoyed. I could appreciate the mysticism and magical realism that gave the book it's pulse, but in the end that genre really doesn't do much for me and at times left me very confused.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really preferred Anaya's Alburquerque to this....just a bit too mystical/mythical for me. The setting in a permanently disabled children's institution is grim, altho the author prevails with a message of love & hope.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the characters and the hospital and loved reading the parts about them - especially the description of what now seems archaic medical practices. The detours into "magical realism" didn't work for me for the most part.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story. A paralyzed boy with a broken back (Tortuga) comes to a crippled children's hospital for the terminally ill. He heals physically, mentally and emotionally during his stay. He learns to love and to be accepting. The language and imagery are lovely.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful soulful book which writes of hope and spirit found in the midst of sickness and despair. A metaphorical account of beauty found in the desert.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is still on my shelf- a few years ago I started it and could not finish it. The story and characters were boring and hard to get into- unlike the other Anaya books I've read.

[Marcy8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mystical coming of age story of a physically challenged boy in New Mexico. Sometimes salvation has the janitor's face.